American Sign Language Minor

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Learn more about the department

Course Requirements

American Sign Language Core (25 credits)

ASL 101LEC - First-Year American Sign Language Credits: 5
ASL 102LEC - First-Year American Sign Language Credits: 5
ASL 203LEC - Second-Year American Sign Language Credits: 3
ASL 204LEC - Second-Year American Sign Language Credits: 3
ASL 211LEC - Introduction to Deaf Studies Credits: 3
ASL 305LEC - Third-Year American Sign Language Credits: 3
ASL 306LEC - Third-Year American Sign Language Credits: 3
American Sign Language Electives*:
ASL 411LEC - American Sign Language Linguistics Credits: 3
LIN 106LEC - Languages of the World Credits: 3
LIN 200LEC - Language in Pluralistic America Credits: 3
LIN 201LEC - Creoles, Pidgins and Mixed Languages and Cultures Credits: 3
LIN 207LEC - Language, Society, and the Individual Credits: 3

Notes:

*Students who demonstrate proficiency in ASL at the prerequisite levels (ASL 101 and/or ASL 102) may have the corresponding language course requirements waived. However, these waived language courses will not count toward the minor but must be replaced with the minor elective courses to bring the minimum total number of credits to 25 or more.

If a student takes a placement test and places out of ASL 101 (5 credits), they will need to take any two of the elective courses (a total of six credits). If that student places out of ASL 101 and ASL 102 (a total of 10 credits), they will need to complete any four of the elective courses (a total of 12 credits).

Total Credits Required for Minor: 25

Total Credit Hours Required represents the minimum credits needed to complete this program, and may vary based on a number of circumstances. This chart should not be used for financial aid purposes.

Academic Requirements

In order to ensure that students are prepared to succeed in, and meet the demand of, a minor in American Sign Language, a minimum grade of C or higher in ASL 101 and ASL 102 is required for enrollment into the program. Also, a minimum grade of C or higher is required in each ASL course.

Students with prior American Sign Language proficiency (e.g. four years of ASL in high school) should consult with the Director of the ASL Program for appropriate course placement.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this minor, students will be able to:

Use ASL at various levels of discourse.
Master target, content-specific statements, questions, and commands in ASL.
Initiate, conduct, and terminate simple to complex content-specific conversations.
Employ the fundamental grammatical features in ASL including question types, directionality, time sequenced ordering, conditional sentence types, classifiers, non-manual signals, and use of space.
Identify the major structural features of ASL: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
Comprehend and produce of regulating behaviors (e.g., attention getting techniques and turn taking signals).
Recognize ASL literature and its genres (e.g., folkloristic and single-authored works) and analyze how ASL literature is similar and dissimilar to other world literatures.
Demonstrate respect for American Sign Language as a living, unique, and wholly naturally occurring language and recognize that the Deaf community has their own set of cultural traditions and values.
Identify means and methods of systematic oppression of Deaf people.
Analyze social, economic, and political activities engaged in by Deaf people in the United States (e.g., social justice).
Refine critical analysis and synthesis skills in their ASL work related to course texts and other course-related events such as ASL presentations outside of class.

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