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FALL 2024
ASL-1-49141 Hybrid
Thursdays: 8:00 AM -10:05 AM at Quad 105
4 Units
August 19-December 14 2024
Welcome!
Welcome!
I am so excited to work with each of you this semester. I have taught this course for years and I have been impressed by the quality of work my students produced. I am confident you will also build a strong understanding of ASL at the end of the semester. Remember, learning a language is a process and it takes work but registering for this class is a great step to becoming a better signer.
Mindset: Research shows that students with a growth mindset are more likely to reach their academic goal. Essentially a person with a growth mindset believes they can learn (even when it is difficult) and the key to learning is to put in the effort. I will do my best to encourage growth in out class and I hope you will do the same.
Course Description:
Course Description:
In this course we will be developing basic vocabulary and grammar of American Sign Language. Emphasis is placed on comprehension skills. Incorporates vital aspects of Deaf culture and community. Overview of topics include: pronouns, colors, interrogatives, negations, school, people, homes, family relationships, work, like events, daily activities, transportation, time/ calendar, numbers, fingerspelling, opposites, food, pleas, sports, feeling/opinion. Functional/notional discourse behaviors are developed, including: conversational.
*72 hours lecture and 18 hours lab will be conducted within 16 weeks.
Course Objectives:
Course Objectives:
Focus on developing basic principles and skills of American Sign Language (ASL) through cultural appreciation and non-verbal instruction.
Emphasis is placed on Deaf culture and Deaf people in history, visual training, sign vocabulary acquisition, comprehension and communicative skills development, as well as basic structural and grammatical patterns of ASL discourse at the beginning level.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate receptive comprehension of basic everyday communications related to oneself, family, and immediate surroundings. These may include, but are not limited to, advertisements, time tables, short personal letters or stories, dialogues, readings, conversations, and video recordings.
2. Communicate, using American Sign Language, about familiar topics and activities requiring a simple and direct exchange of information. This communication may include, but is not limited to, simple signed exchanges such as dialogues, paragraphs, and narratives related to oneself, family, everyday activities and immediate surroundings.
3. Reflect on and evaluate similarities and differences between the Deaf and hearing cultures and demonstrate an understanding of the grammatical differences between American Sign Language and English.
What course materials do I need?
What course materials do I need?
This is what we will be using, the Signing Naturally Units 1-6 Interactive Online Student Materials.
You can purchase the access code via the link provided below (or click on the picture on your left):
Interactive Online Student Materials
The access code will be provided via an email receipt and you will need to input it when you begin the Interactive Workbook 1.1 assignment in Canvas.
Access to internet to be able to use Canvas outside of class.
What kind of teaching philosophy should I expect?
What kind of teaching philosophy should I expect?
All classroom activities are conducted in ASL or using either one of four strategies of signing. Writing and reading in English is restricted to instructions provided for activities and information on Deaf Culture and ASL grammar.
-Functional-Notional Method: Encourage students to use communicative functions when expressing themselves and applying their learning to the real world. Example: Learning to introduce yourself to a new person.
-Immersion Method: Relying on ASL and visual-gestural behaviors in the classroom for the students to learn ASL, rather than using English to learn ASL. Example: Point to references (colors, objects, students) to build an understanding of vocabulary and language tools incrementally.
-Whole Language Method: Using full interactive communication rather than lists of vocabulary. Example: Learning to ask questions to clarify your understanding of a signed concept.
Who am I?
This video does not have sound but it is captioned. Transcript below:
Hi! I am so happy you are here today! My name is Dyan Sue Kovacs. I am currently living in Southern California in the Riverside area. I grew up in Northern California in the bay area (near San Francisco). I graduated from California School for the Deaf, Fremont; the sister school of California School for the Deaf, Riverside. Have you seen it? After graduation from High School, I went to Gallaudet
University, majoring in Child Development; I wanted to work with young Deaf children but life has its own ideas. Then I worked at Gallaudet for about five years before I decided to move back to California. It cannot beat the California weather and so forth. I have worked in different places. That was where my teaching for ASL was born. Then I went to California State University, Northridge to pursue Special Education to teach young children. But again, life happens! Then I went back to Gallaudet to get Masters in Sign Language teaching. I have taught different places in the past 15 years: University, Community college, communities and working places. Now I am teaching at RCC! I am living in Riverside with my fiance, two dogs and a bearded dragon. While I am not teaching, I enjoy Pickleball, I love the competition of it, ceramics, especially wheel and traveling! Do you want to see my dogs?
Please click on the orange buttons above to view more pages. All pages have orange buttons! Hope you find this informative and helpful throughout the semester.
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