ASL - American Sign Language

To Registration Page ►

ASLU Course Catalog:

Course

Unit

Lessons

Description

Equivalency

ASL 1

Unit 1

1|2|3|4|5

An introduction to American Sign Language (ASL). Includes basic grammar, vocabulary, fingerspelling, numbers, and cultural information related to the Deaf Community.

ASL 1 / ASL 101 (First Semester) [First Year Fall Semester] [Public School K-12: Point five (.5) credits] [University: Four (4) Semester-Credit-Hours or Six (6) Quarter-Credit-Hours] [Continuing Education: Six (6) CEUs] [Course Contact Hours: 45 to 60]

Unit 2

6|7|8|9|10

Unit 3

11|12|13|14|15

Unit 4

16|17|18|19|20

ASL 2

Unit 5

21|22|23|24|25

A continuation of ASL 1. Expands vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, and cultural awareness. Introduces increasingly complex grammatical aspects. Prerequisite: ASL 1 or permission of instructor.

ASL 2 / ASL 102 (Second Semester) [First Year Spring Semester] [Public School K-12: Point five (.5) credits] [University: Four (4) Semester-Credit-Hours or Six (6) Quarter-Credit-Hours] [Continuing Education: Six (6) CEUs] [Course Contact Hours: 40 to 60]

Unit 6

26|27||28|29|30

Unit 7

31|32|33|34|35

Unit_8

36|37|38|39|40

ASL 3

under
construction

Unit 9

41|42|43|44|45

This intermediate-level course further develops comprehension and production skills. Increases conversational competence. Prerequisite: ASL 2 or permission of instructor.

ASL 3 / ASL 103 (Third Semester) [Second Year Fall Semester] [Public School K-12: Point five (.5) credits] [University: Four (4) Semester-Credit-Hours or Six (6) Quarter-Credit-Hours] [Continuing Education: Six (6) CEUs] [Course Contact Hours: 40 to 60]

Unit 10

46|47||48|49|50

Unit 11

51|52|53|54|55

Unit_12

56|57|58|59|60

For more courses, see the "Lessons" page

For course syllabi, see the "Syllabi" page

The ASL University American Sign Language Program:
This program was established in response to parents of deaf children and or students in rural or "outlying" areas without access to sign language classes. Many students wanted to use these courses to fulfill language requirements at their local high school or college. This requires documentation of course participation and signing ability. Since providing documentation is a time consuming process requiring the attention and participation of a skilled ASL instructor, a formal fee-based program was established. Students who do not need documentation should not register nor pay tuition. Instead such individuals should simply self-study from the publicly available online lessons for free.

Disclaimer: ASL University and/or Lifeprint Institute only provides documentation of the amount and quality of your work. We do not award college credit. Your "local college" may award credit for your participation in this program. Students have indeed successfully received college credit from their local college for participation in ASL University, but it is your responsibility to check with your college or high school to determine if they will accept your work in this program for credit. Get it in writing. We do award continuing education units. Letter grades are awarded based on test scores and completed assignments. Full documentation of participation and progress is provided upon completion of the program.

Courses currently offered:
- ASL 1
- ASL 2
- Various enrichment courses

Course information:
Online instructional hours per course = 60 plus
Homework/practice/testing hours per course 90 plus
Semester credit hour equivalency per course = 4

Program information:
Number of courses = 2 (Level 1 and Level 2)
Total online instructional hours for program = 120 (approximately 60 hours per course)
Additional homework/practice/testing hours for program = 180 plus
Total quarter-credit hours for program = 12 (six quarter credit hours per level).
Total semester-credit hours for program = 8
Research papers required = (one per course)
Receptive Quizzes required = (20 per course)
Expressive Final required = (one per course)
Receptive Final required = (one per course)

Tuition and fees:

Cost per course for documentation, grading, email correspondence, etc	$443
Receptive evaluation (Covers evaluation, postage and shipping)	$20
Expressive evaluation (Covers evaluation)	$20
First official transcript mailed (Additional transcripts mailed $10)	free
Tuition per course:	$483
Total per 2-course program:	$966
Possible other fees: Exam retake fee $20.00 (Must pass finals with a "C" or better)
Go to registration page ►
Go to payment page ►

Course schedule: Start whenever you would like. No "official start date."
One lesson per week minimum to be considered "progressing."
Lesson assignments (quizzes) may be turned in early without penalty. Lesson assignments turned in late may be penalized or not accepted.) Tests and assignments must be postmarked or sent as attached documents on or before due date. (Which means one quiz per week and one research paper every five weeks, plus one final every five weeks).

