Vision

-video coming soon-

Greetings community!

We would like to tell you about what we envision for ASLized and its future. ASLized is offering a home for ASL literature; a space for ASL linguistics research; and most importantly, a paradigm shift in how we educate people.

ASLized wants to offer a permanent home for ASL literature in its most natural medium. This website can be a locus of past, present, and future literary works rendered in ASL. ASL Literature reflects the culture and history of the Deaf community. We believe ASL literature is worth preserving and should be disseminated as this body of literature offers insight into a unique form of the human experience.

With regard to linguistics, we would like to make linguistics research about ASL available in ASL. ASL users will be able to access, read, and understand the research and issues surrounding their native language in their natural language.

For example, “The Linguistics of ASL” is a standard example of countless publications about ASL. Although ASL is the primary subject of discussion and analysis, the book is published in English. ASLized firmly believes that all scholarly materials that study, research, and discusses ASL should be published in ASL so that ASL users can access and understand the issues surrounding their language.

We believe that sign languages can offer a vital paradigm shift in education as we know it today. Sign language is a visual language that relays non-linear, visual information in 3D. Relaying information in 3D allows us to approach teaching in a different way- in a way that stimulates the imagination and reinforces understanding of the visual, physical world in a way that linear languages cannot.

For example, it will be difficult to discuss the stages of mitosis without incorporating gestures while teaching. It will also be difficult to visualize the stages without seeing illustrations. This is where sign languages offer unique benefits. The process of mitosis can be clearly described in sign language as sign languages are visual languages that offers descriptions in 3D. This unique visual medium captures nuances of the physical world in a non-linear language that is utterly impossible for a linear language to replicate. Watch this video for a demonstration of this principle.

Here’s another example. Imagine you are reading an art history textbook without a single illustration or photograph. Beautiful works of art are described in black and white in two-dimensional text. Maybe you can sort of picture it, maybe not, especially not if you’ve never seen the work of art before. No matter how hard you try to visualize the artistic masterpiece, you are not able to fully appreciate the beauty of what is being conveyed to you via text. With sign language, you are offered a means to visualize and imagine works of art.

Sign language defies all and is a beautiful gift to be shared with the rest of the world. Humanity can benefit much from sign languages in sharing literature, linguistics research, and as an educational tool.