Department of World Languages
American Sign Language 1-SLG101
Course Syllabus
Fall 2010
Instructor: Elena Bricoccoli (“Professor B”)
Days: Tuesdays & Thursdays
Time: 12:30pm – 2:10pm
Class Location: LC367
E-mail: elena.bricoccoli@sccmail.maricopa.edu
(Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns.)
Office Hours: By appointment only
Textbook Requirement
Learning American Sign Language, Second Edition
Beginning & Intermediate Levels I & II
Tom Humphries & Carol Padden
Please read this syllabus carefully. It outlines all activities and assignments for the next 16
weeks. You are required to understand and follow it. Please see me if you have any questions.
Course Objectives
SLG 101 is an introduction of principles, methods, and techniques for communicating with deaf
people who sign, including development of expressive and receptive sign skills, manual alphabet,
numbers, and sign vocabulary. Overview of syntax, grammar, and culture related to American
Sign Language (ASL).
Course Description
The Maricopa County Community College District official course competencies are as follows:
Recognize the parameters of a sign language: Handshape, Palm Orientation, Location,
Movement, and Facial Expression.
Recognize non-verbal communication as it relates to ASL.
Apply receptive and expressive mastery of grammatical features of ASL – pronouns,
verbs, tense indicators, negatives, adjectives, adverbs, classifiers in specific commands,
questions and statements.
Apply receptive and expressive mastery of targeted numbers combined with age, time,
money, and plurals.
Recognize and form the manual alphabet.
Apply the ability to initiate, conduct, and terminate a short specific conversation in ASL.
The curriculum parallels what we know about language development and second language
learning. We focus on introducing language in context and reinforcing what is learned by
engaging you into various interactive activities. A conversational curriculum requires you
to be an active learner. You need to come prepared to sign with other classmates and
me. Our classes are conducted in ASL from the very first day. You are immersed in the
language for 1 hour and 40 minutes every Tuesdays and Thursdays to maximize your
language learning. Your instructor will use gestures, signs, drawings, and act out
situations to get the point across. Your job is to keep trying. This may sound a bit
daunting at first, but trust me it works!
Student’s Responsibility
It is the student‟s responsibility to learn as many vocabularies (signs) as possible. The
more signs you know the more confident and skilled you will be when communicating in
ASL.
It is the student‟s responsibility to expect to form study groups of 3-5 students with
members of this class for additional practice. Study groups are required to meet a
minimum of 1 hour per week. Study groups are an important key to your success in this
class.
It is the student‟s responsibility to arrive on time and stay for the entire class session.
If you MUST depart early, PLEASE inform the instructor PRIOR to the beginning of
class. Class begins PROMPTLY at the designated time. If you depart early without
notification, your attendance will be marked as ABSENT. Your instructor will give out the
roll call closer to the end of the class.
If student misses a class, it is his/her responsibility to acquire the “gems” they missed.
In other words, EXCHANGE phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses, with at least two
classmates, in order to network with other students.
If student decide to drop this class, it is his/her responsibility to file the necessary
paperwork. If he/she stops attending class, without officially dropping, he/she will
receive a grade of “F.” It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the
ADD/DROP procedure.
Classroom Rules
No iPods/PDAs. Turn cell phones to silent mode and put them away out of sight during
class.
No chewing gum/eating during class.
No sunglasses or hats are to be worn during class. ASL is a visual language requiring using
of facial expression and eye contact in order to effectively communicate.
No guests/visitors/friends/children allowed.
Students are expected to complete all assignments given by the instructor and to
participate in group and individual activities in class.
Talking during class is disruptive and impolite. ASL is a visual language which doesn‟t use
voice and you are expected to use ASL for classroom communication.
Voice interpreting for other students is not permitted. If you do not understand
something, please ask me for clarification.
In order to facilitate language acquisition and communication, you will be expected to sit
in a „U‟ shape seating arrangement, unless otherwise announced.
Course Requirements
Attendances- You will be required to stay for the entire class session which helps to
develop learning your ASL skills. Your instructor will give out roll call in 5 to 10 minutes
before the class ends.
Quizzes- Six quizzes will be given during the semester.
Exams- There will be 2 exams this semester: midterm and final. It a suggest that you
could buy/bring ear plug during quiz/examination. This will reduce distractions during
testing.
ASL Presentations- You will be required to write, memorize and sign an original short
story during the semester. Each will be on a specific topic using appropriate ASL. More
information will be given at a later date.
