Welcome to Unit Six!
All the information you need is found below. I still need to receive recordings of your expressive test videos from some.
For Unit Six, I have posted some sample YouTube videos of some of the concepts we have been studying. I hope that these videos will make the material easier to understand. ASL is a very rich language, and I don't want to teach an ASL class that is nothing but signed vocabulary. ASL is much more than that! I see people "signing" all the time, but I put the quotes around "signing" to mean that it is ALL that they are doing. These are people signing in an English-based sign language system. You would never see ASL like that. There are a lot of body motions and facial expressions that accompany ASL signs to regulate their usage.
Many hearing people feel awkward when asked to incorporate these elements of ASL, as they are unnatural to what hearing people have been taught about "polite discourse," but you CANNOT sign appropriate ASL without it.
Assignments for this unit:
* Study the Unit Six Vocabulary video below.
* When you have completed that and feel pretty good about what you have learned, you can click on the embedded YouTube video (40:27). It is a discussion between Dr. Bill and one of his students. It is very clear. Even if you don't understand something he is saying, focus on the text on the screen behind him, and it will make sense.
* View the "Uses of FINISH" and the three 'classifier' videos below.
* Read the information regarding the cultural aspect of "Getting Attention" in a d/Deaf environment.
Let me know if you have any questions. You can email me at [email protected].
Unit Six Vocabulary:
COLOR
BLACK
BROWN
RED
ORANGE
BLUE / YELLOW / GREEN
WHITE
DRAW (ART)
FINISH
FUTURE
LONG
NOW
OLD
PAPER
PAST
SELF
TOMORROW
WAIT
WHEN
YEAR
All the information you need is found below. I still need to receive recordings of your expressive test videos from some.
For Unit Six, I have posted some sample YouTube videos of some of the concepts we have been studying. I hope that these videos will make the material easier to understand. ASL is a very rich language, and I don't want to teach an ASL class that is nothing but signed vocabulary. ASL is much more than that! I see people "signing" all the time, but I put the quotes around "signing" to mean that it is ALL that they are doing. These are people signing in an English-based sign language system. You would never see ASL like that. There are a lot of body motions and facial expressions that accompany ASL signs to regulate their usage.
Many hearing people feel awkward when asked to incorporate these elements of ASL, as they are unnatural to what hearing people have been taught about "polite discourse," but you CANNOT sign appropriate ASL without it.
Assignments for this unit:
* Study the Unit Six Vocabulary video below.
* When you have completed that and feel pretty good about what you have learned, you can click on the embedded YouTube video (40:27). It is a discussion between Dr. Bill and one of his students. It is very clear. Even if you don't understand something he is saying, focus on the text on the screen behind him, and it will make sense.
* View the "Uses of FINISH" and the three 'classifier' videos below.
* Read the information regarding the cultural aspect of "Getting Attention" in a d/Deaf environment.
Let me know if you have any questions. You can email me at [email protected].
Unit Six Vocabulary:
COLOR
BLACK
BROWN
RED
ORANGE
BLUE / YELLOW / GREEN
WHITE
DRAW (ART)
FINISH
FUTURE
LONG
NOW
OLD
PAPER
PAST
SELF
TOMORROW
WAIT
WHEN
YEAR
The following videos help illustrate how to use of Classifiers in ASL. These are produced by Joseph Wheeler, a Deaf high school ASL teacher.
Attention Getting Techniques:
Waving your hand, tapping lightly on the shoulder, lightly slapping the table at which someone is sitting, and--in some circumstances--stomping your foot on the ground or flashing the lights, are all common ways to get the attention of someone in the signing environment. Discretion should be used, (especially with stomping or light flashing) because not all ways are appropriate at all times and there are right ways to do it.
For example, if you flash the lights rapidly, many times you will either annoy the Deaf or you will cause some people to think there is an emergency.
If you stomp more than twice you run the risk of looking like a child throwing a tantrum. If you stomp too heavily you might cause people to think you are angry.
If you wave your hand wildly in someone's face you are being rude. Always use the minimum amount of movement to get the job done effectively.
If you tap someone on the shoulder using a single finger or using too strong of a jabbing movement it will hurt. If you use too light of a movement it will be unnerving. You should generally use a bent hand and make contact twice using the tips of the fingers.
Newcomers to the Deaf World would be well advised to NOT use the stomping or light flashing methods until they have lived amongst the Community for long enough to have seen these behaviors repeatedly and have become familiar with their proper use.
Snapping your fingers should NOT be used to attempt to get someone's attention in a signing environment.
