My name is Dean Papalia, and I am a teacher of American Sign Language (ASL) in the San

Francisco Bay Area. I teach ASL as a world language at two nationally-ranked, academically-
rigorous high schools and universities. I have expanded the National ASL Honor Society which
enables students to receive college scholarships to further their study of ASL.

I received a master’s degree in Sign Language Education from Gallaudet University in 2018. As a
Deaf individual, ASL is my first language. I am proud to be part of ASL’s emergence into
language departments in high schools and universities. Over the past two decades, ASL has
seen unprecedented growth in acceptance as world language credits in both high schools and
universities. It is the third most-used language in the U.S., and ASL classes have become so
popular that there are often long waiting lists. At two educational settings where I teach there
are currently 25 students enrolled per ASL class with extensive waitlists in place.

Both face-to-face and online classes I use that include all curricular guidelines for language
instruction with in-depth use of technology and video. The classes are project-based, and
require travel to experience cultural events and stimulate critical thinking.