ASL Notes

Components of a Sign

  • The five fundamental building blocks of a sign are:

    • Handshape

    • Movement

    • Location

    • Palm orientation

    • Non-manual markers (NMM)

Classifiers

  • A set of handshapes that represent classes of things that share similar characteristics.

  • Purpose of classifiers:

    • Clarify messages

    • Highlight specific details

    • Provide an efficient way to convey information

  • When using a classifier, introduce it before using it to represent an object.

Deaf Culture

  • Similarity to hearing culture: Both have their own ways of communication, socializing, becoming educated, and working with modern technology.

  • Languaculture: The idea that a child’s language and culture cannot be separated because they are intertwined.

  • Deaf Space: A place where children can interact, communicate, and collaborate with each other using both languages without architectural barriers.

Fables

  • A short story to teach a moral lesson, often with animals as characters.

Conditional Sentences in ASL

  • A sentence that presents a 'condition' before an action can occur, using specific NMM.

ICL in ASL

  • Instrumental Classifier; it shows how a character handles objects in a story.

Uses of Classifiers

  • Describe the size and shape of an object

  • Represent the object itself

  • Describe how the object moves

  • Describe how it relates to other objects or people

How Classifiers Help

  • Paint a more precise picture of what your object looks like, or of what happened.

Learning Classifiers

  • The best way to learn classifiers in ASL is to get out into the Deaf community and observe the masters.

Examples of Classifiers

  • Bent V classifier:

    • Seated (person or animal): crouching, squatting, hunched down, perched

    • Bending knees: climbing stairs or mountains, jumping, sitting

    • Arrangement of chairs: chairs in a semi-circle; circle; multiple rows

    • Thin pulling object: bow string, pulling wire (to signal the bus to stop)

  • Flat O classifier:

    • Objects that are round at the bottom and a slight opening at the top: tulips, closed flower bud

    • Animals with long necks: giraffe, llama, goose, swan, dinosaur, cobra

    • Thick Claws: (slight modification of CL:O-flat & CL:5) lobster, crab

  • Closed 5 classifier:

    • Road, wall, hallway, ceiling, floor, shelf, or runway!

  • U/H classifier:

    • A variation of CL: V: legs together, standing on a sidewalk, a person on a surfboard

    • Thin flat objects: boards, bacon, noodles, name tag or badge, label, band aid

    • Lathering device: spreading butter or frosting, a dog licking a person's face

  • L classifier:

    • Thin square objects: placemat, driver’s license, greeting card

    • Thin square objects in a specific location, picture on a wall

    • Objects with a short barrel, drill or lazer

Establishing Characters in a Story

  • Stay consistent by placing them on the left and right sides for the entire story.

  • Signs that refer to characters need to match the location and height of the character.

  • Steps used in placing a character:

    1. Reacts first, then point to the location of the character

    2. Tilt your head to show distance and location

    3. Look at the audience when he names the character

    4. Shift his eye gaze and signs to match the height and location of the character

  • When using a verb agreement with a role shift, the movement of the verb must refer to the character’s location.

Story Titles

  • When giving a title of a story, sign or spell it word for word.

Describing Characters

  • Describing a character’s thoughts: Role shift that character looking at the subject of its thoughts and sign slow and close to the body.

  • Describing a character’s intentions: Role shift that character and look at the audience with a scheming facial expression and describe the intentions or plan.

Translation

  • When translating from English to ASL, convey MEANING not word for word english!!

Modern Developments that Hinder Deaf Culture

  • Genetic engineering, auditory technology, access to public education, decline in attendance in Deaf clubs and enrollment in Deaf Center Schools.

ASL Storytellers

  • Deaf parents and Deaf teachers can be used as ASL Storytellers in a Deaf education classroom.

Classroom Environment and Deaf Culture

  • How the furniture of the classroom can show Deaf culture:

    • Crescent shaped table allows more face-to-face interactions

    • Decorate with Deaf Culture/ASL posters

    • Books on the shelves with ASL vocabulary

    • Other materials modeling 2 languages

Skills of Deaf Readers

  • Deaf readers are able to go back and forth between ASL and English using multiple language cultures in making meaning from the print.

Deaf Space as a Cultural Tradition

  • It recognizes basic elements of architectural expression unique to Deaf experiences.

Study of Deaf Space

  • Offers valuable insight about the interrelationship between the senses, the way Deaf persons build environments that reflect their cultural identity.