Class Location:
Online course: http://www.lifeprint.com (general--follow links to course)

Resources:
- The lessons are online at www.lifeprint.com
- e-mail access to the instructor
(Tip: Check your own local public library and the hundreds of online ASL-related websites)

What you learn in courses 1 and 2:
● Around 400 vocabulary per course
● Dozens of grammar principles
● ASL related terminology
● Deaf Culture related information
● ASL History related information

Payment Schedule: Full payment required prior to beginning program.

Refunds: 1st to 3rd day, 100% refund. After which, no refund.

Attendance Policy: Student must complete one lesson per week. Upon three weeks of missed participation student may be dropped from program.

Grading: See your syllabus.

Transcripts: Letter grades will be awarded based on test scores and completed assignments. Full documentation of participation and progress will be provided upon completion of the program. Lifeprint will maintain transcripts of student work for a minimum of 360 days after completion of program. The first transcript is provided free. After which it is $10 for one transcript plus $1 for each additional copy in the same request.

Eligibility: To participate in the documentation program, students must be eighteen years of age or older or have parental permission. Students are required to read all assignments and complete required summary reports and/or exams. In addition, they must be free from harmful drugs or alcohol while participating in any interactive, real-time, interactive course activities. Students who do not meet the age requirement may register as long as their parent or legal guardian signs the registration form as well..

Disclaimer: ASL University is not claiming to prepare anyone for certification or employment. Certificates of completion issued by ASL University may or may not be accepted by other organizations or schools. While this program is intended to fulfill college or high school foreign language entrance and exit requirements -- it is not sufficient to prepare you to be an interpreter for the Deaf. Prior to interpreting for pay in most states, individuals must first become certified by passing a rigorous examination administered by the state or a national organization. The certifying organizations generally charge for this examination and there is no guarantee that you will pass. This program and Lifeprint Institute only provide DOCUMENTATION of your having completed a certain amount of work. To receive credit from a recognized accredited institution you must contact the institution and make arrangements. Get it in writing.

In a message dated 6/6/2006 12:13:22 PM Pacific Daylight Time, a person from Canada writes:

Dear Dr. Bill,

You mentioned there is no guarantee in passing the course and I am concerned about this. Is it that difficult to pass?

-- Canadian (name changed)

Dear Canadian,
It is not difficult to pass if you set up an actual schedule, dig in, invest 45 to 60 hours online and another 20 or so doing the quizzes, research paper, expressive video, and receptive final.
The difficulty is not in the material, but in the self-discipline to schedule your time accordingly.
So far I've only failed a few students (out of well over 100) due to "lack of ability." Let me tell you about a typical case. It was a woman in her late 40's. Her mistake was in going through the quizzes as mere assignments to be completed instead of as tools to prepare for the final. She would visit the lesson pages long enough to identify the signs on the quiz, type them, submit them, and then move on. But the signs were simply going into her short term memory and being forgotten the next day. At the end of the semester she had earned credit for the 20 quizzes but she did not know the 400 or so signs she covered in the quizzes well enough to recognize them on the comprehensive final (receptive), and thus could not pass it with a C or better (which I require of my students to pass my class).
But if a person will simply set a goal to learn all 400 (or so) signs and the grammar that goes with them and remember them long enough to complete the receptive final and expressive video then they will certainly pass.
Would you believe many of my students (online) are Special Education (developmentally disabled) students?
But they tend to complete the course with flying colors because their local aide sets up a schedule for them and "makes" them sit down and get to it.
If they can do it--I'm sure you can do it.

Bill