ASL 101 - American Sign Language I

4 Credits, 4 Contact Hours
4 lecture periods 0 lab periods

Introduction to American Sign Language (ASL). Includes: parameters; syntax; sentence types; facial expressions and body language; pronominalization; nouns and verbs; modals; sign space; time line and time modulations; classifiers; pluralizations; and deaf history and culture. Also includes: fingerspelling numbers; lexicalized fingerspelling; conceptual accuracy; sign modulation; conversational regulators; basic compounds and contractions; and existence of regional dialects/sign and language variations. Because language and culture are inextricably linked, this course will also demonstrate how ASL conveys the values, beliefs, customs, and history of American Deaf culture.

Information: Students will be required to perform an additional 10 lab hours outside of the regular classroom schedule. This lab experience is designed to provide a “signing only” environment for students to practice classroom skills with Deaf tutors; expose students to communication in a Deaf environment; and provide students with real life exposure to the Deaf community. This class is conducted primarily without voice.
Gen-Ed: Meets AGEC - Options and C; Meets CTE - A&H and C.

1. Employ expressive communicative skills in American Sign Language at a beginning level.
2. Demonstrate receptive communicative skills in American Sign Language at a beginning level.
3. Observe and describe the cultural, community and historical contexts of the people who use American Sign Language.

1. Parameters
2. Syntax
3. Sentence Types
   1. S + V + O
   2. O, S + V
   3. Yes/no questions
   4. WH-questions
   5. Statements
   6. Negation
   7. Assertion
   8. Topic sentences
4. Pronominalization
   1. Personal
   2. Possessive
   3. Reflexive
   4. Number variants
   5. Introduction to comparisons and contrastives
5. Sign Modulation/Inflection
   1. Facial and body expression
   2. Sign Tension
   3. Sign Movement

1. Verb directionality
2. Noun verb pairs
3. Use of sign space
   1.  Specific Mouth Movements/Non-manual Markers

1. Oo
2. Cha
3. Mm
4. Cs
5. Ahh
   1. Time Line and Time Modulations
      1. All-____
      2. Every-____
      3. Number incorporation
      4. Seconds
      5. Minutes
      6. Hours
      7. Days
      8. Weeks
      9. Months
      10. Years
   2. Classifiers
      1. CL-C and variants
      2. CL-3
      3. CL-1 and variants
      4. CL:LL
      5. CL-V and variants
      6. CL-B and variants
      7. CL-A
      8. CL-O
      9. CL-5
      10. CL- (airplane)
      11. Basic clothing and design descriptions
   3. Pluralizations: Mass Quantifiers
      1. Many
      2. A lot
      3. Few
      4. Several
   4. Fingerspelling and Numbers
      1. Ordinal – 1^st – 9^th 
      2. Cardinal – 1 – 100
      3. Money to $50.
      4. Age
      5. Dates (day/month/year)
      6. Phone numbers
      7. Manual alphabet
      8. Name
      9. Clock time
      10. Lexicalized fingerspelling introductory – from SLG 101 handbook
   5. Modals (helping verbs)
      1. Must
      2. Will
      3. Can
      4. Not yet
      5. Finish
      6. Should
      7. Can’t
      8. Won’t
   6. Basic Compounds and Contractions
   7. Sign Space
      1. Directional verbs
      2. Basic mapping
      3. Direction giving
   8. Conceptual Accuracy (four of the six uses of have)

A.    Have

B.    Not yet

C.    Have to

D.    Finish

1. Deaf History
   1. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet/laurentclerc
   2. Establishment of the first school
   3. History of American Sign Language
   4. Martha’s Vineyard
   5. Abbe de l’Epee, Sicard, Jean Masseau

XV.     Communication in the Deaf Community

A.    Technical changes

B.    How to use video relay service, video phone

C.    Communication protocols

D.    Existence of regional dialects/signs and language variations

XVI.    Deaf Culture

1. Cultural behaviors

1. Greeting
2. Leave taking
3. Attention getting

B.    Introduction to Deaf culture

C.    Conversational regulators/turn taking behaviors