| (a) General requirements. Level IV can be offered in
middle or high school. At the high school level, students shall be
awarded one credit for successful completion of this course. American
Sign Language (ASL) Levels I, II, and III are prerequisites for this
course.
(b) Introduction.
(1) The study of world languages is an essential part
of education. In the 21st century language classroom, students gain
an understanding of two basic aspects of human existence: the nature
of communication and the complexity of culture. Students become aware
of multiple perspectives and means of expression, which lead to an
appreciation of difference and diversity. Further benefits of foreign
language study include stronger cognitive development, increased creativity,
and divergent thinking. Students who effectively communicate in more
than one language, with an appropriate understanding of cultural context,
are globally literate and possess the attributes of successful participants
in the world community.
(2) Communication is the overarching goal of world
language instruction. Students should be provided ample opportunities
to engage receptively and expressively in conversations, to present
information expressively to an audience, and to comprehend cultural
and linguistic aspects of the language. The American Council on the
Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) identifies three modes of communication:
interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational.
(A) In the interpersonal mode of communication, students
engage in direct signed communication with others without voice. Examples
of this "two-way" communication include but are not limited to signing
face to face or in a group discussion. Interpersonal communication
includes receptive and expressive skills.
(B) In interpretive (receptive) mode of communication,
students demonstrate understanding of receptively viewed communication
within appropriate cultural contexts. Examples of this type of "one-way"
receptive comprehension include but are not limited to ASL video weblogs
(or vlogs), other signed presentations, and signed DVD conversations.
(C) In presentational (expressive) mode of communication,
students present information in expressive form without voice to an
audience of receptive listeners with whom there is no immediate expressive
interaction. Examples of this "one-to-many" mode of communication
include but are not limited to an expressively signed presentation
to a group or recorded in some way where there is no receptive listener
present to respond.
(3) The use of age-level appropriate and culturally
authentic resources is imperative to support the teaching of the essential
knowledge and skills for languages other than English (LOTE). The
use of culturally authentic resources in world language study enables
students to make connections with other content areas, to compare
the language and culture studied with their own, and to participate
in local and global communities.
(4) ASL difficulty has been determined by standards
of the Foreign Service Institute and Defense Language Institute as
a Level IV out of four (Level IV being the most difficult). The American
Sign Language Teachers Association (ASLTA) states the challenge to
ASL is primarily in the modality of learning. This conclusion is based
on the complex grammar system and significant structural and cultural
differences in the language. Students are generally seated in a semi-circle
to facilitate visual communication, notes cannot be taken without
looking away from the primary source of information, and instruction
occurs in the target language where learning is done spatially and
words are not processed sequentially. The linear nature of spoken
language cannot be used in ASL and the simultaneous expression of
complex units is used. The level of difficulty of ASL should be noted.
(5) While other languages possess a spoken and/or written
element, ASL incorporates manual components with no verbal and/or
written form. ASL is a fully developed natural language that is used
by members of the North American Deaf Community. The language is distinct
from gestures seen in spoken languages in that signs used in ASL are
controlled by the structures of its linguistic system, independent
of English. ASL encompasses all of the features that make a language
a unique, rule-governed communication system. ASL includes handshapes,
movements, and other grammatical features needed to form signs and
sentences, and parts combine to make wholes. It is not a simplified
language and contains structures and processes that English does not.
The premise of Deaf culture is rooted in the language itself and cannot
be separated.
(6) ASL is a signed language where the modes of communication
involve different skills than written and/or spoken languages. ASL
is not a formal written language; glossing is the term used to describe
a chosen written system of symbols devised to transcribe signs and
nonmanual signals to an English equivalent. Since ASL information
is received visually and not in an auditory manner, communication
skills in ASL are defined as follows:
(A) interpretive listening and reading targets are
called interpretive receptive;
(B) one-to-one interpersonal targets are called receptive
and expressive; and
(C) one-to-many presentational speaking is expressed
through signs and the target is presentational expressive.
(7) Using age-appropriate activities, students in ASL
Level IV expand their ability to perform novice tasks and develop
their ability to perform the tasks of the intermediate-to-advanced
language learner. The intermediate-to-advanced language learner, when
dealing with everyday topics, should understand ASL phrases receptively
and respond expressively with learned material at an intermediate-to-advanced
proficiency level; sign learned words, concepts, phrases, and sentences
at an intermediate-to-advanced proficiency level; apply acquired knowledge
of Deaf cultural norms to the development of communication skills;
and apply knowledge of the components of ASL to increase accuracy
of expression. Students use expressive and receptive skills for comprehension.
(8) ASL Level IV proficiency levels, as defined by
ACTFL and ASLTA, are as follows: interpersonal receptive, intermediate
high; interpersonal expressive, advanced high; interpretive receptive,
intermediate high; and presentational expressive, advanced high.
(9) Students who have fully or partially acquired the
skills required at each proficiency level through home or other immersion
experiences are known as heritage speakers. Heritage speakers may
be allowed to accelerate based on their ability to demonstrate a proficiency
in the Texas essential knowledge and skills at the prescribed proficiency
level and communicate across all modes of communication. According
to ASLTA's National K-16 ASL Standards, "heritage language learning
is an emerging issue in ASL instruction. The formal instruction of
ASL to deaf is a very recent phenomenon, as is the availability of
ASL instruction in K-12 settings for hearing children of deaf parents.
Heritage language learning is an important and developing interest
in the field of ASL teaching and learning."
(10) Statements containing the word "including" reference
content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such
as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(c) Knowledge and skills.
(1) Communication. The student communicates in ASL
using expressive and receptive communication skills without voice.
The student is expected to:
(A) engage in a variety of ASL exchanges of learned
material to socialize and to provide and obtain information at an
intermediate-to-advanced proficiency level;
(B) demonstrate an understanding of ASL such as stories,
commands, and instructions when dealing with familiar and unfamiliar
topics;
(C) convey information in ASL using concepts, classifiers,
phrases, and sentences to others without voice at the intermediate-to-advanced
proficiency level;
(D) demonstrate appropriate usage of ASL phonology,
morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics at the intermediate-to-advanced
proficiency level; and
(E) create and express ASL literature, including handshape
stories, that follows traditional cultural features.
(2) Cultures. The student gains knowledge and understanding
of American Deaf culture. The student is expected to:
(A) apply ASL to recognize and use Deaf cultural norms
to demonstrate an understanding of the perspectives of American Deaf
culture;
(B) apply ASL to show evidence of appreciation of ASL
literature created by the Deaf and how it applies to the perspectives
of American Deaf culture;
(C) apply ASL to show evidence of appreciation of the
contributions to arts and sciences by the Deaf and how they are applied
to the perspectives of American Deaf culture; and
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