Andrew Byrne

Born Deaf to Deaf parents, Andrew Byrne has been a teacher for 18 years in Canada and the United States teaching at the E. C. Drury School for the Deaf in Milton, ON, Canada, York University in Toronto, ON, Canada, McDaniel College in Westminster, MD, the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind in Honolulu, HI, and the University of Hawaii at Moana. He is currently an instructor in the Department of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education at Lamar University in Beaumont, TX. He possesses the Bachelor of Arts degree from Gallaudet University in Washington, DC and a Master of Science degree in Deaf Education from McDaniel College (formerly known as Western Maryland College). He is currently a doctoral student at York University and is expected to obtain a terminal degree by August 2012. His specialization is in ASL literature with a focus on the questions: 1) What would comprise such a literature (e.g., genres?) To what extent is there a comprehensive taxonomy captured in VHS and DVD publications? 2) What are examples of literary pieces included in this taxonomy? Can English-to-ASL translated works be considered ASL literature?

Is There Such a Thing as American Sign Language (ASL) Literacy

While there is widespread acceptance of ASL as a language, there has not been the same level of discussion as to what constitutes ASL literacy. In other words, the defining issue of ASL literacy remains to be less clear. Since ASL has no widely accepted written form, could it still be viewed as having literacy? Critics consider it as having no literacy because literacy by itself refers to spoken languages that have written forms. On the contrary, critics believe that signed languages with no written forms such as ASL do have literacy.

After briefly discussing the defining issue of literacy, the etymological fallacy of literacy, and the emerging issue of oral literacy, a comprehensive definition of ASL literacy will be presented with several reasons to support the fact that there is such a thing as ASL literacy.