As a hearing person, these are simply my observations and opinions.
One thing--the word "foreign" can also mean unknown, strange, or alien; it doesn't always refer to another country. Examples are:
- "There was foreign matter in the wound."
- "Being kind to others was foreign to the cruel man."
As hoichi posted, ASL is used in a few countries other than the USA but it's primarily used here.
Now, as for colleges and ASL, hearing colleges are still behind the learning curve. They aren't all on the same page when it comes to including ASL curricula. That's why some of them put ASL in the foreign language department. The college where I worked put ASL in the early childhood development department. Schools that have ITP's (interpreter training programs) put ASL in the ITP department. Sometimes ASL is included with special ed teacher training. It's all too random.
There is also not enough consistency in programs from one school to another.
I'm afraid there's still a way to go to get ASL into more colleges, and to get the language the educational respect it's due in any widespread manner.
There need to be more ASL instructors from the Deaf community.
There needs to be more teaching about Deaf culture in the ASL classes, and more interaction with the Deaf community for the students (and I don't mean teachers sending students to AD with their questions).
That's my