This course introduces the student to basic knowledge about ASL and deaf people. Emphasis in the course is upon acquisition of both comprehension and production skills as well as upon knowledge of the deaf community and the development of cultural awareness necessary for maximal communication interaction. The student will begin with visual readiness activities and then progress through a group of targeted lexical items taught within meaningful contexts that stress use of questions, statements, commands, and conversational rules such as attention-getting strategies - ways and turn-taking regulations. Basic fingerspelling skills will also be stressed.
This is an introductory level course for students with no prior knowledge of American Sign Language.