1. Introduction to ASL
By Reba Orton

2. Reasons for ASL class Enhance receptive and expressive skills
Expand your ASL vocabulary base
Immerse yourself in ASL in order to fully learn ASL structure
Improve signing speed (prosody)
Increase ASL fluency
Learn ASL idioms
Recognize high-frequency ASL signs

3. Meaning Differences Difference between SAY and TELL
English words don't always translate well into ASL
English words with multiple meanings have separate ASL signs and that without proper knowledge of these ASL signs and their appropriate meanings, it is easy to misuse ASL signs to represent English concepts.
Please note that ONE and LETTER-D are different handshapes.

4. Differences between ASL and PSE
There is a range from pure ASL to a mixture of ASL/English, and to pure signed English, like the SEE signs WAS, IS, AM, and WERE.
The possessive ASL sign HAVE should not be used as part of an English tense. FINISH should be used instead.
Verb inflections REPEATEDLY and CONTINUALLY
Verbs tend to have one movement and that nouns tend to have two movements
PSE
ASL
SEE

5. Non-Manual Signals (NMS)
NMS are facial expressions used in ASL sentence structures as part of their grammar.
Appropriate facial expressions (morphemes) are also used for certain signs (lexical items)

6. Mouth Morphemes
Mouth morphemes are facial adverbs done with the mouth.
Puffed cheeks means fat or big
Mouthing CHA means big
Sucked-in cheeks means thin
TH-tongue sticking out means carelessly
Tongue trill means far in time or space

7. ASL Sentence Structures
ASL sentence structures are
Y/N questions,
Wh-Q questions,
Topics, (similar to tag questions, but at the beginning, not at the end of the sentence)
Rh-Q questions,
Negation, and
If-then statements.

8. Sign Paradigms CHURCH signs and other related top-of-hand signs
Surroundings signs: ENVIRONMENT, CULTURE, SITUATION/SOCIETY
Feeling finger signs
GROUP signs
HABIT signs, and the related signs EVERY-SUNDAY, EVERY-MONDAY, etc.
ILY handshape signs
IMPORTANT, WORTH, WORTHLESS, VALUE signs
ROYALITY signs
THINK signs

9. ASL Compounds In compounds, two or three signs become one sign.
GIRL-SAME becomes SISTER
L-C-S becomes LINGUISTICS
Often in compounds, double movements are dropped to one and double touches are dropped to one.

10. ASL Use of Space
One sets up an imaginary person in space to refer to that person (token or surrogate).
Concepts can be placed in space, just like imaginary people (tokens and surrogates). For example, I can put hearing culture on the right side of me and Deaf culture on the left side.
Descriptions, actions, and placement can be described with classifiers and other iconic signs.

11. Deaf Culture/Hearing Culture
Differences between Deaf people and hearing people, like what they can or can't do.
Deaf people can sign with their mouth full, for example, and hearing people can't, without being rude.

12. ASL Mappings
Use your left hand to list an object per finger, like your siblings. Each finger represented a sibling. The ASL sign PRIORITY is an ordering of objects. REVIEW is a review of objects. CHOOSE is a choice of objects to pick from.
Describe your living room using the appropriate layout and placement for ASL
Explaining directions on an imaginary map in ASL

13. ASL Role-Play
Repeat a dialogue using appropriate eye gaze and shoulder shifts.
This role play is done in a manner where you are taller than the other person.
This means you have to look down and to one side when you are representing yourself.
Look up and to the other side when you are representing the other person.

14. Slides and Bounces
A slide is use to describe a continuous object, like a wall or a pipe.
To represent plural instances of a sign, the sign is produced in one of two ways:
A slide is a sweeping motion that is made to indicate a meaning of all objects. No importance is assigned to any of the objects.
Bounces are a jumping motion that is made to indicate a meaning of multiple individual objects. Special importance is assigned to each object.

15. Directional Signs Directional pronouns
HE/SHE/IT, YOU-SINGULAR, and ME use a 1-handshape point
THEY and WE use a 1-handshape slide
Possessive pronouns follow the same rules, but use a 5-handshape.
Directional verbs
I-GIVE-EACH-OF-YOU uses bounces
I-GIVE-ALL-OF-YOU uses a slide

16. Conclusion Any Questions? Don’t hesitate to ask!
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