American Sign Language ASL II What are the

American Sign Language ASL II

What are the Parameters of ASL? l l l P – Palm Orientation H - Handshape E - Expressions L - Location M - Movement

Palm Orientation l Which way your palm should face – – – l Up Down out in Left Right Example: Table or Baby?

Handshape l l l Shapes of your hands (using the alphabet and numbers to sign) Confused hand shapes – 1/D, D/F, E/O Example: I am Rita vs. My Rita

Facial Expression l l Head nods/shakes, eyebrows, nose, eyes, and lips each carry a meaning that can be attached to a sign. Example:

Location l l l Begin and end your sign at the correct position Signs are directional and originate away from the body but end close, or begin close to the body and terminate away Example: I’ll see you tomorrow

Movement l Types – – – Arc Straight line Circle Alternating in and out Twist of the wrist Finger flick

Changes in Movement l Location change – one or both hand(s) move from one location to another

Changes in Movement l Direction change – one or both hand(s) change direction

Change in Movement l Hand shape change – one or both hand(s) change hand shape in mid-sign

American Sign Language – – Is not universal Is not English There are several different sign languages but only ASL is the REAL language. Native language of the North American Deaf population.

6 different sign languages: l l l Non-verbal Communication In-group signs ASL PSE (Pidgin Sign English) Manual English (SEE 1, SEE 2, LOVE) Rochester Method

Non-verbal communication l l l Natural gestures Facial expressions Body movement Used internationally Used when common language is not available

In-group signs l l l Home signs School Signs Local Signs are unique to a particular group or family Examples: football, baseball, gang, subway

ASL l l l Standard Signs Finger spelling elements of pantomime Syntax of its own Ideographic Visual language that is conceptually accurate. Example: I went to the store yesterday is signed as YESTERDAY I GO STORE.

PSE (Pidgin Sign English) l l l Standard Signs Contact language between English and ASL (Hearing and Deaf) 3 guidelines followed; – – – l ASL in English word order using articles and verb tenses is optional noun plurality is deleted. Example: I went to the store yesterday is signed and mouthed as I GO STORE YESTERDAY

Manual English l SEE 1 – – – Seeing Essential English: Used in Amarillo and sometimes in Richardson, TX (Amarillo sign System) One-on-One correlation for changing sound to hand movement. Uses initialized signs visual code for Manual English Example: comfortable, forgetfulness

Manual English l SEE 2 Signing Exact English – one sign for each morpheme in English – Example: I went to the store yesterday is signed as I GO + ED TO THE STORE YESTERDAY. –

Manual English l LOVE Linguistics of Visual English – Deaf morphemic language that is/was not conceptually accurate. – Example: I went to the store yesterday is signed as I GO + ED TO THE STORE YESTER + DAY. –

Rochester Method l l l Used when a word needs to be expressed but no sign is available. Finger spell every single word. Example: I went to the store yesterday is signed as I W-E-N-T T-O T-H-E S-T-O-RE Y-E-S-T-E-R-D-A-Y.