American Sign Language II

Course Description

ASL1150C — American Sign Language II is the second course in the American Sign Language (ASL) sequence at Florida public colleges. It is a 4-credit integrated lecture-and-laboratory course (the "C" suffix indicates the integrated lab format) meeting approximately 5-6 hours per week, with most institutions accumulating 80 total contact hours over a 15-week semester. It builds on the foundation established in ASL1140 with continued development of receptive and expressive ASL competency at the intermediate-elementary level.

ASL is a complete natural language with its own grammar, syntax, and phonology — not a signed form of English. Florida public colleges treat ASL as a foreign language for the purpose of satisfying the Associate in Arts (A.A.) foreign-language competency requirement, alongside Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, and Russian. The course emphasizes the development of visual-spatial communication skills, including the use of three-dimensional signing space, classifiers, non-manual markers (facial expressions and body movement that carry grammatical information), and the spatial-temporal sequencing characteristic of ASL discourse.

The course also introduces students to Deaf culture as a distinct linguistic and cultural community. Deaf culture in the United States has a documented history, shared values, social norms, art forms (including ASL poetry and storytelling), and active community institutions (schools for the Deaf, Deaf clubs, Deaf-owned businesses, Gallaudet University as the world's first university designed for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students). Course content explicitly distinguishes Deaf with a capital "D" (referring to the cultural community) from deaf with a lowercase "d" (referring to the audiological condition).

The course is offered at approximately 22 Florida public institutions, including Miami Dade College, Broward College, Palm Beach State College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Seminole State College, Valencia College, Tallahassee State College, Pensacola State College, St. Petersburg College, State College of Florida, Hillsborough Community College, the University of Florida, the University of South Florida, the University of Central Florida, Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University, and Florida State University.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Produce and recognize extended fingerspelling, including lexicalized fingerspelling (signs that have evolved from rapid fingerspelling of short English words), proper-name spelling, and address-and-place fingerspelling at conversational speed.
• Produce and recognize numbers in extended contexts, including monetary values, percentages, dates (year forms), telephone numbers, and large quantities with appropriate numeric incorporation.
• Continue developing ASL vocabulary to approximately 600-800 conceptually accurate signs across expanded topical domains (work, health, travel, sports, current events, emotions, opinions, hypothetical situations).
• Apply intermediate ASL grammatical principles, including classifier predicates (CL: handshapes used for movement, size, shape, and instrument verbs), role-shift for reported dialogue and narrative, time-line grammar (past, present, future signed with appropriate signing space), and aspect marking on verbs.
• Communicate in ASL at the ACTFL Novice-High to Intermediate-Low proficiency range, including narrative sequences (telling a story or summarizing events), comparison and contrast, expression of opinion with supporting reasons, and request-and-response in service-encounter contexts.
• Demonstrate expressive and receptive proficiency with classifier-based descriptions, including describing the location and movement of objects, the layout of rooms or spaces, and the size and shape of items using appropriate classifier handshapes.
• Demonstrate continuing knowledge of Deaf culture and community at an intermediate level, including the role of advocacy organizations (National Association of the Deaf, Florida Association of the Deaf), legal protections (Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act), the history of oralism vs. manualism debates in Deaf education, and contemporary issues including cochlear implants, language deprivation, and Deaf-gain perspectives.
• Engage respectfully with members of the Deaf community outside the classroom, including attendance at Deaf community events (where institutional resources permit), and recognition of the ethical role of hearing learners of ASL as language students rather than community members.
• Participate fluently in silent-voice classroom protocols, demonstrating sustained communication in ASL without reliance on spoken or written English.

