Course Content and Outcomes Guides (CCOG)

CCOG for ASL 251 Winter 2025


Course Number:
ASL 251
Course Title:
Accelerated American Sign Language IV
Credit Hours:
6
Lecture Hours:
60
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Continues the work of ASL 250 in an accelerated format. Emphasizes active communication in ASL, including ASL narratives, ASL storytelling, and other topics. ASL proficiency interview may be required. ASL 201, ASL 202 and ASL 203 covers the same material as ASL 250 and ASL 251 and both cannot be applied to graduation. Recommended: Prerequisite course must have been completed within one year of class enrollment or proficiency interview within one term. Prerequisites: ASL 202 or ASL 250 or department permission.

Addendum to Course Description

 This course meets for 6 credit hours instead of the usual 4 credit 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.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. Narrate and describe events in all the major time frames including relevant and supporting facts in a connected, paragraph-length ASL discourse.
  2. Express information with sufficient accuracy, clarity, and precision to convey the intended message.
  3. Demonstrate skill in narratives and ASL storytelling; e.g. fairytale and folktale.
  4. Apply ASL linguistic and grammar features such as the use of restructuring space, classifiers, role-shifting, and use of communicative strategies like rephrasing, register, explanation or anecdote.
  5. Examine the linguistic and cultural diversity found within Deaf communities as reflected in the morals and themes in ASL folktales. 

Integrative Learning

Students completing an associate degree at Portland Community College will be able to reflect on one’s work or competencies to make connections between course content and lived experience.

General education philosophy statement

This ASL course teaches American Sign Language and Deaf culture. As part of this course, students will learn how to communicate through a visual language in a culturally appropriate manner. Students will develop a deeper understanding of Deaf culture and how it relates to other cultures. The lessons learned in this course will increase students’ multicultural awareness and how one’s own culture affects communication.

Course Activities and Design

Students are expected to attend all classes, participate actively in classroom activities, and complete homework assignments. Students may record videos of their work in class, the language lab, or at home as assigned by the instructor. ASL will be used in the classroom at all times; no spoken English is permitted. Students should plan to spend about one hour in preparation and practice outside of class for each class hour.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

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

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

The course focuses on the acquisition and correct use of sign production, grammatical structures, functional vocabulary, and cultural concepts for the purpose of successful communication in American Sign Language. Successful students will be able to use the following communication topics and structures:

  • Classifiers

  • Comparisons

  • Movement agreement

  • Discourse and transitions

  • Life events

  • Money

  • Poetry

  • Storytelling