Brock’s ASL Club teaches students about sign language and deaf culture.
Like many clubs at Brock, the American Sign Language (ASL) Club was in dire straits due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the efforts of Alex Francoz and James Warnica, the ASL Club’s president and vice president respectively, the club has “undergone a serious overhaul and revitalization.” Now Brock students have the opportunity to learn or further their knowledge of this non-verbal form of communication.
Alex describes the ASL Club as “a group of people who are dedicated to learning ASL in a casual setting.” Much of their focus revolves around education, whether that be teaching actual words and phrases of ASL or educating club members about the complexities of living as a person who is deaf or hard of hearing.
They meet every Monday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m in Schmon Tower room 107 (ST107), accessible through the hallway in Market Hall by the Starbucks. At these meetings, the club breaks into two groups, beginner and advanced – with the occasional intermediate group if numbers allow. In these groups, members get “the important stuff down,” as James puts it: learning the motions for asking somebody’s name, for example, or how to offer help.
Those who have experience with the deaf and hard of hearing community – such as one of the executives who is hard of hearing, or one of the club’s newest members, a CODA (Child of Deaf Adult) – often share their experiences with the club about “the difficulties that come with having a hearing disability.” Being fluent in ASL, these club members also assist immensely in the learning of new vocabulary.
The ASL Club has a handful of teachers, but Alex, James and executive Alexa are the core teachers. Alex teaches the beginner group, and James and Alexa teach the advanced group.
Events are varied for the ASL Club. They’ve held movie nights in the past that feature “deaf actors or characters or that are relevant to deaf culture,” and they have two different events planned in October: a baked goods fundraiser for the club from 10 a.m to 3 p.m on Oct. 20, and a Halloween and board games event on Oct. 30, where costumed students can hang out, play games and learn some relevant signs.
In describing the club’s events, James said: “Sometimes sign is more or less prominent, but we do our best to make sure that in all of our events, there’s at least a little sign or deaf culture or education in them.”
But why is it important to learn sign language? Besides gaining the ability to communicate with those who cannot hear or struggle to do so, Alex describes that ASL has a plethora of other purposes, ranging from communicating with people who are neurodivergent, “helping kids communicate at an earlier age, to helping people with disabilities who go non-verbal or who have muscular deficiencies. It has so many purposes… and really can help bring down a lot of barriers that society puts up for a lot of people.”
James and Alex further described how sign language can be used by hearing people to communicate easier in everyday life as well, if you’re trying to speak through a thick window, for example, or the DJ won’t turn the music down. As James said, “it’s so much easier to switch into sign to be able to communicate… than try to fight over the noise.”
Alex and James stress that the ASL Club is a “casual learning environment.” Students will come out of meetings with a greater understanding of ASL, but verbal communication is allowed and there’s constant support and assistance. While this is incredibly useful and helpful, they understand that “the best way to learn a language is through immersion.”
For Brock students looking for a more structured course, Alex and James highly recommend the numerous ASL Courses at Brock, provided through the Applied Linguistics department, or taking courses outside of Brock with the Canada Hearing Services. “We are passionate and driven,” said Alex, “but we are amateurs.” Instructors in professional courses are trained to teach; Brock’s ASL professor is deaf herself.
ASL is not a universal language, either. While it may be the most dominantly used method of sign language in Canada, there are Indigenous sign languages, sign languages in Quebec, regional dialects and more. Around the world, there are hundreds of other sign languages as well; like spoken language, sign language changes with geography and culture.
Exploring the ASL Club gives many students a perspective on “just how many things [they] take for granted with being able to hear.” Furthermore, ASL is useful in day-to-day communication with people from all walks of life, whether hearing, non-hearing, neurodivergent or very young. “Language serves to connect us all,” James says. “Having a verbal and a non-verbal means of communication allows everyone to connect so much easier regardless of their situation or context.”
To learn more about the ASL Club, as well as their upcoming events and important meeting updates, visit their ExperienceBU and Instagram pages, or join their Discord server using the link in their Instagram bio.