vcc.ca
INTR 3150: Advanced American Sign Language for Interpreters
Effective date
September 2023
Department
Sign Language Interpretation
School
Arts and Sciences
Description
This advanced ASL course for students in the second year of the interpreting program supports their preparedness for their final term of practicum placements. Students will expand their ASL vocabulary and hone their proficiency in applying ASL’s visual-spatial techniques to make clear visual sense. Emphasis will be on developing versatility and range in order to participate in contextualized discourse that respects the needs and goals of specific ASL users in specific situations, considering parameters such as setting, topic, register, and user demographics.
Credits
3.0
Year of study
3rd Year Post-secondary
Prerequisites
ASLD 2310.
Corequisites
None
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate fluent, advanced ASL narration skills to: make full, clear use of face and space; use a variety of contextualization and storytelling techniques; construct cohesive narrative discourse with appropriate discourse markers; produce discourse with comfortable prosody and flow; and use a rich, diverse, setting-specific ASL vocabulary, including classifiers
- Demonstrate fluent, advanced ASL dialogue skills to: use and respond to reciprocal signals in conversation; use appropriate interruption and turn-taking techniques; and adjust to particular characteristics of ASL user, topic, setting and situation
- Analyze and critique recordings of their own ASL usage
- Use ASL to engage in advanced analysis and feedback with instructor and peers
- Identify their own focus areas for ongoing development and practice
- Show versatility in adapting ASL usage to a variety of signed language users’ preferences and needs
Prior Learning Assessment & Recognition (PLAR)
None
Hours
Lecture, Online, Seminar, Tutorial: 60
Total Hours: 60
Total Hours: 60
Instructional Strategies
Lectures, language lab, demonstration/modelling, dialogue and small group conversational practice, course readings/videos
Grading System
Letter Grade (A-F)
Passing grade
B+
Evaluation Plan
|
Type |
Percentage |
Assessment activity |
|
Quizzes/Tests |
30 |
Quizzes to evaluate receptive ASL skills |
|
Assignments |
30 |
Demonstration of expressive ASL skills |
|
Assignments |
30 |
Assigned dialogues and interaction |
|
Participation |
10 |
Participation |
Course topics
- Course content will be guided by research, empirical knowledge, professional standards and best practice. Enhancing effective use of space: - Setting up referents with clarity and consistency - Expanding use of bigger signing space in all 3 dimensions - Fully employing directionality of verbs and movements - Versatility in using all types of classifiers - Constructed dialogue and constructed action - Visual Vernacular and cinematic narrative techniques -Spatial depiction of timelines and other abstract concepts Enhancing expressive use of the face: - Appropriate syntactical and sentence type markers (e.g. with eyebrow movements) - Versatile range of adverbial functions (e.g. with mouth morphemes) - Emotional affective components - Depictions of characterization and personification - Appropriate shifts in eye gaze location, direction and movement Dialogue skills: - Understanding and using reciprocal signals in conversation - Using closure and context to aid comprehension - Discerning when and what type of clarification is needed - Appropriate interruption and turn-taking techniques - Recognizing and adapting to differences/similarities between self and others that impact co-construction of meaning Expanding ASL vocabulary on specific topics: - Health – individual/family/society, physical/mental/emotional health - Education – typical academic subject areas in the arts and sciences - Finances – continuing to increase versatility in ASL number depictions - Systems - talking about abstract structurs of organizations, workplaces, agendas - Government – levels, departments, functions, processes Increasing adaptability to diverse ASL users: - Language use across the ASL-Contact-English continuum - Variations due to age and language development - Variations due to intersectional identities, cultural backgrounds - Variations due to specific settings and situational goals
Learning resources
The instructor may select from current curriculum materials and online videos/resources, adapting them for advanced ASL learners.
Notes:
- Course contents and descriptions, offerings and schedules are subject to change without notice.
- Students are required to follow all College policies including ones that govern their educational experience at VCC. Policies are available on the VCC website at:
https://www.vcc.ca/about/governance--policies/policies/. - To find out if there are existing transfer agreements for this course, visit the BC Transfer Guide at https://www.bctransferguide.ca.