AMSL110 American Sign Language I

Department of Language & Literature: American Sign Language

  1. Course Number and Title

    AMSL110 American Sign Language I

  2. Number of Credits

    3 credits

  3. Minimum Number of Instructional Minutes Per Semester

    2250

  4. Prerequisites

    None

    Corequisites

    None

  5. Other Pertinent Information

    This course may not satisfy foreign language requirements at transfer institutions.

  6. Catalog Course Description

    In this introduction to American Sign Language, students develop visual receptive skills, with a focus on visual memory, visual discrimination, and gestural expressive skills, and learn basic ASL vocabulary and grammatical structures. This course introduces students to the American Deaf Community as a linguistic and cultural minority.

  7. Required Course Content and Direction

    1. Learning Goals:

      1. Course
        2. Students will:
        1. develop receptive and expressive skills in American Sign Language;
        2. recognize and produce ASL vocabulary and grammatical structures; and
        3. articulate an awareness of some of the cross-cultural issues facing the American Deaf Community as a minority culture.

      2. Core (if applicable)
        3. Category I
        Cultural Perspectives
         Students will:
        1. demonstrate knowledge and awareness of some components of our society’s cultural heritage, such as artistic, historical, linguistic, literary, and philosophical foundations;
        2. compare, contrast, analyze, and/or defend differing world views and practices.

        Category III
        International, Gender and/or Minority Perspectives
         Students will:
        1. articulate similarities and differences in the various cultures of the world and demonstrate familiarity with the skills necessary to make informed judgments;

    2. Planned Sequence of Topics and/or Learning Activities:

      1. practice and apply the grammatical forms mentioned below in the communicative context of expressive and receptive signing skills
      2. acquire and use appropriate vocabulary based on the everyday topics mentioned below
      3. determine the right way to express themselves in various social settings, by learning on an elementary level “how, when, and why to say what to whom”
      4. compare and contrast the various cultural aspects of Deaf culture and community with their own

      Grammatical Topics

      Vocabulary and non-manual grammatical signals for question forms (yes/no and “wh”-forms)
      Negation
      Pronoun relationships (indicative, possessive)
      Subject-object relationships and directionality
      Non-manual adjectives for distance
      Use of space
      Contrastive structure
      Numbering systems for cardinal numbers, age and calendar time

      Vocabulary and Social Contexts

      Introduce themselves and others
      Exchange personal information
      Talk about their surroundings
      Tell about where they live and modes of transportation
      Talk about families
      Talk about daily activities

    3. Assessment Methods for Core Learning Goals:

      1. Course
        2. Students
        1. take frequent quizzes and unit tests;
        2. complete homework, such as short composition and grammatical exercises;
        3. perform visual comprehension exercises; and
        4. participate in visual interviews and/or presentations that assess proficiency levels.

      2. Core (if applicable)
        1. Cultural Perspectives: Quizzes and tests taken in class include the cultural topics presented in the course. Students compare, contrast, analyze, and/or defend differing worldviews and practices of some members of the deaf community.
        2. International, Gender, and/or Minority Perspectives: Quizzes and tests taken in class include the cultural topics presented in the course. Students articulate similarities and differences in the various cultures of the world and demonstrate familiarity with the skills necessary to make informed judgments.

    4. Reference, Resource, or Learning Materials to be used by Students:

      Students use text, multimedia resources, and workbook of first-year proficiency-based American Sign Language program and a supplemental cultural reader. See course format.

  8. Teaching Methods Employed

    Section VIII is not being used in new and revised syllabi as of 12/10/08.

Review/Approval Date -3/98; Core Goals/Objectives added 4/04; Revised 4/2011