Bellevue Community College
American Sign Language 221
Fall 2008
Syllabus
Instructor: Alex Young
Class: Mon-Fri 10:30am-11:20am, L220
E-mail: ayoung@bellevuecollege.edu
Office Hours: After class or by appointment
Required Texts: Signing Naturally: Level II, Lentz, Mikos, Smith
A Place of Their Own, Van
Cleve & Crouch
Course
Description: ASL 221 is an advanced American Sign Language course
and is designed to complement course work in ASL. This advanced course will
enable you to increase your vocabulary, conversational skills, introduce you to
translating written text into ASL, and improve your ability to make formal
presentation in ASL.
Course
Objective: At the completion of the course, students should be
able to demonstrate advanced receptive and expressive competence in ASL.
Communicative activities and topics include but are not limited to during the
course:
*Understand
each unit: Units 13, 14, 15
*Understand
the grammatical and syntax principles in ASL: Locating Things Around The House,
Complaining, Making Suggestions and Requests, Exchanging Personal Information,
Life Events.
*Understand
the current issues concerning deaf and hearing cultures
Course
Policy: You can achieve efficient survival skills by total
immersion in ASL, therefore, there is a “no voice” policy. Please refrain from
using your voice the moment you step into the classroom. Using your voice is
also distracting to other students and VERY
disrespectful of the deaf teacher. Those who abuse this voice policy will
be asked to leave the classroom and this will greatly affect the final grade.
15% to 25% will be deducted from the final grade if the “no voice” policy is
abused. General respect of others is expected in class. NO racist, sexist, homophobic, or any other disrespectful remarks
will be tolerated.
Attendance
&
Participation: Regular class attendance and participation will
influence your comprehension and speed in learning the language. Because ASL is
a visual language, it is important to come to class regularly. You are allowed
two absences without penalty for the fall quarter. 1% will be deducted from
your final grade for each unexcused absence in excess of two. Tardiness is NOT tolerated and will be recorded.
Each total of three tardies will be counted as one absence.
Exams: There will be three exams this fall quarter. Each exam
will cover one unit and have three parts. 1. receptive: to test your ability to
read and understand signs 2. expressive: to test your ability to produce and
use signs and grammatical concepts 3. written: to test your ability to recall
assigned readings and discussions in class. For the receptive part, I will sign
and fingerspell. For the expressive part, you will choose a partner in which
you both will develop a conversation based on the units you are being tested on
and guidelines which the instructor will pass out. The conversation should be
between 3-4 minutes. I will let the class know the exam dates in advance. 600
points.
Deaf Ally
Project: This is a group project. Each group will educate the
BCC campus about ASL and deaf people. Each group will have different approaches
and activities. Use your creativity! Due:
Before the quarter ends
150 points.
Storytelling
Project: This is a group project. Please choose two or three
children’s book and bring them to class. Each group will show me and the class
the books and choose. Reason for this is I do not want the same book to be
used. You will tell the class the story using ASL. The story should be between
15 and 20 minutes. We will practice in class and I will help you translate from
written English into ASL. Be creative and use props if possible. Books Due: October 3 Project Due: November 21 100 points.
Community
Service
Project: This is a group project. Each group will be expected
to educate the police and hospitals on how to handle deaf individuals. Each
group will have a choice of developing a brochure OR a workshop. The group will also choose the police precinct
and/or hospital within the Seattle metro area. This project will require some
planning and I will be helping and guiding each group in class. Due: December 5 300 points
Deaf
Activity: You will be required to attend at least two deaf
community activities or events. Information will be given out in class. This
will help increase your receptive and expressive skills. The more you are
involved, the more fluent you become. Events are widespread in the
200
points.
Total
Possible Points: 1,350
Grading: A: 96% A-:
90% B+: 87% B: 83%
B-: 80% C+:
77% C: 73% C-: 70%
D+:
65% D: 60%
I strongly encourage classmates to get together and
practice outside of class
to maintain signing skills. If you have any concerns
or are in need of help
please feel free to see me. I am here to help each of
you. My goal is that all
of you enjoy and pass this course!
This syllabus is tentative