MADONNA UNIVERSITY
36600 Schoolcraft Road
Livonia, Michigan 48150-1173
Syllabus
COURSE: SLS 1000 Sign Language in Society (3 hrs.)
INSTRUCTOR: Ken Rust, Associate Professor TIME: M 4-7 PM
TELEPHONE: (734) 432-5616 TTY or Voice CLASSROOM: 2207
Email: krust@madonna.edu
WWW: Address: http://ww2.madonna.edu/rust2 OFFICE: 2102B
Madonna University: http://www.madonna.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
SLS 1000 Sign Language
in Society 3 s.h.
A survey of American Sign Language and Deaf culture.
Emphasis on Sign Language structure, history and usage. Discussion of a
sociocultural perspective of Deaf people including readings from anthropology,
sociology, linguistics and education. Includes an examination of American
attitudes toward Sign language and Deaf Culture.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
a. To orient the student to Sign language structures and systems.
b. To acquaint the student with American Sign Language and related
communication terminology.
c. To provide students with information about cultural aspects of deafness
and the Deaf community.
d. To familiarize students with issues in the fields of Deaf education,
interpreting, Sign language and sociology.
e. To inform students of the sociocultural and medical models of deafness.
f. To develop an understanding of the social, political and cultural aspects
of Deaf people as a linguistic minority in American society.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1 General Introduction, student survey. Definitions
related to the course. A discussion of cultural relativism and its relationship
to deafness. Discussion of an ANTHROPOLOGICAL perspective of deafness.
Week 2 Communication, language and culture. The
influence these concepts have on one another as part of an ongoing interactive
process. Focus on values, attitudes and belief systems and how they
influence the way you think and feel about deafness and Deaf people. An
examination of social and medical paradigms of deafness. ASSIGNMENT:
Questions I.
Week 3 American Sign Language and spoken English. Contrasts
and comparisons of sign and spoken languages including language universals. History
of ASL, discussion of basic structures of ASL. A discussion of Sign variance
and Pidgin Sign English. A LINGUISTIC perspective of Deaf people. ASSIGNMENT:
Questions II.
Week 4 History of ASL, discussion of basic structures
of ASL. A discussion of Sign variance and Pidgin Sign English/Contact Signing.
ASSIGNMENT:
Questions III.
Week 5 Videotape: "An Introduction to the American
Deaf Community".
Group discussion and observations ASSIGNMENT: Questions IV.
Week 6 Deaf Education and legislative issues. Philosophies
and methods of educating Deaf children. ASSIGNMENT: Questions V.
Week 7 Deaf culture/Deaf community. Presentation of a SOCIOLINGUISTIC
perspective of deafness. Review sheets for the midterm. ASSIGNMENT:
Questions VI. FIRST REACTION PAPER DUE THIS CLASS PERIOD.
Week 8 MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Week 9 Attitudes toward American Sign Language. An analysis
of majority culture values and attitudes toward English and Sign language. A
look at the EDUCATIONAL perspective of Deaf children and adults. ASSIGNMENT:
Questions VII.
Week 10 TTY/s, captioned films, open and closed captioning
and other cultural artifacts and technology for Deaf people.
Week 11 Social Deconstruction and Deafness, Deaf President
Now Movement. The Politics of Deafness.
Week 12 Deafness, the medical model and it implications for
parents and Deaf children. An analysis of a SOCIAL model of deafness and
the influence of external factors on the development of Deaf children.
Week 13 Sign Languages and Deaf Cultures in other countries.
A look at Deaf communities in Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and
Denmark.
Week 14 Videotape, "Orientation to
Deaf-Blindness". Discussion of Deaf-Blindness, etiology and
communication methods". Review FINAL REACTION PAPER DUE
Week 15 FINAL EXAM
REQUIRED TEXTS
The
Mask of Benevolence by Harlan Lane, Dawn Sign Press
American Deaf Culture, edited by Sherman Wilcox, Linstock
Press
Sign Language and the Deaf Community, edited by Baker and
Battison, National Association of the Deaf
American Sign Language: A Look at its History, Structure and
Community, Charlotte Baker, Carol Padden, T.J. Publishers
OPTIONAL TEXT
Seeing Voices, by Oliver Sacks, Harper
Learning to See, Sherman Wilcox and Phyllis Wilcox, Prentice Hall Regents
SUGGESTED TEXTS
A Journey into the Deaf-World by Harlan Lane, Robert
Hoffmeister and Ben Bahan, Dawn Sign Press
American Sign Language; Linguistic and Applied Dimensions
by Ronnie Wilbur, College-Hill Press
Educating Deaf Children Bilingually by Shawn Neal Machie,
Gallaudet University Press
Forbidden Signs by Douglas C. Baynton, The University of
Chicago Press
Gesture and the Nature of Language by David Armstrong,
William C. Stokoe and Sherman E. Wilcox, Cambridge University Press
Issues Unresolved: New Perspectives On Language and Deaf
Education by Amatzia Weisel, Editor, Gallaudet University Press,
Orientation to Deafness by Nanci A. Scheetz, Allyn and
Bacon
Parallel Views The French-American Foundation, Gallaudet
University Press
Recent Perspectives on American Sign Language edited by
Harlan Lane and François Grosjean, published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Seeing Language in Sign: The Work of William C. Stokoe,
by Jane Maher, Gallaudet University Press
The Signs of Language by Edward Klima and Ursula Bellugi,
Harvard University Press
The Sociolinguistics of the Deaf Community edited by Ceil
Lucas, Academic Press
When the Mind Hears by Harlan Lane, Random House Press
Language Learning and Deafness edited by Michael Strong,
Cambridge Press
REACTION, RESPONSE, REFLECTION PAPERS
All students are required to submit two written papers that
are to be two to three pages in length. The papers are in response to
information discussed during the course, a response to lectures, readings or
videotapes presented during the semester. The purpose of these papers is to have
you reflect on the discussions about deafness and Sign language topics that
surface during class sessions. The papers are personal written comments from you
to me and are not to be book reports or film critiques, rather they focus on
your views, beliefs and values that may be challenged or reinforced throughout
the semester. (All papers are to be typewritten or printed from a word program.)
These papers count as points toward the final grade and will
not be letter grades but rather a plus, check or minus. A plus grade indicates
exceptional commentary, a check indicates a satisfactory response and minus
indicates a need to take another look at your paper due to inadequate writing or
an inability to express your point of view. (The plus and check marks are points
factored into the final exam as well as points for satisfactory attendance, see
the next paragraph).
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Student participation is recognized as an important aspect of
classroom learning, therefore, students are guided by the attendance policy as
stated in the 2000 - 2002 Madonna University Undergraduate Bulletin (page 29).
SCHOLASTIC INTEGRITY
