Course

American Sign Language Level 10

Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Department
Modern Languages
Course code
MODL 2361
Credits
3.00
Semester length
8 Weeks
Max class size
22
Method(s) of instruction
Seminar
Course designation
Certificate in Global Competency
Industry designation
None
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This intensive course is designed for advanced ASL students to continue increasing their ASL vocabulary and proficiency. Students will have many opportunities to practice using ASL and to continuously incorporate feedback from native ASL users, classmates and oneself. This course will also explore the difference in how English and ASL convey concepts in different settings (education, medical, community, etc). This course is required for students in the Sign Language Interpretation program.
Course content

Sentence structures, vocabulary and narrative techniques: 

  • Non-manual markers made with the mouth
  • Facial grammar and emotive affect, including humour 
  • Constructed dialogue and constructed action, and accompanying eye gaze
  • Time/tense markers and use of timelines

Building ASL vocabulary in specific settings:

  • Health/medical – talking about health and basic medical concerns/experiences
  • Educational – talking about school and university/college
  • Math – continuing to expand fluency in ASL number depictions
  • Community – talking about current and local events, organizations, places and issues

Increasing adaptability to diverse ASL users:

  • Language use across the ASL-Contact-English continuum
  • Variations due to demographics (age, background, geographical area)

Making clear visual sense:

  • Topicalization and contextualization
  • Consistency in use of referential space
  • Level of visual detail
  • Discourse markers, cohesion, prosody
  • Overall meaning and intent, including humour 
Learning activities

Class activities may include lecture and language lab, demonstration/modelling, dialogue and small group conversational practice, course readings and videos, among others.

Means of assessment

This course will conform to the Douglas College Evaluation Policy regarding the number and weighting of evaluations. Typical means of evaluation may 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

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%

No single assignment will be worth more than 20%.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

  • Demonstrate fluent, advanced ASL narration skills to do the following:
    • Incorporate appropriate use of non-manual markers in signed utterances;
    • Fluently use all 7 expansion/contextualization techniques;
    • Construct cohesive narrative discourse with appropriate discourse markers;
    • Make clear visual sense;
    • Use a rich, diverse, setting-specific ASL vocabulary; 
    • Use a variety of classifiers and locatives;
    • Use 3D referential space consistently and effectively and;
    • Use appropriate number formats for particular contexts.
  • Analyze and critique one’s own recorded ASL narratives.
  • Appropriately engage in effective peer-to-peer feedback. 
  • Identify one’s own focus areas for development and intensified practice.
  • Adapt ASL usage to communicate with a variety of signed language users.
Textbook materials

The instructor might choose an ASL textbook such as:

Smith, Cheri. (2008). Signing Naturally 3. Student Workbook. San Diego, CA: DawnSignPress.

Requisites

Prerequisites

MODL 2262 or Assessment

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for MODL 2361
Alexander College (ALEX) ALEX HUMN 2XX (3)
Athabasca University (AU) AU LANG 2XX (3)
Coast Mountain College (CMTN) No credit
College of New Caledonia (CNC) CNC CASS 188 (3) or CNC CASS 189 (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR) No credit
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU LANC 2XXX (3)
LaSalle College Vancouver (LCV) LCV COM 2XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU HUEL 2XXX (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU GENS 2XX (3)
University Canada West (UCW) UCW HUMN 2XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) Under review
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) Under review
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC INTS 3XX (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) No credit

Course Offerings

Winter 2025