DIXIE STATE UNIVERSITY ST. GEORGE, UTAH Beginning American Sign Language I ASL 1010 Fall 2013 Section 02 Credits 4 Instructor: Clinton Behunin Phone:652-7822 Secretary Email: behunin@dixie.edu Office Hours: By appointment Classroom:University Plaza Bldg B, Rm 110B, 8:00-8:50 AM, M-Th Course Description: American Sign Language (ASL) 101 is an introductory language course which focuses on basic receptive and expressive ASL conversational skills. Students will also learn basic concepts related to Deaf culture and deafness. No prerequisite knowledge of ASL is required for this course. Learning Outcomes: 1. Using Basic ASL vocabulary, grammar, and linguistic conventions, students are able to: Introduce themselves Exchange basic information about themselves and their families with others Describe basic daily living activities and preferences Make basic personal requests Give directions 2. Students are able to identify basic distinguishing characteristics of Deaf culture, Deaf history and societal interaction expectations. Course Requirements: No Voice Policy During all class periods, students are expected to ONLY use manual/visual communication; which means no oral/auditory communication. All instruction is in ASL or is gestural. All student responses are expected to be the same.at times this may feel challenging, even frustrating, but in the long run this process of immersion into the reality of ASL communication will result in stronger signed communication proficiency. Class Attendance and Participation The learning experience in an ASL class is very active, participatory and interactive and will require that you work together in groups as well as on your own. Students are responsible for material discussed during each class session whether they attend class or not. Coming to each class session ready to learn and contribute is critical to developing ASL competency and will account for 5% of the total points possible for the course. If you are the kind of student who
prefers straight lecture and little interaction with classmates, this class is not designed to fit such learning preferences and is probably not the class for you. Students who come to class each class session and actively participate will receive the full 25 points. Students who either come to each class session OR actively participate while missing a few class sessions will receive 10 points Students who regularly miss class and do not actively participate will receive 5 points. A student may be awarded zero points for numerous absences and lack of participation. Workbook Assignments Each unit in the Workbook has assignments associated with segments from the Workbook DVD. Students are required to complete all of the homework assignments under each unit from the course text. Example: Unit 1 has 12 sections with 12 homework assignments for that unit. All 12 must be complete to receive credit for that unit. For each assignment in the Workbook, you are required to score them, write out the answers on a separate piece of paper or make a photocopy if you wish, and then submit them in accordance with the course calendar. If a student has several errors or is not certain about specific items, the student should write a brief note on the assignment asking for clarification. There is no reason to cheat copy or otherwise fabricate scores on workbook assignments since full credit is awarded to students who turn these assignments in on time. No late work will be accepted. ASL No Voice Labs" Throughout the semester, students are required to meet for at least 30 minutes per lab report assignment with another person either from this class, another ASL class or with a member of the Deaf community to practice ASL without using voices for the entire time. During each lab, students may practice what has been learned in class or discuss any topic they desire; each discussion must be communicated only in ASL. The purpose of these labs is to reinforce the movement from dependence on auditory/oral communication to visual/manual communication. The first few labs may feel a bit awkward or uncomfortable, but with time students will gain more fluency and greater conversational competence. To receive credit for labs, students must complete a lab report form provided by the instructor to be turned in at the beginning of class on the day it is due (see course calendar). No partial credit will be given for any lab time less than 30 minutes Lab forms turned in late will NOT be accepted. Reading Quizzes To broaden understanding of Deaf culture and Deafness, students are required to read sections in both of the required texts that deal with cultural information. Quizzes will be posted on Canvas and will be due in accordance with the dates on the course calendar. Quizzes will be available to
take any time during the scheduled day until midnight. Each quiz will be worth 10 points for a total of 50 points possible during the semester. Language Quizzes 5 Short quizzes will be administered in class during the semester. The quizzes will cover any ASL or linguistic concepts covered in class up to the time of each quiz. The lowest quiz score will be automatically dropped. No quizzes can be made up or taken at a different time other than the time scheduled. Awareness Papers During the first week of class (see course calendar for due date), students will submit a one to two page paper describing their understanding of Deafness and ASL. This is strictly an opinion paper. Students will be given full credit for turning it in, showing they put real thought into their work and for meeting the length requirement. This paper serves as a baseline for evaluating each student s growth and understanding of the subject by the end of the semester. At the end of the semester (see course calendar for due date), each student will submit a two page paper discussing his or her growth in understanding ASL, Deaf culture and deafness in general. Each paper is worth 25 points. Deaf Community Events True language acquisition requires practice with native language users, therefore you are encouraged to attend Deaf community events during the semester. Extra credit may be given to those who attend and submit a report consisting of 1-2 pages for each event. The events must be social functions sponsored by a local Deaf organization and can include religious settings. Other events may be attended if you are visiting in another area. There will be several occurring through out the semester. The instructor will try to inform you of as many as possible. It is also recommended you go to the local Deaf Center (1067 E. Tabernacle #10) and sign up for e-mail notification or pick up flyers and calendars of events. You may attend with other students from any ASL class. During the activity, you may not use your voice, and can only sign or do whatever is needed to get the message across to your classmates or the Deaf people you will meet. You may sign, write, or mime if needed. Mid-term and Final Exam The mid-term and final exams are each worth 100 points. Both exams will have two parts: A test of receptive skills and a test of expressive skills. Testing receptive skills will measure how well a student understands ASL. o Receptive skills test will be administered in class. Testing expressive skills will measure how well a student can express ideas in ASL.
