American Sign Language as WL I

American Sign Language (ASL) as a World Language, Level I. This Virtual School course is an introduction to American Sign Language, the language used by North Americans who are deaf and hard of hearing. Students will develop practical skills and knowledge for successful interactions within the Deaf community. Since a language cannot be separated from its culture, students will learn about Deaf or hard of hearing culture (including attention getting strategies, politically correct terminology, and behavioral norms/values). Students will develop basic ASL vocabulary and grammar (including use of space, non-manual signals, and classifiers) and use of simple expressions. Course Note: This is a year long (two semesters) course. This course is a pre-requisite for ASL as a World Language, Level I. Completion of two ASL as a World Language courses satisfies the DoDEA world language graduation requirement of two sequential courses in the same world language. This course is not an ELA course for students with an IEP or 504 Plan that identifies deafness and hard-of-hearing as one of the student's exceptionalities. Classroom instruction and resources must be aligned with the National ASL Standards (2013): ASL Level I, ASL Level II and ASL Level III are digital course offers.