Penn vs Sword | Signing off on a change

I have a confession: when I see people using sign language, I can’t help but stare. I know it’s rude, but there’s something fascinating about a language that allows people to communicate without uttering a sound.

That’s why I was surprised to hear that Wharton students aren’t allowed to count American Sign Language courses toward their foreign-language requirement. In response to recent student criticism, Wharton administrators have argued that the requirement was specifically designed to focus on languages outside the U.S. in an attempt to offer a more global education. Since ASL is an “American” language, it fails to meet the goals of the requirement.

It’s a very reasonable argument — if you believe that foreign-language study is primarily about gaining an international perspective. But in my opinion, the real value from studying another language comes from gaining the ability to immerse yourself in a different culture. And when judged by that standard, ASL passes with flying colors.

The Undergraduate Assembly seems to agree. This past Sunday, it unanimously passed a resolution urging Wharton to count ASL courses toward the foreign-language requirement.

To be fair, Wharton doesn’t actively discourage students from taking ASL courses. As Director of Academic Affairs Scott Romeika pointed out, “Some students do take the ASL courses and get a lot out of it,” without it putting “an undue burden on the rest of their schedule.”

Because the UA has no real power in this situation, the decision will ultimately rest with the Wharton administrators responsible for designing the undergraduate curriculum.

How they approach the issue depends on a crucial question: What’s the purpose of including foreign-language study in a business curriculum?

You can find Wharton’s current answer to that question on its undergraduate web site. Foreign languages are important in “today’s global business environment” because students need to have “an international perspective,” the school says.

It’s true that by studying a foreign language, you gain a better perspective of countries outside the U.S. — but Wharton students already get a pretty good global perspective because they’re required to take three internationally focused courses in order to graduate.

Others might believe Whartonites take a foreign language so they can complete business deals in that language later on. But four semesters simply isn’t enough to achieve that level of fluency. Case in point: After finishing the required classes, I can understand basic (okay, very basic) Spanish. But if you asked me to complete a business deal, I’d probably refer to myself as a girl multiple times.

Instead, foreign-language study proves crucial to a business education because it teaches the student to get inside a completely unfamiliar culture. The experience of trying to understand the way another community expresses its thoughts and feelings allows you to overcome cultural differences later on.

In short, the reason my Spanish classes were valuable wasn’t because they improved my global perspective or taught me to speak fluently, but really because they gave me the tools to understand other cultures different than my own.

Excluding ASL doesn’t make any sense. After all, deaf culture and ASL are just as alien to most students as any foreign language. By extensively studying ASL, other students can gain the same valuable cultural lessons that I did when studying Spanish. That’s probably why many other business schools — not to mention the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Nursing — recognize it as an acceptable “foreign” language.

As Wharton and Nursing junior G.J. Melendez-Torres, who helped author the UA resolution, put it “ASL comes with a culture that is very important.”

Wharton needs to reconsider the reasoning behind its foreign-language requirement. Maybe once that happens, it’ll give the thumbs-up to ASL.

Ashwin Shandilya is a Wharton senior from New Market, Md. He is the former Marketing Manager and Editorial Page Editor of the DP. His e-mail address is shandilya@dailypennsylvanian.com. Penn vs Sword appears on Thursdays.

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