Callie Frye interviews Garrett Bose

Callie Frye: Hi! I reached out to this person about his videos on social media that often go viral with many shares and comments. His content has truly made an impact on the Deaf community!

(Video clip by Garrett Bose on ASL Grammar covering "Equal Structure," "Unique Word Functions," and "Mouth Movement Adverbs")

Callie Frye: Some of his content may be controversial because he shares some of his opinions and perspectives about ASL and English. He also teaches ASL grammar in his posts. I learned a lot from him, and reached out to him for an interview which he gladly accepted. This person’s name is Garrett Bose! I want to ask you, Garrett, to tell me more about yourself and why you became interested in teaching ASL and sharing your talent with others. What gave you the motivation, or who inspired you to do this?

Garrett Bose: Hello! This is my sign name. The reason I became interested in teaching ASL grammar is because I currently teach ASL to college students and have observed that some information about ASL grammar is lacking or missing in the curriculum. So, I decided to make some changes. If it wasn’t for me teaching ASL, these productions would never have happened. The reason I’ve been sharing videos about ASL grammar is because I didn’t want the information I taught in my classes to be contained while many deaf students have never taken any ASL classes. I decided to share that content on social media to everyone.

Callie Frye: I know you love ASL. I’ve noticed you may defend the use of English words and grammar in ASL.

(Video clip by Garrett Bose titled, "The Theatrical ASL Show" that shows Garrett showing an example of singing a lyric in an Artistic style versus an Artistic & Wordy style). Bose says it is more challenging to understand the artistic ASL with fewer words.)

Callie Frye: I’m curious, why? Also with music, you support the use of English words and phrases in ASL. What’s your intention in that?

Garrett Bose: Instead of thinking if a language code is in English or not, look at it as ASL. Is it beneficial or not? Letter signs and functional signs like of, to, be, and by have a strong code. Letter signs that are removed yet the sign is the only of its kind, like changing the sign for “people” to this instead of using the P letter is perfectly fine. Now, changing “human” to a sign without the “H” handshape makes it the same sign as others like “body”, and I don’t encourage that. With functional words, I took a minimum approach where if functional words are missing, or if something is packed with functional words, that wouldn’t be ideal but something in the middle would work. For example, the sign “in” in a sentence. “I live apartment” in ASL makes sense. You don’t need to sign “I live in apartment” in ASL. Now, using “in” in this sentence “I found book in car” is fine. It depends on the sentence. Really, almost all if not all ASL users include functional signs in their signing. Speaking of language use in music and theatre, many signers’ translations of English scripts don’t fit the audience’s daily use of language. Functional words are often removed, and that has been an ongoing issue. It’s a challenge for the audience to understand. That’s why I was inspired to create vlogs to explain and clarify how to embrace language as a code.

Callie Frye: You have fantastic video editing skills! For example, in your content you have different backgrounds and different sizes. How did you develop your video editing skills? Have you always been talented at that, or did you recently learn from someone? Are there any materials you use to learn how to edit videos?

Garrett Bose: As for video editing, I used to want to create 3D animation with ASL. I started reading books on that, but I realized it was a lot of work to do on my own so I shifted to using animation in the background of a signer which was a lot easier. I didn’t learn from a specific person and was already an artist before I became a teacher. I have a BA in Digital Arts and a MA in Sign Language Education, which makes for a perfect combination.

(Video clip by Garrett Bose on "ASL Grammar: 3D Body." The clip shows Garrett signing, "A person runs fast" with different elements that shift in and out of the frame to emphasize how body parts and mouth movements are a part of ASL grammar)

Callie Frye: How did you recognize the lack of grammar in ASL curriculums? Have you been doing something about that, or what are your plans on what to do with the lack of grammar in the ASL curriculum?

Garrett Bose: As a teacher, based on my observations it’s not easy to find grammar in today’s ASL curricula. If I wanted to find a specific kind of grammar rule, it might be under the “food” category and it requires digging through it like a sandwich to find something. Instead of that, I went ahead and wrote down specific grammar rules and kept it simple. Sometimes the curriculum doesn’t have specific grammar rules so I go ahead and write it down. For example, this sign for “self” isn’t there. There is little or no evidence of adverbs in facial expressions, so I went ahead and made a note of that. The same is true for functional words, so I write it down specifically when to use it or not. I’m still working on that, and I also want this to be a good fit for K-12 deaf students.

(Video clip by Garrett Bose on ASL Grammar with 3D elements. He shows a comparison of two sentences with no 3D aspects or facial expressions versus those that include the elements).

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Callie Frye: Why did you decide to share your observations and thoughts through social media?

Garrett Bose: Social media is a useful tool to reach a wider audience and provides good opportunities to plant seeds of knowledge and encourage growth. I cannot change the world alone, so instead I shall plant these seeds to encourage some change. I hope someday when seeing code, people will not focus on whether it’s English or not and instead consider if it’s beneficial or not. I also hope my posts help ASL students plus anyone shift their perspective on how to do ASL more clearly and fluently.

(Video clip by Garrett Bose showing his findings after he did a Google Search on "ASL grammar." He notices that websites frequently emphasize the "Topic + Comment" order, provides examples of it, and said it's not what ASL grammar should be limited to.)

Callie Frye: What do you hope people who follow your social media posts will take away from your content? And do you have any future plans?

Garrett Bose: Right now, I’m working on a project to create an ASL grammar production. It’ll compare two signers, with one not including grammar and another including grammar to see the difference between the two. I won’t be the only one signing, and I’ll bring in different signers for this project. I’ll also look for collaboration opportunities. We’ll see how it goes!

Callie Frye: Thank you, Garrett! Your work is very important. I look forward to seeing more of you through social media and K-12 education. Thank you for recognizing the lack of grammar in ASL curriculums and for working towards making a change.

Check out Garrett Bose's FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/GarrettBose