o Expressive skills test will be administered to each student on a one-on-one basis during class time by appointment. Grading Distribution: CATEGORY NUMBER POINTS TOTAL % OF GRADE EACH POINTS Attendance & 25 5 Participation Workbook Unit 6 Units Total 5 50 10 Assignments *The lowest score will be automatically dropped Lab Reports 5 5 25 5 Reading Quizzes 5 10 50 10 Language 10 10 100 20 Quizzes Awareness 2 25 50 10 Papers Mid-term Exam 1 100 100 20 Final Exam 1 100 100 20 Total 500 100 Grades will be awarded according to the number of total points accumulated: GRADE POINTS NEEDED GRADE POINTS NEEDED A 472-500 C 362-381 A- 447-471 C- 347-361 B+ 432-446 D+ 332-346 B 412-431 D 312-331 B- 397-411 D- 297-311 C+ 382-396 E <297 University Notices: Disability Resource Center: If you suspect or are aware that you have a disability that may affect your success in the course you are strongly encouraged to contact the Disability Resource Center
(DRC) located at the North Plaza Building. The disability will be evaluated and eligible students will receive assistance in obtaining reasonable accommodations. Phone # 435-652-7516 Dmail: Important class & college information will be sent to your dmail email account. If you do not know your user name and password, go togo.dixie.edu/dmail. If you do not know your Dmail username or you have forgotten your PIN, visit go.dixie.edu/mydixie and follow the respective instructions. You will be held responsible for information sent to your dmail email. Academic dishonesty / Academic integrity policy 3-34 ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE 34.1 Cheating: Academic dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated at Dixie State College, including but not limited to plagiarism on written assignments, submitting other person's work as one's own, and cheating on exams or quizzes. Teachers at Dixie State College may discipline students proven guilty of academic dishonesty by: 34.1.1 Giving a failing grade on the specific assignment where dishonesty occurred, 34.1.2 Failing the student in the entire course, 34.1.3 Immediately dismissing and removing the student from the course, and/or 34.1.4 Referring the student to Student Affairs, a committee which may reprimand, place on probation, suspend, and/or expel the student. 34.2 Disruptive Behavior: Teachers at Dixie State College have the right to manage the classroom environment to ensure a good learning climate. Toward this end, teachers (or college security) may dismiss and remove disruptive students from individual class activities. If a student's behavior continues to disrupt class activities, the teacher may dismiss and cause the removal of disruptive students from their course. 34.3 Student Appeals: Students who believe themselves wrongfully disciplined may appeal those disciplinary actions through the standard grievance procedure. (Policy 5-35) Schedule/Syllabus Changes:
The instructor reserves the right to make any adjustments to this syllabus and tentative class schedule. All changes and adjustments will be announced IN CLASS. For important information pertaining to other DSC academic policies, go to http://new.dixie.edu, then click on Academics, and then click on Syllabus Requirements.
Course Calendar Weeks Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Week 1 8/19 8/20 8/21 8/22 Introduction UNIT 1 1 st Awareness Paper Due Deaf Awareness Quiz (in class) Facial Expressions Asking Who Numbers Appearance Week 2 8/26 8/27 Colors 8/28 8/29 Nomeland, foreward, preface, & Ch. 1 Giving Commands Letter Combinations Shapes Following Instructions Nouns/Verbs Same/Different Review Week 3 9/2 9/3 9/4 9/5 Labor Day NO CLASS WB Unit 1 Homework Reading Quiz (on Canvas) College/University Languages Nomeland, Ch. 2
UNIT 2 Captain Face Week 4 9/9 9/10 9/11 9/12 One Handed Signs How Many Numbers Locations Feelings Week 5 2 Handed Signs 9/16 9/17 9/18 9/19 UNIT 3 WB Unit 2 Lab Report 1 Nomeland, ch. 3 Language Quiz 2 Reading Quiz 2 (On Canvas) Week 6 Week 7 9/23 9/24 9/25 9/26 Nomeland, Ch. 4 9/30 10/1 10/2 10/3 Nomeland, Ch. 5 MIDTERMS MIDTERMS WB Unit 3 Language Quiz 3 Week 8 10/ 7 10/8 10/9 Reading Quiz 3 (On Canvas) 10/10 UNIT 4 Lab Report 2 Fall Break NO CLASS
Week 9 10/14 Nomeland, Ch. 6 10/15 10/16 10/17 WB Unit 4 Language Quiz 4 Week 10 10/21 10/22 10/23 Reading Quiz 4 (On Canvas) 10/24 UNIT5 Nomeland, Ch. 7 Lab Report 3 Week 11 10/28 10/29 10/30 Nomeland, Ch. 8 10/31 WB Unit 5 Language Quiz 5 Week 12 11/4 11/5 11/6 11/7 UNIT 6 Nomeland, Ch. 9 & Epilogue Lab Report 4 Week 13 Week 14 11/11 11/12 11/13 11/14 11/18 11/19 11/20 11/21 Reading Quiz 5 (On Canvas) WB 6 Lab Report 5 Language Quiz 6
Week 15 11/25 11/26 11/27 11/28 Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Week 16 12/2 2 nd Awareness Paper Due 12/3 NO CLASS 12/4 NO CLASS 12/5 Final Exam Friday LAST DAY OF CLASS! 12/13, 7:30am *The instructor reserves the right to change the schedule at any time during the semester. Any changes to the schedule will be announced in class. Students are responsible for all changes whether or not they were in class when changes were announced. *Bold points indicate when assignments are due and when quizzes and tests are scheduled.