Discussion:
Dr. Bill: Lets talk about when it is appropriate to use the various methods: If it is a whole room full of people the lights work well. Think about it. I can just imagine a scene at a community center for the Deaf. Suppose there were a big event going on and two or three people (or even one) had left their car lights on and you wanted to announce that such and such a car had its lights on. You would flip the lights twice and point at a person on stage or standing on a chair who would then make the announcement.
Dr. Bill: If you are within touching distance of one person and you are behind him I suggest you tap lightly on the shoulder with the pads of your fingertips--DON'T poke him with the tip of your index finger. If you are in front of him or to the side you can wave your hand in an up and down motion, (this is what I call the "HEY" sign), basically a way to say, "Hey look!"
Dr. Bill: You might run into some people who feel that it is inappropriate for a Hearing person to flip the lights or stomp to get attention.
My viewpoint is that a "culturally Hearing" person should not flip the lights or engage in stomping because they have not yet learned how to do such things in a culturally appropriate way.
So, you happen to be cursed with the ability to hear, but have "hung out" with Deaf people enough (a year or two) to understand and respect their culture--eventually you will learn when and how to flash the lights and appropriate stomping behaviors. My point is this: If you flip the lights too fast, too long, or too slow, you will annoy people or make them think there is an emergency. If you stomp too hard or too much or around people who don't understand Deaf culture you will make people think you are mad or just inept. So do not use such attention getting devices until you have become acculturated. If you are taking a class or a test taught by a teacher who uses a book that prohibits Hearing people from flipping the lights--fine put down the answer they want, but don't worry about it.
(Attention Getting Techniques and Discussion, as well as a few other things, from LifePrint.com, ASL University, Dr. Bill Vicars)
Waving your hand, tapping lightly on the shoulder, lightly slapping the table at which someone is sitting, and--in some circumstances--stomping your foot on the ground or flashing the lights, are all common ways to get the attention of someone in the signing environment. Discretion should be used, (especially with stomping or light flashing) because not all ways are appropriate at all times and there are right ways to do it.
For example, if you flash the lights rapidly, many times you will either annoy the Deaf or you will cause some people to think there is an emergency.
If you stomp more than twice you run the risk of looking like a child throwing a tantrum. If you stomp too heavily you might cause people to think you are angry.
If you wave your hand wildly in someone's face you are being rude. Always use the minimum amount of movement to get the job done effectively.
If you tap someone on the shoulder using a single finger or using too strong of a jabbing movement it will hurt. If you use too light of a movement it will be unnerving. You should generally use a bent hand and make contact twice using the tips of the fingers.
Newcomers to the Deaf World would be well advised to NOT use the stomping or light flashing methods until they have lived amongst the Community for long enough to have seen these behaviors repeatedly and have become familiar with their proper use.
Snapping your fingers should NOT be used to attempt to get someone's attention in a signing environment.
Discussion:
Dr. Bill: Lets talk about when it is appropriate to use the various methods: If it is a whole room full of people the lights work well. Think about it. I can just imagine a scene at a community center for the Deaf. Suppose there were a big event going on and two or three people (or even one) had left their car lights on and you wanted to announce that such and such a car had its lights on. You would flip the lights twice and point at a person on stage or standing on a chair who would then make the announcement.
Dr. Bill: If you are within touching distance of one person and you are behind him I suggest you tap lightly on the shoulder with the pads of your fingertips--DON'T poke him with the tip of your index finger. If you are in front of him or to the side you can wave your hand in an up and down motion, (this is what I call the "HEY" sign), basically a way to say, "Hey look!"
Dr. Bill: You might run into some people who feel that it is inappropriate for a Hearing person to flip the lights or stomp to get attention.
My viewpoint is that a "culturally Hearing" person should not flip the lights or engage in stomping because they have not yet learned how to do such things in a culturally appropriate way.
So, you happen to be cursed with the ability to hear, but have "hung out" with Deaf people enough (a year or two) to understand and respect their culture--eventually you will learn when and how to flash the lights and appropriate stomping behaviors. My point is this: If you flip the lights too fast, too long, or too slow, you will annoy people or make them think there is an emergency. If you stomp too hard or too much or around people who don't understand Deaf culture you will make people think you are mad or just inept. So do not use such attention getting devices until you have become acculturated. If you are taking a class or a test taught by a teacher who uses a book that prohibits Hearing people from flipping the lights--fine put down the answer they want, but don't worry about it.
(Attention Getting Techniques and Discussion, as well as a few other things, from LifePrint.com, ASL University, Dr. Bill Vicars)