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Lesson 3 :sign Language

The document discusses sign language, including its history and importance for deaf communication. It describes different types of sign languages like American Sign Language (ASL) and Signed English. The key elements of ASL are outlined as handshape, orientation, location, movement, and non-manual expression. Word order in ASL sentences can vary from English, positioning indirect objects after the subject.

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Lora Cunanan
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
178 views

Lesson 3 :sign Language

The document discusses sign language, including its history and importance for deaf communication. It describes different types of sign languages like American Sign Language (ASL) and Signed English. The key elements of ASL are outlined as handshape, orientation, location, movement, and non-manual expression. Word order in ASL sentences can vary from English, positioning indirect objects after the subject.

Uploaded by

Lora Cunanan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lesson 3: Sign Language

Learning Objectives: After the lesson the students are able to:
Pre- Activity: Directions.

Introduction:
Sign language is an integral form of communication in the deaf community. With sign
language, deaf people who would have difficulty speaking and learning language like
people who can hear are able to communicate as efficiently and seamlessly. However
sign language has been an essential aspect of communication throughout human
history. Since the beginning of human communication, sign language has changed and
evolved into the system that people see today.
Types of Sign Language
Alternate Sign Language is a system of hand signals developed by speakers for limited
communication in a specic context where speech cannot be used. The older version of
sign language as a limited set of gestures being used in a place of a real language is close
to what we technically know.
Primary Sign Language is the rst language of a group of people who do not use a
spoken language with each other. ASL (American Sign Language) is a primary sign
language.
Oralism is the education of deaf students through oral language by using lip reading,
speech, and mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech instead of
using sign language within the classroom. Oralism came into popular use in the United
States around the late 1860s.
Signed English sometimes described as Manually Coded English. This is essentially a
means of producing signs which correspond to the words in an English sentence, in

English word order. It is designed to facilitate interaction between the deaf and the
hearing community.
American Sign Language (ASL) is a complete, complex language that employs signs
made by moving the hands combined with facial expressions and postures of the body. It
is the primary language of many North Americans who are deaf and is one of several
communication options used by people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

Fig. 1 Alphabet and Numbers of ASL

Five Elements of ASL


1. Handshape
o Configuration of the hands
o Thumb-to-finger distance varied to indicate size
o Finger wiggling, rubbing, or flicking
o Grasping or pinching
o Change in handshape as part of a sign
2. Orientation
o Wrist twisting or shaking
o Change in palm orientation as part of a sign
3. Location
o Location on the Face, Head, or Body
o Location on the non-dominant hand
o Handshape of the non-dominant hand

o Location relative to the non-dominant hand


o Type of contact made with the location (touch, rub, brush)
o Reference location in the signing area
o What the signer's eyes are looking at
4. Movement
o
Direction
o
Shape of motion (circular, straight, arc, etc.)
o
Size of motion
o
Speed of motion
o
Emphasis
o
Pauses
o
Repetition
o
Symmetry (how the non-dominant hand moves compared to the
dominant hand)
5. Non-manual Expression
o Head tilt, nod, or shake
o Direction the signer is facing
o Eyebrow expression
o Eyelid expression
o Nose expression
o Mouth emotion
o Mouth shapes (lips, tongue, teeth, and cheeks)
o Mouth movement (changing mouth shape as part of a sign)
o Shoulder expression

Writing is ASL
In American Sign Language (ASL), you can choose to assemble the words in your
sentence in different orders, depending on the content of your dialogue. Some sentences
should be signed in a natural English order because rearranging them would cause
confusion. However, most of the time, you can get your point across in a variety of ways
without worrying about the word order.
Example:
English: He sells.(Noun+Verb)

Sign:

He

sells.

English: He sells food(with Direct Object)


Sign:

He

sells

food.

English: Food he sell

Food

he

sells.

Notice: Even they are rearrange the meaning is still the same. And if you have a sentence
that may be misunderstood if you change the word order, leave it in the natural English
order.

English: The girl throws the dog a bone. (With Indirect Object)
In ASL, you place the indirect object right after the subject and then show the action. To
Sign: Girl dog - bone - throw

Girl

bone

dog

throw

Reference:
NIDCD Intranet. American Sign Language. Retrieve from
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/asl.aspx
Gulf Coast State College. Types of Sign Languag. Retrieve from
https://dssofgcsc.wordpress.com/for-professors/types-of-sign-language/
GitHub Pages. Elements of ASL. Retrieved from https://aslfont.github.io/Symbol-FontFor-ASL/elements-of-asl.html.
CDC. Manually Coded English. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hearingloss/parentsguide/building/manual-english.html
Wiley.J. How to Structure Sentences in American Sign Language. Retrieved from
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-structure-sign-sentences.html

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