Waiting on the World to Change

Vocabulary! Ok. That’s a powerful video We are going to come back to it in a second But, first…

New signs this week Language Wait Communication World Identity Change Proud/Pride People Gallaudet Except Wait World Change Deaf Hearing Can Can’t

“A Deaf person can do anything a hearing person can, except hear” Remember this name! ~ I. King Jordan

Now let’s go back to the first video Gallaudet (remember, that’s a vocab word this week), is an ALL DEAF university in Washington D.C. All of the video footage is from 1988 at Gallaudet Gallaudet opened in 1864, but until 1988, all of their presidents were hearing In 1988, the board elected a new hearing president, and the students shut down the school! They demanded a “Deaf President Now!” The board listened to the students and I. King Jordan became the first Deaf president of Gallaudet University! IKJ lost his hearing in an accident as a young adult

Deaf people can do anything! Deaf are proud of their identity Deaf are proud of their language Deaf do not consider themselves “disabled” or ”broken”

Deaf people can SING and Dance Sean Forbes: Deaf Rapper and entrepreneur Marlee Matlin: Deaf Actress, dancer, academy award winner

Winner of America’s Next Top Model and Dancing With the Stars Deaf people can model (and dance) Nyle DiMarco Winner of America’s Next Top Model and Dancing With the Stars

The Five Parameters of ASL

Language What is Language? A system of symbols and grammatical signals that change over time. Members of a community share and use this language to d interact and transmit culture

“Father of ASL Linguistics” William Stokoe (1919-2000) Worked at Gallaudet University as the head of the English Department. As he observed Deaf students and colleagues communicate in sign, he noticed ASL was not just a code for English. Until 1960, ASL was not accepted as a formal language. Stokoe’s paper, Sign Language Structure, proved ASL was a language of its own. One of his most popular contributions was discovering the parameters of ASL.

ASL has its own grammar, syntax, and… Phonology: the study of phonemes, the smallest units of language. Phonemes in spoken language are equivalent to parameters in sign language. PHONEMES=PARAMETERS How these parameters are combined to form a word, and how they interact with each other make language. ►IN ENGLISH= LETTERS MAKE WORDS Ex: C, A, and T make what words? cat and act ►IN ASL= PARAMETERS MAKE SIGNS

The Five Parameters of ASL: HANDSHAPE – There are 45 different handshapes in ASL LOCATION – The location (where on the body) of each sign can change, and add grammatical information. MOVEMENT – The direction that the sign moves (away from the body, towards the body) carries specific information. Repetition of movement can have grammatical information. PALM ORIENTATION – Each handshape can change orientation; the palm can face out, down, up, etc. FACIAL EXPRESSION – Many signs in ASL require a non-manual signal in order to be produced correctly. Others simply require the emotive facial expression to match the meaning the signer is trying to convey.

5 Parameters of ASL Handshape (H): the shape of your hand that is used to create a sign. ► There are 40 different handshapes used in ASL (refer to the handout from www.aslpro.com) ► Ex: Open B or Closed 5 (nice, thank you) ► Ex: H (name, hard of hearing) ► Ex: 1 (deaf, boring, sign, go-to) ► Ex: Y (same old)

5 Parameters of ASL cont. … 2. Location (L): the location of the sign on your body In front of your body On your head On your brow or forehead On your eyes or nose On your mouth or chin On your ear or cheek On your neck On your chest, shoulders, or belly On your upper arm On your elbow On the inside of your wrist On the back of your wrist ► Ex: In front of your body (friend, no) ► Ex: In front of face (sleepy) ► Ex: On chin (thank you) ► Ex: On chest (fine, please, sorry)

5 Parameters of ASL cont. … 3. Movement (M): the action used to create the sign. In a circle Up and down Forward Backward Tapping Back and Forth Wiggling ► Ex: Shake (bathroom) ► Ex: Up (what’s up) ► Ex: Tap (Deaf) ► Ex: In a circle (please) ► Ex: Pull back (want)

5 Parameters of ASL cont. … 4. Palm Orientation (PO): position of the palms of your hands and the direction they are facing. Palm facing outward Palm facing inward Palm is horizontal Palm facing left Palm facing right Palm toward palm Palm up Palm down ► Ex: Outward (later) ► Ex: Inward (what’s up, good, happy) ► Ex: Facing left (deaf) ► Ex: Palm to palm (nothing) ► Ex: Palm up to palm down (again, nice)

5 Parameters of ASL cont. … 5. Non-manual signals: facial expressions and body movements added to signs to create meaning. Head nod Head shake Eyebrows Nose Eyes Lips ► Ex: Head nod (yes) ► Ex: Head shake (no) ► Ex: Lips frown (sad)

Changing Parameters Changes Meaning MY vs. BLANK FACE similar: handshape, palm orientation different: location, movement HAPPY vs. NICE similar: handshape different: movement, location, palm orientation CHURCH vs. COFFEE similar: handshape, palm orientation, location, NMM different: movement