Course Description
This course builds on MODL 1161 and provides further beginner-level instruction in American Sign Language (ASL). Students will continue to develop language proficiency through an immersive classroom experience, extending their ability to recognize various visual grammatical features, and to further develop beginning-level vocabulary and communication skill.
Course Content
The content of this course includes using ASL to:
- Discuss family, including extended family members
- Explain each family member’s rank including age, birth order, interests and employment or study
- Continue development of basic questions about family and background
- Apply basic ASL numbering systems for time (seconds, minutes and hours) and date (days, weeks, months and years)
- Express types of activities – i.e., weekend activities (indoor or outdoor)
- Develop appropriate role-shifting, placement and use of 3-D space while narrating a story
- Understand the Deaf community as a linguistic and cultural minority, and not as disabled
- Develop culturally appropriate norms of social interaction – behaviours such as how to get a Deaf person’s visual attention, etc.
The following global ideas guide the design and delivery of this course:
1. The Deaf community comprises a vibrant linguistic and cultural minority whose members are connected to each other through shared values, norms, art, traditions and especially the primacy of using a signed language.
2. The creativity and strength of the Deaf community contributes positively to society; Deaf lives exemplify unique and enriching ways of seeing and being in the world.
3. American Sign Language (ASL), la Langue des Signes Québécoises (LSQ) and Indigenous Sign Languages (ISL) are rich, visual-gestural languages used by Deaf people in Canada. Signed languages are distinctly different from spoken languages; they have their own syntax, vocabulary, grammatical structures, pragmatic norms and literary forms.
4. Studying ASL can be an exciting challenge for the majority of people who have only used language(s) that are spoken and auditory. Because ASL is a visual-gestural language, it requires the learner to use their eyes to take in linguistic information and to use their hands, face and body to convey linguistic information. Even though spoken languages incorporate some form of gestural communication, the use of 3-dimensional space is an integral feature of the structure of ASL.
Learning Activities
Class activities may include: Lecture and language lab, demonstration/modelling, dialogue and small group conversational practice, course readings/videos, among others.
Means of Assessment
Means of Assessment
This course will conform to the Douglas College Evaluation Policy regarding the number and weighting of evaluations. Typical means of evaluation would include a combination of:
• Quizzes to evaluate factual knowledge of ASL & Deaf culture
• Quizzes to evaluate receptive ASL skills
• Demonstration of expressive ASL skills
• Assigned dialogues and interaction
• Attendance and participation
No single assignment will be worth more than 20%.
A sample grade breakdown for this course might be as follows:
Video assignment 1: 20%
Video assignment 2: 20%
Mid-term exam 1: 20%
Mid-term exam 2: 20%
Final exam: 20%
Total: 100%
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to demonstrate basic conversational ASL skill to do the following:
- Explain each family member and extended family member, their rank and relationship (single, married, divorced, widowed, etc.)
- Discuss family dynamics – what they do and where they live, how often they get together for family event(s)
- Narrate a short story with appropriate ASL structure, particularly the use of role-shift and facial grammar, and including the emotive state of the character(s)
- Narrate a story in a cohesive manner (clear discourse)
- Explain like and/or dislike of activity/ies
- Differentiate between sign productions for activities (e.g., walking, hiking, strolling, running, jogging)
- Role-shift to take on the character(s) of family member(s)
- Recognize the significance of the use of non-manual signals, depictive action and facial grammar
- Describe a summary of the key values of Deaf culture and community
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of some key Deaf norms of social interaction
Textbook Materials
The instructor might choose an ASL textbook such as
Smith, Cheri. (2008). Signing Naturally. Student Workbook. San Diego, CA: DawnSignPress.