American Sign Language I

Catalog description

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.