Plan of Study – Sign Language Interpreting Studies

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.

Development of basic ASL communication skills with appropriate vocabulary and grammatical structures. Emphasis on communicative and linguistic functions. Prerequisite or corequisite: SLS 1000.

Development of basic ASL communication skills with appropriate vocabulary and grammatical structures. Emphasis on communicative and linguistic functions. Prerequisite: SLS 1000 and SLS 1015 or placement.

Guided laboratory practicum: Foundational activities building on basic receptive skills with application to real interactions along with reflection and research. Prerequisite: SLS 1020

Review of ASL grammatical features and further development of communication functions at the intermediate level. Prerequisites: SLS 1020 and SLS 1020.LB or placement. Corequisite: SLS 2010.LB

Guided laboratory practicum: Continuation of foundational activity building on basic receptive skills with increased use of visual spatial space. Corequisite: SLS 2010

Second level of immediate instruction and review of ASL grammatical features with further development of communication functions at the intermediate level. Prerequisite: SLS 2010 or placement. Thirty hours of laboratory practicum required for SLS 2020.

Guided laboratory practicum: Students will begin modeling ASL discourse and make applications to mock setting and real-world settings. Corequisite: SLS 2020

Examination of Deaf culture through the lens of intersectionality and exploration of how various social, cultural, and identity factors intersect within the Deaf community. Analysis of how hearing society shapes and influences Deaf culture, both historically and in contemporary contexts. Investigation of the global diversity of Deaf experiences through the use of literature, media, and narratives from Deaf communities around the world, with an emphasis on cross-cultural perspectives. Prerequisite: SLS 1000

Advanced American Sign Language development with a focus on text analysis of English and ASL content to increase student vocabulary and understanding of ASL syntactical patterns. Communicative dialogues will highlight the sociocultural and historical aspects of ASL etymology. Prerequisite: SLS 2020.

Guided laboratory practicum: Students will continue modeling ASL discourse and make applications to mock settings and real-world settings along with analysis of distinctive ASL features seen in ASL storytelling. Prerequisite: SLS 2020

Advanced American Sign Language development utilizing increased grammatical complexity through continued emphasis on ASL syntactical patterns through different scenarios and nuances. Prerequisite: SLS 3010.

Guided laboratory practicum: Increased complexity of ASL discourse in a variety of real-world settings. Prerequisites: SLS 3020, SLS 3010.

Concentrated instruction in practice of fingerspelling, numbering, and loan signs at increasing levels of complexity. Corequisite: SLS 2020.

Examination of American Sign Language (ASL) with focus on how language use varies according to context, setting, and social factors. Identification and utilization of different ASL registers, including formal, informal, and specialized registers, and examine how these registers reflect the values, norms, and expectations of the American Deaf community. Through interactive exercises, students will gain practical skills in adjusting their ASL usage to suit various situations. Prerequisite: SLS 2020.

Exploration of the structure and use of discourse in American Sign Language (ASL), with a focus on the transliteration process of converting English into ASL while preserving context, meaning, and cultural nuances. Examination of ASL Expansions and English Compression strategies to aid students in the transliteration process while considering the goals, units, and details of each translation. Prerequisite: SLS 3810.

Analysis of the symbolic and linguistic structure of American Sign Language and English. Includes aspects of phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Examination of bilingual practices and related research. Prerequisite: SLS 3020 and SLS 3020.LB

Capstone course for senior-level students in the Department of Sign Language Studies. Students construct electronic/video portfolios of their academic and professional work in the respective areas of concentration (either Deaf Studies or Interpreting). After passing a written comprehensive examination, the culminating demonstration of students' program accomplishments is made through a presentation to peers and faculty. To be taken in the student's final academic year of the program.

Introduction to the theory, practice, and criticism of interpretation and transliteration: simultaneous and consecutive. Study of various models of the interpreting and transliterating processes, problems of linguistic and communicative equivalence, historical foundations, and professional issues. Prerequisite: cumulative GPA of 3.0 in SLS courses; departmental approval.

Analysis of various texts in ASL and English to identify structures unique to one language or the other. Problems of translation and/or interpretation. Includes discussion of cross-cultural communication between deaf and hearing cultures. Prerequisite: SLS 4850.

A practical course in the process of interpreting from ASL to English and from English to ASL. Emphasis is on a sociolinguistic model of interpretation. Related linguistic processes are examined. Prerequisite: SLS 3410.

Development of skills in spoken English to ASL interpreting. Audio- and videotaped discourse is interpreted into ASL, and recorded and analyzed with the instructor. Prerequisite: SLS 4450.

Emphasis on specialized settings in which interpreters are expected to function. A range of interpreting settings and situations is examined, such as: deaf/blind, hospital/medical, religious, and community-based situations. Prerequisite: SLS 3410.

Focus on ASL to spoken English interpreting. Videotapes and in-class speakers provide interpreting exercises for the student. ASL to English interpreting techniques discussed and put into practice. Prerequisite: SLS 4450.

A targeted, in-depth synthesis of English to ASL/ASL to English skills for both interpreting and transliterating. Includes individual and peer assessment through analysis of weekly laboratory assignments. Discussion and practice of specialized techniques and settings, such as team interpreting, video relay interpreting, and sight interpreting. Prerequisites: SLS 4610 and SLS 4810.

Preparation for state and national certification examinations for professional interpreters. Exposure to the written and performance testing experience. Requires successful completion of state written examination and completion of national written qualifying examination. (Examination fees include membership in the Michigan Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.) Includes opportunities for students to experience simulated examinations. Prerequisite: SLS 4850.

Observation of sign language interpretation within the community in a variety of settings including educational, religious, medical, legal, corporate, and others. Prerequisites: SLS 4850 and departmental approval.

Practicum conducted in settings equipped to provide application of interpreting/transliterating principles. Includes in-depth experiences in delivering interpreting services within the confines of state and national law. Provides experiences with various age groups, language preferences, and interpreting models reflective of current practices in the profession. Requires guided reflection with instructor on regular basis. Prerequisite: SLS 4930.

Focus on the building of public speaking skills needed in education, personal life, and careers in order to effectively communicate thoughts and feelings. Students evaluate the communication efforts of others and increase their critical listening skills.

A linguistics course providing an historical sketch of the development of the English language, examining the interplay between theory of language and approaches to the study of grammar. By analyzing English phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, the course shows the changing nature of language and emphasizes how that change is influenced by politics and culture. The effects of dialect and register on communication in English are explored. Applications to teaching grammar in elementary and secondary settings are examined.

Biological approach to health and disease in man. Study of drugs, smoking, alcohol, venereal disease, sex education, nutrition, heredity, and topics of current interest. (For non-science majors.)

A survey of clinical and developmental aspects of hearing and deafness. Includes discussion of basic audiology, deaf education, and communicative implications of hearing loss. Prerequisite: SLS 1000.

Workshops or seminars include topics related to the Deaf community, Deaf culture, Sign Language, education, and related issues. (May be repeated for credit, as topics vary.)