ASL serves the same functions for those deaf people who were brought
up in the deaf community. Deaf persons socialized in the deaf community
are those who had deaf parents or who made early contact with other deaf
individuals in residential (boarding) schools for deaf students. Having
learned ASL spontaneously like hearing children learn to talk their parents'
language, these deaf persons think and express themselves intellectually
and emotionally best in ASL. In other words, ASL is their native tongue.
Just like the members of other minority groups who have their own language,
deaf people in the United States also come into contact with English
to the extent of their abilities. Deaf persons thus may choose between
two languages - ASL and English - depending on the degree of formality
which a situation presents. However, in the case of deaf persons, the
variety of English used often takes a visible form involving signs. Called
Sign English or Manual English, this kind of communication combines the
vocabulary of ASL with the word order of English, although both are somewhat
modified in the process.
Thus, in effect, Sign English is a mixed language. When two groups of
interacting people cannot make themselves understood, a mixed language
is often the result. In the case of Sign English, the combination of
signs and English permits communication between deaf persons and those
who are not members of the deaf community, as well as a mode of communication
among deaf people for formal situations