Optional Outcomes

Depending on the institution and instructor, students may also:

• Compose and perform short ASL narratives or descriptions incorporating classifier predicates, role-shift, and aspect marking.
• Survey foundational ASL literature and Deaf art, including ASL poetry (Clayton Valli, Patrick Graybill), ASL storytelling traditions, and Deaf visual arts.
• Begin preliminary work on ASL Proficiency Interview (ASLPI) or Sign Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI:ASL) evaluation rubrics.
• Attend a community Deaf event with a structured reflection assignment.
• Explore career applications of ASL, including the ASL-English Interpreter A.S. degree pathway and entry-level interpretation contexts.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Review and Extension of Phonological Parameters — refinement of handshape, orientation, location, movement, and non-manual markers; minimal-pair distinctions at finer granularity.
• Lexicalized Fingerspelling — signs derived from rapid fingerspelling of short English words (#BACK, #BUS, #JOB, #DO, #OK, etc.); recognition of the lexicalization process.
• Extended Numbers — monetary values, percentages, dates (year forms), telephone numbers, fractions, and large quantities with appropriate numeric incorporation.
• Classifier Predicates — handshapes that function as classifiers for movement, location, size and shape (SASS), instrument verbs, and body-part predicates. This is one of the most distinctive grammatical features of ASL and a major focus of the course.
• Role-Shift — the use of body position, eye gaze, and facial expression to represent the words or perspective of another person; foundational for ASL narrative and reported dialogue.
• Aspect Marking — verb modulation to indicate continuous, habitual, iterative, and other aspectual meanings.
• Time-Line Grammar — the spatial-grammatical use of signing space to indicate past, present, and future; the conventional time line and its variations.
• Extended Topical Vocabulary — work and occupation, health and medical, travel and directions, sports and recreation, current events, emotions and opinions, hypothetical situations.
• Narrative and Discourse Structures — telling a story, summarizing events, comparing and contrasting, expressing opinion with supporting reasons.
• Deaf Culture and Community at Intermediate Level — National Association of the Deaf (NAD), Florida Association of the Deaf, Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504, oralism vs. manualism debates, cochlear implant controversies, language-deprivation prevention, Deaf-gain perspectives.

Optional Topics

• ASL Literature and Art — ASL poetry, ASL storytelling tradition, Deaf visual arts.
• ASL Proficiency Assessment — introduction to the American Sign Language Proficiency Interview (ASLPI) or Sign Language Proficiency Interview for ASL (SLPI:ASL) rubrics.
• Career Pathways — ASL-English Interpreter A.S. degree, entry-level interpretation contexts, Deaf-education pathways.
• Deaf Community Event Attendance — guided immersive experience with structured reflection.
• Introduction to International Sign — the auxiliary signed pidgin used at international Deaf gatherings.

Resources & Tools

• Primary textbook — institution-dependent; common textbooks include ASL at Work (Newell, Caccamise, Boardman, Holcomb), Signing Naturally: Units 1-6 (Smith, Lentz, Mikos) for Level I and Signing Naturally: Units 7-12 for Level II, and Master ASL! (Zinza). All major textbooks include companion DVDs or online video content essential for the visual-language nature of the course.
• Online video resources — Lifeprint.com (Bill Vicars' free ASL University), ASLPro.com, the Gallaudet University ASL resources, and the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind public resources.
• Video recording capability — smartphone or webcam for student self-recording of expressive practice; many institutions require students to upload signed video assignments to Canvas, Flipgrid, or similar platforms.
• ASL dictionary references — Handspeak, SigningSavvy, the ASL Dictionary App, Lifeprint Dictionary.
• Deaf community attendance opportunities — local Deaf coffee chat events, ASL meetup groups, Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind public events, regional Deaf festivals.
• Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) — the state institution in St. Augustine; many Florida colleges have established relationships supporting student observation and immersive experiences.
• Gallaudet University — the world's only liberal-arts university designed for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students; reference resource for Deaf culture, history, and ASL linguistics.

