ASL 1101 - American Sign Language and Culture I

1. Demonstrate competency in fingerspelling by utilizing the proper formation of the alphabet to spell words clearly and to recognize those words fingerspelled.
2. Converse on a basic level on topics such as school, family, friends and home.
3. Recognize and incorporate specific features of the signing utilizing parameters of ASL such as hand shape, movement, location and palm orientation.
4. Recognize and incorporate non-manual signals such as body language, mouth morphemes, grammatical facial expressions and beginner-level eye gaze.
5. Properly implement Deaf behaviors and norms while conversing with native users of the language inside and outside of the classroom setting.
6. Appreciate the unique linguistic relationship between language and culture in ASL and how this interdependence affects Deaf and hard-of-hearing persons who use ASL to communicate.
7. Understand and analyze basic grammatical principals of ASL such as SVO (subject, verb, object sentences structure) and OSV syntax as they related to Topic/Comment as well as RHQ.
8. Compare and contrast between various linguistic aspects of signed versus spoken language in general and between ASL and English in particular.
9. Appreciate the relationship between the Deaf community and societies in which they live both in the United States and abroad as well as the affect governments and laws (such as the American Disabilities Act) can have on the Deaf communities.

1. Finger-spelling (alphabet) and lexicalized vocabulary such as loan signs using fingerspelling
2. Counting, series/incorporated numbers, expressing age, personal numbers and using numbers with money
3. Making measurements (height, weight etc.)
4. Introducing yourself and exchanging personal information
5. Vocabulary relating to school, family, friends and home
6. Asking yes/no and open-ended questions and simple rhetorical questions (RHQ)
7. Affirmative, and negative sentences
8. Interrupting politely and apologizing
9. Making requests or polite commands
10. Telling time and time-related expressions and using “time signs” to indicate past and future tenses
11. Listing and Ordering Technique to express adverbs of time (e.g. before, after, during)
12. Classifiers to show movement, location, origin, and spatial relationships
13. Using verbs that change movement to show location or indicate subject and object
14. Expressing your feelings, opinions, and preferences
15. Personal pronouns and gender distinction
16. Non-manual signals such as facial expressions, eye gaze and shoulder-shifting
17. Indexing
18. Social and political issues in the Deaf Community such as cochlear implants, schools for the deaf, and marriages between Deaf and hearing people
19. Intercultural communication and differences regarding proper etiquette between hearing and Deaf people (e.g. introducing yourself, getting attention, being polite, the value of information and bluntness)
20. Pragmatic daily life issues for the deaf such as driving, using the telephone, answering the door, and knowing when a child is crying