There's much more to American Sign Language than meets the eye.

REX C. CURRY/Special Contributor

Dawn Clyburn teaches American Sign Language at Lewisville ISD's Dale Jackson Career Center. She is preparing one of her classes to sign during a fashion show.

"Some people think it's just moving your hands in time with the words you are saying and think, 'How hard can that be to teach?' " said Dawn Clyburn, who heads the teacher mentor committee of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the American Sign Language Teachers Association.

"It has its own syntax and grammar. It is actually closer to French than English," Ms. Clyburn said of the communication, commonly called ASL.

Ms. Clyburn, 32, works full time at the Dale Jackson Career Center in the Lewisville Independent School District. She's the only ASL instructor in the district and teaches three levels.

The robust demand for ASL teachers is expected to rise. More high schools are recognizing ASL as a foreign language and offering it in response to students' and parents' requests. As these programs increase, so does the demand for teachers.

Expanded interest began with the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. Opportunities blossomed for workers providing deaf services, said Misty Chestnut, a full-time ASL teacher at Guyer High School, part of the Denton Independent School District.

Schools, businesses and other organizations were now required by law to offer these services, but there weren't enough qualified people. So more ASL programs surfaced.

ASL enrollments increased almost 30 percent from 2002 to 2006, making it the fourth-most-studied language in college after Spanish, French and German (ASL ranked slightly more popular than Italian), according to the Modern Language Association.

Ms. Clyburn's students receive foreign language credits. Parents and students asked for the Lewisville program; it started in the 2004-05 academic year.

Advocates for deaf people have made big strides in attaining respect for ASL and for deaf culture. There also has been a considerable shift in deaf education.

Enrollment at residential schools is down, as more parents keep deaf children in mainstream programs, said Ms. Chestnut, 28, who leads the staff development committee of the ASL teachers association's Dallas-area chapter.

"The hearing children naturally are curious about ASL, and this turns into a demand for instruction. So now, we're in a situation where we've had so many programs pop up that we simply can't keep them filled with qualified instructors," she said.

"There is a high turnover rate due to new teachers being unable to pass their certification tests. Because of that turnover, there are constantly open positions."

Certification for ASL teachers can be challenging. Some districts launch programs but are left without a teacher when that person can't complete certification within a reasonable time, said Ms. Clyburn of Lewisville ISD.

When she graduated with a bachelor's degree in deaf education, Ms. Clyburn had no idea that teaching sign language in high school would be a career option. Many of her earliest peers were former deaf education teachers or interpreters who became ASL instructors.

"People teaching ASL have changed over the past 10 to 15 years," she said. "Now, I have students take my class and go off to college with the intention of becoming an ASL teacher."

More than 35 states recognize ASL as a foreign language. Hundreds of colleges and universities also accept it as foreign language credit at entry or graduation, said Glenna Ashton, president of the American Sign Language Teachers Association.

The association offers certification at three levels, comparable to those of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. But training opportunities are limited.

"Only a handful of colleges offer ASL teacher preparation nationwide, so there is a severe shortage of such programs," said Ms. Ashton, an adjunct instructor at Miami Dade College in Florida. She also teaches ASL in high school.

Lamar University in Beaumont has launched the first ASL bachelor's degree program in Texas.

Students absorb the advanced subtleties of communicating correctly, develop competency and learn to teach ASL in public schools. They also prepare to take the required state licensure exam. About 40 students are now enrolled.

At Lone Star College-North Harris in Houston, instructors use an immersion method, said Brian Kilpatrick, an ASL professor of interpreter training technology. Lone Star students can earn an associate degree, which prepares them for entry-level careers or more education.

Another option – an ASL communications skills certificate – concentrates on developing the basics. Unlike the two-year associate program, this two-semester curriculum is not intended to train students as interpreters.

Sign languages vary from one nation to another, just as spoken languages do. There is a world of difference between learning ASL and one of several signed systems that reflect the grammar and culture of English, said Ms. Chestnut of Denton ISD.

"This is the type of signing that you see when someone can simply match up a manual movement to an English word. ASL does not work that way. The grammar and structure are completely different from English," she said.

"It's important that people interested in teaching ASL can do just that – teach ASL, not some other English-like system."

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