Weekly Lab Assignments

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Week 1 Assignment

1.     Attend a lab orientation meeting and pick up a schedule of open lab hours in N-4.  Be sure to bring your PIC card.

Week 2 Assignment: ASL 101L

1.     Watch Learning American Sign Language (LASL) Units 8, 9, and 10.  Read the glossed representation of the signed dialogues provided in your textbook.  Copy the signers until you are comfortable signing the dialogues on your own.  Watch the signers again, paying particular attention to facial expression.  Copy the signers again, making sure to copy their facial expressions.

    Note: The word SINCE in the dialogue on page 97 is used to mean, “I didn’t realize it had been that long!”

2.     Read the grammar and culture notes in Units 8, 9, and 10 of LASL.  Take notes on information that you learn as you will be given a self-test in a few weeks.  You will be allowed to use your notes.  Study and practice using each grammatical feature that the textbook discusses (e.g. personal pronouns incorporating numbers, tense, use of FINISH and how the sign’s movement changes meaning, palm orientation and structure for signing age and time versus counting numbers 1-5, classifiers, etc.). 

3.     Practice signing exercises in LASL Units 8-10.  Although this is a review of information covered in ASL 100, use this time to prepare yourself for a self-test on the vocabulary and grammatical features.

4.     Read “Strategies for Learning American Sign Language” in Signing Naturally, Level 1 (p. vii).  What tips do the authors suggest work best for learning ASL? 

5.     Take the Deaf Awareness quiz on pp. vii-x in SN.  Record your answers on a separate piece of paper.

6.     View the videotape and do the workbook exercises in Unit 5 of Signing Naturally (SN).  You will have to rewind several times in order to complete the exercises.  Read “How to Use the Videotext and Workbook” on page vi for helpful tips.  Remember to read the workbook instructions carefully and record your answers on a separate piece of paper.  If you have time, continue working on Unit 6 and the Cumulative Review immediately following Unit 6 in SN.  Check your answers in the back of the book.  If you give more than two incorrect answers in any given section, watch the videotape again to figure out why you got it wrong, then turn your paper over and do the exercise again.  Remember that directions are given from the signer’s perspective, so you will have to turn them around in your head, the opposite of how an image would look in a mirror.  Imagine you are facing the street, and the signer is also facing the street from the same location.  Also, it is important to note that the SN workbook uses AM for morning, PM for afternoon, and EVE for evening.

7.     Take good notes on the Culture/Language Notes in SN and keep the notes in your notebook to refer to during your self-test later in the semester.

8.     If you have completed these assignments and still have time, watch a videotape of your choice.  Write down the name and producer of the video.

9.     Turn in answers for step numbers four, five, and eight to a Lab Assistant.  Please do not turn in answers for the Signing Naturally workbook.  Check your answers in the back of the book, and ask a lab assistant for help if you are struggling with a particular section of the workbook.