Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

 This course meets for 5 hours instead of the usual 3 hours a week.  This course is a continuation of the major grammatical features of ASL to develop communicative and interactive competencies in the language and culture of the Deaf.  This course also focuses on ASL literature by introducing students to ASL storytelling techniques, story analysis and ASL poetry and its techniques.  This course utilizes receptive skills through videotapes.  Students are expected to experiment with ASL storytelling and poetry.  Cultural information is shared through readings and classroom discussions. Textbook Used:  required:  American Sign Language (Baker-Shenk & Cokely) (green book)  Student text Units 19-27 and Bird of a Different Feather and For a Decent Living workbook and videotape, ASL Poetry videotape and ASL poetics by Clayton Valli Optional: U.S. of ASL poetry videotape by Peter Cook, The Treasure videotape by Ella Mae Lentz and ASL storytelling techniques by Brenda Liebman Aron.

 Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
· Narrate and describe events in all the major time frames including relevant and supporting facts in a connected, paragraph length ASL discourse
· Express information with sufficient accuracy, clarity, and precision to convey the intended message, and skill in narratives and ASL storytelling; e.g. fairytale and folktale
· Apply ASL linguistic and grammar features; e.g. use of restructuring space, classifiers, role-shifting, use of communicative strategies such as rephrasing, register, explanation or anecdote
· Discuss and explore the linguistic and cultural diversity within the Deaf World; appreciate and understand the moral behind the culturally Deaf folktales; compare and contrast Deaf storytellers’ work, political issues, various social services and programs (national and international).
· Meet the skills required for Advanced Mid (ACTFL Guideline)

Uses activities and materials from required:  American Sign Language (Baker-Shenk & Cokely) (green book)  Student text Units 19-27 and Bird of a Different Feather and For a Decent Living workbook and videotape, ASL Poetry videotape and ASL poetics by Clayton Valli. Optional: U.S. of ASL poetry videotape by Peter Cook, The Treasure videotape by Ella Mae Lentz and ASL storytelling techniques by Brenda Liebman Aron.

Assessment strategies include observation of students' in-class receptive and expressive use of ASL, written quizzes on cultural
knowledge and on receptive skills, and videotaping of students' expressive use of ASL.

Includes all or most of the following:

• Manages dialogues on a variety of topics
   
• Providing information
   
• Explaining an accident
   
• Talking about winter sports
   
• Talking about colleges
   
• Discussing illness and hospitals
   
• Talking about courts
   
• Analyzing language usage
   
• Analyzing ASL stories
   
• Manages small group discussions
   
• Discussing/analyzing ASL literature
   
• Sharing Cartoons and jokes
   
• Sharing short stories
   
• Discussing/analyzing ASL Poetics
   
• Sharing students created ASL poetry
   
• Discussing transition markers
   

Themes, Concepts and Issues:
Includes all or most of the following:

• Vocabulary:
   
• ASL expressions
   
• Plurality in ASL
   
• Time Signs
   
• Feelings
   
• Opinions
   
• Action Verbs
   
• ASL Storytelling techniques
   
• ASL poetic techniques
   

ASL Grammar:

• Sentence Types
   
• Time
   
• Pronominalization
   
• Subjects and objects
   
• Classifiers
   
• Locatives
   
• Pluralization
   
• Temporal aspect
   
• Distributional aspect
   
• Transition markers
   

ASL storytelling techniques:

• Analyzing an ASL story
   
• Utilizing signing space
   
• Practicing role shifting
   
• Acting out different characters
   
• Showing changing perspectives
   
• Acting out inanimate objects (personification)
   
• Showing appropriate expressions
   
• Discussing setting a scene
   
• Discussing period of time
• ASL Poetics
• Analyzing ASL poetics
   
• Discussing ASL rhyme
   
• Utilizing hand shape rhyme
   
• Showing movement rhyme
   
• Showing location rhyme
   
• Showing palm orientation rhyme
   
• Utilizing non-manual signal rhyme
   
• Discussing symbols and metaphors
   
• Discussing classifier predicates
   
• Discussing personification and irony
   
• Discussing stanza, meter and rhythm
• Cultural Information
   
• Alarms/signaling devices for Deaf people
   
• World games for the Deaf
   
• National Technical Institute of The Deaf
   
• Deaf patients in hospitals
   
• Deaf people and jury duty
   
• A Deaf experience: Bird of a Different Feather
   
• A Deaf Experience: For a Decent Living
   
• Comparative cultural analysis of : For a Decent Living and Bird of a Different Feather
   
• Discussion of ASL Poetics and storytelling

Process Skills:

• Participate actively through conversation, demonstration, modeling, visual readiness, storytelling, poetry and videotaping.
   
• Discover patterns and meaning in the language through dialogues, storytelling and poetics
   
• Receive information and express as clearly in ASL.
   
• Work collaboratively with all students in the class
   
• Prepare expressive skills in ASL storytelling and poetry that illustrate that these goals have been reached.