Sign language courses will be coming to high schools in the fall

BY PAUL JUNOR

The announcement on Thursday, March 11^th, 2021  by the Ontario Minister of Education, Stephen Leece that  Ontario high schools will be offering sign language courses is good news for the families of children who are hearing impaired. CTV News reported on Thursday, March 11^th, 2021 that courses will be offered in both American Sign Language(ASL) and Langue des signes quebecoise (LSQ).

These courses will commence in September 2021 across Ontario. According to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), ASL is, “ A complete, A natural language that has the same linguistic properties as spoken languages with grammar that differs from English. ASL is expressed by movements of the hands and face. It is the primary language of many North Americans who are deaf and hard of hearing, and is used by many hearing people as well.”

(ncid.nih.gov/health/American-sign-language). No one is sure how it originated, but but it is believed that it came about as a result of a local sign languages and French Sign Language(LSF, or Langue des Signes Francaise).

In a written statement that was released by CTV News, Minister Leece states,

“Ontario is the first jurisdiction in Canada to offer ministry-developed LSQ as a  second-language curriculum and one first jurisdictions to offer ministry-developed ASL as a second language curriculum.”

In the released statement, Donald Prong, the executive director of the Ontario Association of the Deaf States, “It will enhance students’ understanding of the language and identity of ASL people in Ontario; ASL people’s sense of self, of membership, of culture, and of humanity and encourages students to develop respect for human diversity.

 We want to recognize that the Ministry of Education’s commitment to developing this curriculum is a step in the right direction. We were very pleased to have been asked to participate  in its development and we look forward to future opportunities of working together.”

CTV reported that Wanda Blackett, of Silent Voice Canada stated at the news conference on Thursday that  these  credit courses will be positive for the deaf community. She states,“The ASL and LSQ communities are celebrating today.” The challenge will be to find competent and qualified teachers to teach these courses in Ontario, and this may take some time.

Wanda states, “LSQ and ASL, in terms of the availability of proficient teachers who could teach at all of the school boards, I think if we are  looking at answering these questions today, we are not there yet. But I think there is a possibility for capacity building over the next little while. Certainly, we do not  have teachers available but with this initiative now. I expect that the pool with increase over time.”

In an article for the Canadian Audiologist in Vol 6, Issue 2, 2019 titled, “What We Don’t Know About Canadian Students with Hearing Loss,” reported that no one knows how many Canadians have hearing loss. The Ontario Ministry of Education does not keep track of these students. The article reports that “Ontario, for example,

the province with the largest population of students with hearing loss,has only a dozen or so educational audiologists and only 2-3 employed full-time by a school board.” Having access to these sign language classes will be certainly beneficial to these students.