My thesis focuses on the use of American Sign Language in popular movies. My paper analyzes the intersection between popular media and language, a subject I find personally interesting. My project addresses how and when ASL is used in movies, including technical components such as lighting, framing, visibility, and subtitling. It also looks at the function of ASL, as well as Deafness and how it is portrayed. It focuses on three popular films: Children of a Lesser God (1986), The Shape of Water (2017), and A Quiet Place (2018). It also studies a fourth film, No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie (2013), which provides a Deaf perspective when it comes to filmmaking. These films are studies from technical and representational perspectives.

American Sign Language (ASL) is a manual language that communicates through gestures, facial expressions, and body language. In the United States, there are over six million sign language users (Mitchell & Young, 2022). At Arizona State University, there is a limited offering of classes for undergraduate students to take sign language; they can take up to four levels, which is satisfactory for degrees’ foreign language requirements. If students wish to proceed with their ASL education, they must transfer to a different university. The purpose of this study and subsequent research is to propose an ASL minor that can be established at ASU so that students can receive an in-depth education. Survey data was collected with the intention of determining how students felt about ASL and the addition of a potential minor. The survey findings, coupled with the secondary literature review, lead to the conclusion that establishing an American Sign Language minor is in the best interests of both the students and the University.

American Sign Language (ASL) is used for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) individuals to communicate and learn in a classroom setting. In ASL, fingerspelling and gestures are two primary components used for communication. Fingerspelling is commonly used for words that do not have a specifically designated sign or gesture. In technical contexts, such as Computer Science curriculum, there are many technical terms that fall under this category. Most of its jargon does not have standardized ASL gestures; therefore, students, educators, and interpreters alike have been reliant on fingerspelling, which poses challenges for all parties. This study investigates the efficacy of both fingerspelling and gestures with fifteen technical terms that do have standardized gestures. The terms’ fingerspelling and gesture are assessed based on preference, ease of use, ease of learning, and time by research subjects who were selected as DHH individuals familiar with ASL.

The data is collected in a series of video recordings by research subjects as well as a post-participation questionnaire. Each research subject has produced thirty total videos, two videos to fingerspell and gesture each technical term. Afterwards, they completed a post-participation questionnaire in which they indicated their preference and how easy it was to learn and use both fingerspelling and gestures. Additionally, the videos have been analyzed to determine the time difference between fingerspelling and gestures. Analysis reveals that gestures are favored over fingerspelling as they are generally preferred, considered easier to learn and use, and faster. These results underscore the significance for standardized gestures in the Computer Science curriculum for accessible learning that enhances communication and promotes inclusion.