Assignment #1- Describing Family

To complete this assignment you will need to review PowerPoint #1. It is now posted on the class website here.

Signing Exam 1

You will be required to present the following story in a video to be uploaded to YouTube for your first Signing Exam.
***Important: The video must be one continuous shot. DO NOT edit different takes together.

You will be graded on:

• Comprehensibility
• Overall, understandable; no deletions 
• Shoulder Shifting/Eye Gaze 
• *There is a lot of role shifting in this story
• Shoulder shifts for commas or role shifting
• Use of Space/Classifiers 
• Correctness of use of indexing, pictoral outlining, and classifiers
• Sign Production
• Correctness of signs in four parameters: handshape, location, orientation, and movement
• Pacing
• Smooth signing without hesitation; natural pauses
• Facial Grammar
• Appropriateness of facial grammar

Come to class with a written transcription (any way that works for you) on Wednesday. We will practice in class Wednesday-Friday. 

*The 'exam' will be due on Monday 5/6 to YouTube and the link must be emailed to me.

Podcast 1- Developing a Signed Language

Throughout the year I will be posting podcasts on deaf history subjects. You should not be surprised to see questions about them on quizzes (*hint*).

The following podcast is about the roots of sign language (with the use of a manual alphabet very similar to the one we use in ASL today) from the earliest records of deaf education, beginning in Spain.

Important Names/Titles:

• Melchor De Yebra
• Juan Pablo Bonet
• Book: Simplification of the Letters of the Alphabet and Method of Teaching Deaf-Mutes to Speak

About ASL Gloss

We will begin to practice signing cohesive sentences this week. This will require you to have a basic understanding of ASL gloss. 

'Glossing' is a way of writing a language in another language. ASL gloss is not the written form of American Sign Language, it is not a language at all. It is a just way of representing or transcribing a language.

Sign Language is a rich language that is visual, gestural, and spacial. No written form of ASL has been accepted by the deaf community. Glossing is a tool we will use in this class to help learn ASL.

Here is a great source that goes into detail about glossing ASL: http://lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/gloss.htm

For this class, here are the basics you need to know:

• A capitalized word in gloss represents a sigle sign in ASL
• ex/ DEAF, GOOD
• Two or more words joined together by a hyphen is a single sign in ASL
• ex/ DONT-KNOW, PUT-DOWN
• Words with letters joined together with hyphens represent fingerspelled words or abbreviations
• ex/ J-U-L-I-E, A-P-T

Also: (Pronouns and Possessive Pronouns)

• IX=1 means I, me
• IX=2 means you
• IX=3 means they, he, she

• POS=1 means my, mine
• POS=2 means your, yours
• POS=3 means their, theirs

Here are some examples of glossed sentences:

• Is she a teacher?
• IX=3 TEACHER IX=3?

• What is your name?
• POS=2 NAME WHAT?

• John is tall.
• J-O-H-N IX=3, IX=3 TALL. (or) J-O-H-N IX=3 TALL IX=3.

This is all you need to know for now. You will learn to gloss ASL in English next year in ASL II!

***Extra Credit:

Using the above information and the link I provided you, try glossing the following sentences:

1. My name is Carol.
2. I am a student here.
3. Where can I study?

For up to 6 points extra credit, email me your gloss transcription by Tuesday before class.

Welcome to ASL I

Here are a few resources you might find helpful throughout the year. I have also created a 'Links' widget on this page listing them for easy access at a later time.

• http://www.nad.org- The National Association of the Deaf

• http://www.deaflibrary.org- The Deaf Resource Library

• http://asl.ms/- A great resource for practicing to read fingerspelling

• http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/infoToGo/- Information on deafness organized by topic
• http://signingsavvy.com- A great ASL dictionary