V03-16

Question

Before the early eighteenth century, forms of communication among the deaf were often not regarded as authentic language. Accepted wisdom held either that the deaf were making simple gestures to communicate basic needs and ideas, or, in a more generous view, that sign language was a physical method of expressing the words and syntax of spoken language. Once it was recognized, however, that forms of signing constituted valid, though non-oral, systems of language, sign systems were standardized and disseminated in educational programs for the deaf.

American Sign Language was one of the first standardized sets of signs to develop in response to this new understanding of communication among the deaf. ASL had its beginnings in 1817 when Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, an American minister, recruited Frenchman Laurent Clerc to co-found what is now the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. Clerc had been an instructor at the premiere educational institution for the deaf in France, where a standardized system of signs had been in use in for nearly a century. The language Clerc developed for the school was based heavily on the French Sign Language with which he, being deaf, routinely communicated. At the school, French Sign Language mingled with various and idiosyncratic “home signs” brought into the classroom by students from Martha’s Vineyard, an island off Massachusetts where there were an unusually large number of deaf children. Within only a few years, the mixture of French Sign Language with Home Sign had reached equilibrium and was taught in other institutions for the deaf as American Sign Language.

Today, though it continues to be spontaneously adjusted to suit local needs, ASL is the third most common language in the United States, the dominant sign language of North America, and a popular form of inter-dialect communication in parts of Africa.

The author likely relates the history of American Sign Language in order to

A.  Entertain the reader with historical facts.
 B.  Advocate greater flexibility in the development of sign languages.
 C.  Compare two perspectives on types of communication used by the deaf.
 D.  Provide a historical example of a sign language that was first standardized then disseminated.
 E . Explore cooperation among nations in the development of languages for the deaf.

Tetianaa · Answer

Explanation

To answer a question about logical structure, consider the role the section plays in the passage as a whole. The first paragraph introduces a historical development, beginning with the idea that methods of communication among the deaf were not always considered authentic language. According to the passage, however, accepted wisdom changed: once communication among the deaf was accepted as language, systems of signs were standardized and disseminated. The history of American Sign Language is a historical example of this shift in thought.

A.  The passage is not meant to entertain.
 B.  The passage does not discuss, much less advocate, flexibility in the development of sign languages.
 C.  Two perspectives are not compared.
 D. Correct.  The section on American Sign Language provides a historical example of the pattern of sign language development discussed in the passage.
 E.  Though individuals from various nations cooperated in the development of American Sign Language, the focus was not on the nations themselves.

The correct answer is D

V03-16

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