ASL 101: American Sign Language I

Citrus College Course Outline of Record

Citrus College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Fall 2025
Credits: 5
Total Contact Hours: 90
Lecture Hours : 90
Lab Hours: 0
Hours Arranged: 0
Outside of Class Hours: 180
Total Student Learning Hours: 270
Strongly Recommended: ENGL C1000.
District General Education: C2. Humanities
Transferable to CSU: Yes
Transferable to UC: Yes - Approved
Grading Method: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Catalog Course Description

A beginning course designed to introduce students to the visual- gestural richness of American Sign Language as it is used within the Deaf culture. Introduces students to ASL's basic structures and vocabulary while developing students' expressive skills and understanding of fingerspelling and basic conversational strategies. Provides an introduction to the Deaf Community and culture. 90 lecture hours.

Course Objectives

  • Apply vocabulary in a signed dialogue (student created or instructor provided).
  • Use understanding of basic ASL vocabulary & finger-spelling to respond to signed activities/assignments.
  • Exchange greetings in ASL.
  • Share one's language background.
  • Sign about one's college in ASL.
  • Present a family tree or an equivalent.
  • Discuss the Deaf community and their culture, especially as it relates/contrasts student's lived experiences.
  • Function appropriately in a wide variety of situations common to the Deaf community.

Major Course Content

  1. Introduction, explanation, and practice in each of the following areas:
    1. Personal pronouns, adjectives
    2. Possessive, identifying nouns, agent suffix
    3. Negatives, yes/no questions, negative questions, dialogue
    4. Present, past, future tenses
    5. Imperatives and personal pronouns incorporating number plurals
    6. Idioms
    7. Basic sentence structure
    8. Directional/ non-directional verbs
    9. Classifiers
    10. Interrogatives
    11. Noun/ verb pairs
    12. Adverbials of place, conjunctions
    13. Existential "have," pronominal classifiers, locational relationships, and adding movement to pronominal classifiers
    14. Quantifiers, plurals and numbers
    15. Negatives, negative quantifiers and use of "nothing"
    16. Time measurements, tense indicators, time reduplication, and repetition
    17. Using a clause as a topic, comparative sentences, and conjunctions
    18. Verb inflection
    19. Adjective modulation
    20. Conditional sentences and rhetorical question
    21. Pluralizing classifiers, other classifiers and more quantifiers
    22. Outlining for shape and detail, shaping objects with classifiers, and classifiers showing motion
  2. Historical and cultural aspects of the communication process
    1. Non-verbal communication
    2. Facial expression
    3. Manual and non-manual components of a sign
    4. Sign language continuum
    5. History of sign language
    6. Communication vs. total communication
    7. Manual alphabet and ASL vocabulary development
  3. Customs and traditions of the Deaf community
    1. Comparison of Deaf communities' education in mainstreamed schools with methods taught in educational institutes for the deaf
    2. Cultural differences between United States ASL as it relates to the sign language used in other countries
    3. Relationships of self-taught coping skills to mandated state and government accommodations
    4. Education, family, and social life within the context of the sign language/ using community of the United States.
  4. Engaging with the Deaf community
    1. Attend an event in the Deaf community
    2. Role play to demonstrate mastery of correct etiquette relevant to the Deaf community
    3. Visiting speakers/presenters from the Deaf community

Examples of Required Writing Assignments

After attending a Deaf culture event, write a paper that compares and contrasts the social and cultural interactions of the Deaf community with those of the hearing community.

Examples of Outside Assignments

Attend a Deaf culture event and note variations in the ways individuals interact.

Instruction Type(s)

Lecture, Online Education Lecture

IGETC Area 6: Languages other than English

Yes