Some community college foreign language classrooms are silent as students replace more common disciplines like Spanish, French and Italian with American Sign Language to fulfill university requirements.

"Students can definitely use ASL to fulfill both the IGETC area 6 and the area C requirements for transfer to both the USC and CSU system," said Valley College Professor of Counseling Michael Gold.

Unfortunately, of the nine community colleges in the Los Angeles District only East Los Angeles College and Los Angeles Trade-Technical College offer both ASL I and II and Los Angeles Pierce College is the only provider of a 16-course extended program.

When asked why Valley was not offering ASL to its students Gold said, "ASL classes won't be available here because that would mean expanding our curriculum; we're actually cutting some classes due to budget constraints."

Still, the demand for classes grows as more universities including Stanford, Yale, UC Berkeley and UCLA begin to accept ASL as a foreign language.

According to American Modern Language Association, in 2002 enrollment in ASL classes rose more than 400 percent from previous years, making it the fifth most commonly studied foreign language in college.

The first semester of ASL covers basic vocabulary and grammar with an emphasis on receptive skills, while incorporating aspects of the deaf culture and community. During the second semester the focus shifts to inflectional and non-manual behavior patterns and receptive and expressive communication.

ASL is a linguistically complete language with its own grammar and vocabulary and in no way should it be considered a 'signing' form of English. There is no universal sign language, therefore someone fluent in American Sign Language would not be able to understand Mexican Sign Language or even British Sign Language.

Despite its rapidly growing popularity, not all universities are embracing the change. USC, for example has no plans to accept ASL as a foreign language requirement because it doesn't fit with the goal for global education.

"ASL is not a foreign language - it's symbols, it's gestures," said Dr. Carmen Salazar, Valley's foreign language department chair. "When studying a foreign language you study about a new culture, new ideas. ASL is a form of communication used by people with a disability"

Disputes on the subject will most likely continue but the popularity of ASL will continue to grow as students discover a more active way to study foreign language.

For more information about ASL transfer qualifications, visit www. assist.org

By Anna Goldberg