Faculty Syllabus

It is accelerated programs consist of short online classes. A traditional college course lasts 16 weeks, but an accelerated ASL program compresses courses into shorter five-week sessions. You literally earn your degree faster by studying faster. 

Course Description:

This course is an integration of expressive and receptive skills in American Sign Language (ASL) with emphasis on grammar, linguistics, literature, and discourse styles at an intermediate level. Provides students with information on linguistic and cultural variations. The course requires significant time outside of class. (3-2-3) This is a three-credit-hour course with two lecture hours each week and three laboratory or activity hours each week. The course requires significant time outside of class. 

Course Rationale/Objectives

The purpose of this course is to help students develop the study skills needed to learn a language and to review and practice what they are learning in class. This may include lectures, small group activities, use of electronic media, going to the ASLIT Lab, and Deaf events. Students will be encouraged to practice their comprehension and production skills to have a positive experience with this course. Participation in class and/or online is expected of students.

Prerequisites

• SGNL 2302 ASL III with a minimum grade of C
• You must make a C or better in this class to meet the prerequisite for SGNL 2334, American Sign Language V.
• Official Course Language: American Sign Language (with some English supporting documents & readings)

Required Texts/Materials 

1. TRUE+WAY ASL: Units 15 – 18 Student e- Workbook (3rd edition). Austin, TX: Purple Moontower.
   First, go to the Blackboard and start with the TRUE+WAY ASL (TWA) student JOIN link to connect your workbook directly to this course. The 'TWA student JOIN link' will be posted in the Blackboard Announcement. When you register for the eWorkbook, you will be prompted to pay or put in codes (you can pay directly or get codes from the ACC bookstore). 
2. GoReact - online video recording feedback tool platform [ACC license - no cost to students.] Be sure you use your ACC email when creating an account. 

This is a separate application from TRUE+WAY ASL. Complete this inside the TWA eWorkbook with your first video assignment, you will be prompted to create your Goreact account within the TWA eWorkbook, and you must use your ACC email address! DO NOT, under any circumstances, go to the GoReact website!  The GoReact App is INSIDE the TWA eWorkbook.

Technology Requirements/Skills:

• High-speed Internet access to ACC Gmail, ACC course Learning Management System (Blackboard, Canvas, or Google Classroom), and course-related materials. Internet recommended download/upload speed 50 Mbps or better (you can test your internet speed: www.speedtest.net by Ookla).
• Laptop or desktop computer with a camera (required). Smartphones and/or tablets may be insufficient, especially for quizzes/exams.
• Chrome browser (strongly recommended) or similar

Course outline:

Unit 15 History

Unit 15.1: US and Canadian History

Unit 15.2: US and Canadian Deaf History

Unit 15.3: Breaking Records

Unit 15.4: Museums and Historical Tours

Unit 16 The Human Body

Unit 16.1: External Parts

Unit 16.2: Internal Parts

Unit 16.3: Medical Procedures

Unit 16.4: Personal Hygiene

Unit 17 Sports and Activities

Unit 17.1: It's all about the Movement

Unit 17.2: Individual Sports and Activities

Unit 17.3: Team and Competitive Sports

Unit 17.4: Sporting Facts and Statistics

Unit 18 Animals and Terrains

Unit 18.1: How Animals Move

Unit 18.2: Mammals, Birds, & Arthropods

Unit 18.3: Fish, Reptiles, & Amphibians

Unit 18.4: Interesting Animal Facts

Film Titles: 

1. Stultz: Harry Potter vs Deaf School; and DiMarco: Harry Potter vs Deaf School
2. Dandelions by Clayton Valli
3. Commerson: Redefining D-E-A-F and  Benedict: The Missing Link
4. Convo Relay: New England Deaf Community

ASL Passport: 

You must earn 6 points to satisfy the ASL Passport requirement. For options, please refer to the ASL Passport checklist sheet. Be proactive in your search, plan well ahead for events and meetings, and not wait until the last minute. See the ASL Passport checklist document for more details. The four-units (lab-guided) dialogue assignments file at the end of each unit module will show you the instructions. Sign up for the lab session with your partners!

Program Learning Outcomes:

The ASL and Interpreter training program’s learning outcomes align with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Texas Board for Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI).   A complete list of ASLIT’s program learning outcomes can be found here. 

Course and Student Learning Outcomes: 

1. Vocabulary Development

1. The student will be exposed to a targeted set of vocabulary items.
2. Given a set of targeted vocabulary items drawn from course items and videos, the students will demonstrate comprehensive mastery of vocabulary items.
3.  Students will be able to expand ASL vocabulary and the ability to utilize ASL expansion strategies when specific vocabulary is unknown.

2. Grammatical Features

1. Grammatical features of ASL will be utilized in all conversational exchanges and class exercises. Students are encouraged not to think in English form.
2. The student will demonstrate expressive mastery of dialogues and short sentence narratives and/or stories utilizing ASL grammatical features.

3. Conversational and Communication Skills

1. The student will demonstrate receptive competence for relatively short narratives, stories, and so forth in ASL told by the professor and/or Deaf-ASL natives and ASL classmates.
2. The student will demonstrate the ability to initiate, conduct and terminate context-specific conversations with Deaf-ASL natives other than the professor.
3. The student will demonstrate the ability to express self-generated stories, narratives, and others in ASL.

4. Cultural Awareness

1. The student will read/see information on Deaf Americans, ASL, and its history. The student is responsible for cultural notes and information from lectures discussed in class, TRUE+WAY ASL, films, and assigned tasks.
2. The student will continue to be exposed to Deaf culture/Language use. Students are responsible for Culture Notes in the workbook, videotapes shown in the course module, and cultural information presented in discussions.