Students interested in American Sign Language courses at MSU are encouraged to continue their studies - about five miles west of campus.
Sign language courses are in high demand nationally, according to the Modern Language Association, or MLA, but many professors and students are saying MSU's courses are not enough and are too packed to accept all interested students.
Many professors are suggesting students take classes at Lansing Community College instead.
The MSU College of Education offers five sign language courses, one of which is an introductory course that covers all aspects of being deaf and Lansing Community College offers 22 courses, designed as a two-year program to gain certification as a sign language interpreter.
"The courses here give students entry-level skills adequate to communicate with deaf people," said Chris Hunter, adjunct professor of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education, or CEP. "It does not make them fluent. They need to continue to use (sign language) to improve their skills."
After earning a certificate of achievement from LCC, students take a state test to become certified and can take a national test to interpret in courtrooms and hospitals, said Brenda Cartwright, director and professor of the Sign Language/Interpreter program at LCC.
CEP assistant instructor Lynn Duckwall said she wishes MSU's courses were more extensive.
"I would like another year of classes," Duckwall said. "I feel that (the current courses) are not enough, especially for students going into deaf education. They need more.
"Most of the time, I recommend students go to LCC."
Lindsey Piel, an MSU alumna who earned certification in interpreting from LCC, said she encourages anyone interested in interpreting to go to the Lansing school.
"In my opinion, LCC has the best interpreting program in Michigan," Piel said. "MSU doesn't really need a program because LCC has one. It would be redundant in a way.
"I don't think MSU has a bad program - it's just not deep enough for interpreting. But that's not what it's made for."
The courses at MSU are designed for students planning to work with deaf students, not to become interpreters, said John Miller, interim chairman of the Deaf Education Program at MSU.
"MSU trains teachers for the deaf - we equip them to sign their own thoughts," Miller said. "LCC trains interpreters, who are sometimes signing their own thoughts, but mostly signing for other people. It's a whole different set of school."
Nationally, enrollment in sign language courses increased by 432.2 percent between 1998 and 2002, making it the fastest growing foreign language, according to the MLA.
American Sign Language is the third most-used language in the United States, Hunter said.
Some sign language students at MSU say, because there is a large interest in the language and so few courses, they have trouble enrolling in the classes. The maximum number of students that can take the introductory sign language course at MSU, American Sign Language and the Deaf Community, is 260 between its two sections this semester.
But some students say upper-level courses are even harder to get into. The second-level course, American Sign Language I, can only have 20 students in each of the two sections.
More classes would open up more opportunities to learn sign language, English junior Danielle Torres said.
"There could be more classes because it's really hard to get in," Torres said. "The next class I have to take is only offered next spring."
CEP instructor Donna Leahy, who teaches American Sign Language I, said the classes must be kept small for more interaction.
"Students need individual feedback to make sure they're doing the signs correctly," Leahy said.
"You can't do that if there are 50 students in the class."
Prenursing freshman Nichole Fuller said she plans to minor in sign language and will go to LCC or another university to gain certification.
"We don't have enough courses in sign language here, which is a shame, considering how many other majors we have here," Fuller said.
MSU's 36 deaf education majors are given overrides into sign language courses, but classes could be packed because more and more students from other areas of study are taking sign language to fulfill a foreign language requirement.
"It's useful - more useful to me as a theater major than German," theater junior Samantha Schaeffer said. "I want to work in America. If I wanted to do German theater, then I would take German."
Although once heavily debated, most universities now accept American Sign Language as a foreign language.
Some university departments, such as the MSU mathematics department, however, don't accept sign language credits to fulfill their foreign language requirement.
"We decided it wasn't a foreign language because it is American Sign Language," said Wellington Ow, undergraduate director of mathematics.
More universities accepting sign language as a foreign language has caused a "population explosion" in the courses, Cartwright said.
"Because American Sign Language originated in the U.S., people say it isn't a foreign language," Cartwright said. "But Cherokee originated here, and isn't it a foreign language? All the Ivy Leagues accept it as a foreign language, so it's not quite the debate it once was.
"It is more commonplace to see sign language in a foreign language department than it was 20 years ago."
Although some students enroll in a sign language class thinking it will be easier than a spoken language, that thought changes once a student actually attends class, Piel said.
"The biggest misconception about sign language is that it's easy," Piel said. "You can learn the vocabulary and string together a few sentences, but that's not it.
"It has its own grammar, idioms, nuances - it has its own culture."
Margaret Harding can be reached at hardin42@msu.edu.