Culture Paper- You will be required to research information regarding some aspect of the
deaf community and will write a 2-3 page paper based on their research and present the
information to the class. More information will be given at a later date.
Deaf Experiences- You will be required to attend 2 deaf events and write a one-page
journal reflection about each of your experiences.
Study Group Logs- You will be required to form a group of 3-5 people that will meet
weekly to practice ASL for at least 1 hour. You will be required to submit a summary 4
times during the semester describing: who was in the practice session, what was
practiced, where you practiced and when you practiced (meaning dates and times).
Grading
Grades will be based on the following:
Attendances – (30) 5 points each day
Quizzes – (3) 35 points each
ASL Presentations – 50 points
Culture Paper – 25 points
Deaf Experiences – (2) 25 points each
Study Group Logs – (4) 25 points each
Final Exam – 100 points
~Total Points – 580 points
Notes: All the assignments are due on the DUE DATE! There are NO MAKE-UP
quizzes/test/assignments. In case of an absence due to an emergency or illness, please
see me about making an exception.
Grading Scale:
100% - 90%
89% - 80%
79% - 70%
A
B
C
69% - 60%
59% - 0%
D
F
Cheating & Plagiarism
Scottsdale Community College considers cheating to be a voluntary act for which there is no
acceptance excuse (please refer to the Scottsdale Community College General Catalog and
Student Handbook for full text and policy). I may give the student a failing grade for the
assignment, for the courses, or drop the student from the course, even though, the student
may have successfully and presumably, honestly passed the previous portion of the course.
Hint
Take advantage of any resource/information available via the internet. Check out: www.aslpro.com,
www.ohsoez.com, www.insightcinema.org, www.gladinc.org, www.deafwest.org, www.caldeaf.com,
www.fomdi.com, www.wrad.org, www.lifeprint.com, and www.youtube.com (keyword: deaf or ASL).
“Your eyes will become you ears.”
Assignment
8/24 -
Overview the course syllabus, fingerspelling, and class introduction.
8/26 -
Overview the fingerspelling, numbers, and group activity.
8/31 -
Quiz #1 Fingerspelling & Numbers.
Introductions and Personal Information (Unit 1) and introduce wh-question types.
9/2
-
Review Unit 1, review wh-question types, introduce the 4 parameters, and group
activity.
9/7
-
Learning ASL (Unit 2), and review the 4 parameters and group activity.
9/9
-
Review Unit 2 and partners in practice.
9/14 -
Politeness (Unit 3) and the day of the week.
9/16 -
Review Unit 3, partners in practice, and group activity.
9/21 -
Descriptions (Unit 4) and group activity. Study Group Logs Due
9/23 -
Review Unit 4, months of the year, seasons, and major holidays.
9/28 -
Review Unit 1 – 4, 4 parameters, wh-question types, day of the week, months of the
year, seasons, and major holidays.
9/30 -
Quiz #2 and group activity.
10/5 -
Requests (Unit 5) and Expressing Yourself (Unit 6)
10/7 -
Review Unit 5 & 6, introduce nouns & verbs, and partners in practice.
10/12-
More Descriptions (Unit 7), classifiers, and group activity.
Deaf Culture Due
10/14-
Review Unit 7, review classifiers, and partners in practice.
10/19-
Family and Friends (Unit 8), introduce past, present & future, and introduce
animals. Study Group Logs Due
10/21-
Review Unit 8, and partners in practice.
10/26-
Review Unit 5 – 8, nouns & verbs, classifiers, past, present & future, and animals.
10/28-
Quiz #3 and group activity.
11/2 -
More Descriptions (Unit 9) and At Home and Daily Living (Unit 10).
11/4 -
Review Unit 9 & 10, introduce household activities, and group activity.
11/9 -
Food and Food Shopping (Unit 11) and introduce money.
11/11 -
Holiday
11/16 -
ASL Presentation (Red Group)
Study Group Logs Due
11/18 -
ASL Presentation (Blue Group)
11/23-
Review Unit 11, review money and partner in practice.
11/25-
Holiday/Happy Thanksgiving!
11/30-
Offering and Declining (Unit 12), introduce nature world, and group activity.
12/2 -
Review Unit 12 and group activity.
12/7 -
Review on Unit 1 – 6 and group activity.
Deaf Experiences Due
12/9 -
Review on Unit 6 – 12 and group activity.
12/14-
No Class
12/16-
Final Exam! (11:30 – 1:20)
Study Group Logs Due