American Sign Language and Deaf Studies

American Sign Language, or ASL, is a visual-gestural language that utilizes facial expressions, nonmanual features, hand shapes, and upper body movements to convey meaning. This two-part series uses clear demonstrations and frequent review to help learners master the basics of ASL. With subtitled vocabulary lists, receptive skills practice sessions, and question-and-answer sections in both programs, the series is designed to enable viewers to have signed conversations with Deaf people. 2-part series, 54–61 minutes each.

Take your knowledge of ASL to the next level with this series of Advanced American Sign Language training programs. This series utilizes the skills and techniques of performers and teachers with extensive experience in the Deaf community and Deaf education. Each individual program presents a lecture, signed by Angela Stratiy, that focuses on a significant facet of ASL. The lecture is then followed by several stories signed in ASL by Deaf signers chosen to represent a variety of signing styles and regional signs within the Deaf community. Delve into the silent world of ASL and experience this complex and elegant language first hand.

Videos on how to sign during specific situations, such as directions, time, shopping or expressing sickness.

American Sign Language textbook designed for use in the classroom or at home. Organized into 44 lessons, it presents more than 1,300 signs representing 3,500 English glosses. Each lesson contains clear illustrations of all signs, English equivalent words and synonyms, sample sentences to define vocabulary context, and practice sentences to display and reinforce ASL usage. It provides an expanded index, vocabulary lists, and a reading reference list. The new edition offers facts on ASL grammar and Deaf culture and includes mind ticklers that enliven the lessons with hints, tips, and mnemonic devices. The clear, easy-to-understand sign illustrations facilitates the learning process, enhancing students' success while also making ASL fun.

Through rigorous study of historical texts, field research in communities throughout France and the U.S., and an in-depth analysis of the cultural groups responsible for the lexicon, authors Emily Shaw and Yves Delaporte present a compelling and detailed account of the origins of over 500 ASL signs, including regional variations. Organized alphabetically by equivalent English glosses, each sign is accompanied by a succinct description of its origin and an LSF sign where appropriate. Featuring an introductory chapter on the history of the development of ASL and the etymological methodology used by the authors, this reference resource breaks new ground in the study of America's sign language.

This engrossing study investigates the infancy of American Sign Language (ASL). Authors Ted Supalla and Patricia Clark highlight the major events in ASL history, revealing much of what has not been clearly understood until now. The authors analyze the metalinguistic assumptions of early accounts and also examine in depth a key set of films made by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) between 1910 and 1920. Designed by the NAD to preserve classic ASL, the films feature 15 sign masters, the model signers of that time. By tracing the writings of selected individuals, this study reconstructs the historical context for early ASL grammar. It describes the language used in each century and how it changed, and focuses on the rediscovery of the literary legacy of the Deaf American voice.

In sign languages of the deaf some signs can meaningfully point toward things or can be meaningfully placed in the space ahead of the signer. This obligatory part of fluent grammatical signing has no parallel in vocally produced languages. This book focuses on American Sign Language to examine the grammatical and conceptual purposes served by these directional signs. It guides the reader through ASL grammar, the different categories of directional signs, the types of spatial representations signs are directed toward, how such spatial conceptions can be represented in mental space theory, and the conceptual purposes served by these signs. The book demonstrates a remarkable integration of grammar and gesture in the service of constructing meaning.