Career Pathways

ASL coursework satisfies the foreign-language requirement for Florida Associate in Arts (A.A.) degrees and supports careers in fields where ASL competency is valued, particularly:

• ASL-English Interpreter — Florida public colleges offer Associate in Science degrees in ASL/English Interpreting, with strong programs at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, St. Petersburg College, Tallahassee State College, and Valencia College. National certification through the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) requires a bachelor's degree and passing the National Interpreter Certification (NIC) examination.
• Deaf Education — teachers of the Deaf and hard-of-hearing in Florida's K-12 public schools, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, and itinerant Deaf-education positions across school districts. Florida certification typically requires bachelor's-level coursework in Deaf education plus ASL proficiency.
• Healthcare — nurses, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, physicians, and physician assistants working with Deaf and hard-of-hearing patients benefit substantially from ASL coursework; AdventHealth, Mayo Clinic Florida, and other major Florida healthcare systems specifically value bilingual ASL-English staff.
• Social Work and Counseling — Florida social workers, counselors, and family service workers serving Deaf and hard-of-hearing populations.
• K-12 Education — mainstream classroom teachers in Florida districts with Deaf or hard-of-hearing students; school counselors and resource specialists.
• Public Service and Law Enforcement — Florida public-safety, law-enforcement, and emergency-services personnel with ASL competency are increasingly valued under ADA Title II/III compliance obligations.
• Theme Park and Hospitality Industry — Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, and major Florida hospitality employers maintain accessibility and guest-services positions that benefit from ASL competency.

Special Information

Foreign Language Competency Requirement

ASL coursework at Florida public colleges satisfies the Foreign Language Competency requirement for the Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree, alongside Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, and Russian. The two-semester sequence (ASL1140 + ASL1150) typically satisfies the A.A. competency requirement. Some Florida public universities require additional language coursework beyond the A.A. competency level for specific majors; students should consult the receiving institution's catalog for major-specific language requirements.

Articulation Caveat — Transfer to Specific Programs

Students should verify foreign-language requirements with the receiving institution before relying on ASL to satisfy a specific program's language requirement. Most Florida public universities accept ASL for the general foreign-language requirement, but some specialized programs at four-year institutions may require a spoken (non-ASL) foreign language for their specific degree path. This is particularly worth checking for international studies, foreign-service preparation, and certain humanities majors at the upper-division level.

Course Format

The "C" suffix on ASL1150C indicates an integrated lecture-and-laboratory format — the course combines theoretical instruction (ASL linguistics, Deaf culture, grammar) with substantial practical signing practice within the same class session. Most Florida institutions schedule ASL1150C as a 4-credit course meeting 5-6 hours per week, with approximately 80 total contact hours over a 15-week semester. A small number of institutions offer the parallel non-"C" course (ASL1150) with reduced lab time at 60 contact hours total; students should verify the format with the awarding institution.

Prerequisites

Successful completion of ASL1140 American Sign Language I with a grade of C or higher, or equivalent demonstrated proficiency through institutional placement.

Sequence Position

The Florida public-college ASL sequence is: ASL1150C → ASL2140C (with continued advanced study available in the ASL-English Interpreting A.S. programs at participating institutions). Students intending to pursue interpreting careers continue into the ASL/English Interpreter A.S. degree, which extends well beyond the two-semester general-education sequence.

Silent Voice Policy

Most ASL courses operate under a silent voice classroom policy, meaning that students and the instructor communicate in ASL (or through writing) during class time, with limited or no spoken English. This immersive policy is pedagogically essential for visual-language acquisition. Students with disabilities affecting their ability to participate in a silent-voice format should consult the institution's office of accessibility services for reasonable accommodation.

Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB)

FSDB in St. Augustine is the state-funded residential school for Deaf and blind students, serving Florida K-12 students and providing community outreach. Many Florida ASL programs maintain collaborative relationships with FSDB for student observation, immersive experiences, and guest presentations. FSDB is also a significant Florida employer for Deaf-education professionals.

AI Integration

Generative-AI tools currently have limited substantive application to ASL language acquisition. ASL is a visual-spatial language that cannot be effectively transcribed into text; current text-based AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) cannot evaluate signed production, provide feedback on handshape or non-manual markers, or substitute for receptive video practice. AI may be modestly useful for explaining ASL grammar concepts in English, generating English-to-ASL gloss exercises (with explicit recognition that ASL gloss is not ASL itself), or quizzing on Deaf culture content. The fundamental skills of ASL — visual attention, accurate sign production, receptive fluency, and cultural competence — are acquired through human-to-human interaction and cannot be replaced by AI-mediated practice. Students must consult institutional and instructor-specific policies on AI use.