Investigating Black ASL: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The authors reviewed the literature regarding linguistic variations seen in American Sign Language. These variations are influenced by region and culture. Features of spoken languages have also influenced sign languages as they intersected, e.g., Black ASL has been influenced by African American English. A literature review was conducted to investigate the existence of Black ASL and to document empirical studies on this topic. The included articles were (a) published between 1970 and 2012 in scholarly journals, (b) included a hypothesis, (c) described the participants, and (d) described the research design. Seven articles met the inclusion criteria. All seven addressed differences between Black ASL and mainstream ASL. Only a few research articles meeting the review criteria were revealed. This suggests that empirical research regarding linguistic variation in ASL is a field of study in its infancy and that continued exploration of this topic is needed.