ForewordLanguage is exciting business! For all of us. Somehow, though, in our daily use of it, we forget the intriguing ways in which language works for us. We forget that it conjures up times past; prophesies futures; brings present realities into focus. Or perhaps we are just too mindful that it provokes misunderstandings and tears as well as laughter and enchantment. When we have the chance to think about language, our thoughts often return to English Grammar or awkward first attempts at speaking a foreign language in the school setting. Since for most of us the opportunity to work with languages and look closely at them was offered through our school experiences, these memories may be hardly exciting, and possibly painful. In this booklet we want to revive in readers that latent capacity to appreciate the wonder of language. We want to share the excitement of language study and the challenges offered by the study of American Sign Language. Study of sign languages is a recent phenomenon, and as a result relatively little information is available to the general reader about these languages. While we are able to present here some initial findings about American Sign Language, it will be years before the major sign languages of the world can be analyzed. And it will require more time still before these findings can be presented to the general public. What we do know about sign languages is the result of research. Because research requires careful approaches, discoveries are not made quickly. In the case of American Sign Language, years of patient observation and scholarly inquiry have led to some exciting conclusions. A good part of the credit goes to the Linguistics Research Laboratory of Gallaudet College for taking the initiative in studying the American Sign Language unemotionally and clear-headedly, and subjecting it to the same rigors of analysis used in the study of any other language. This groundwork has led other researchers to delve into new areas of study in American Sign Language. Such careful fact-finding should not be ignored. Neither should it be kept in the exclusive domain of the researcher's study or the academic setting. This information is rightfully yours, too. We share it with you now so you, too, will learn about American Sign Language, and be excited by the infinitely challenging and creative possibilities that engage us when we use any language at all. Loraine DiPietro
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