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American Sign Language Studies

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE (ASL) is not simply a set of hand-gestures for spelling or signing English words. Rather it has been shown to have the full linguistic structure of a complete natural language. Indeed it is the native tongue of many Deaf men and women and their children, whether hearing or not. It is a complex visual-spatial language used by the Deaf community in the United States and English-speaking parts of Canada. Not only is it a genuine language, it really is a foreign language distinct from English having its own literature and culture. Speakers of ASL probably number in the range of a half-million or more. ASL is one of the most commonly used languages in the U.S.

There is a high demand for interpreters and certified teachers of ASL. Job opportunities in this rapidly expanding profession have increased especially since the enactment of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Qualified Interpreters for the Deaf are employed by public and private agencies or institutions within education, social services, rehabilitation, medicine, mental health, criminal justice, business, and the arts, especially the theatre.

TTU offers six semesters ASL courses. In Fall 2004 we began a minor in ASL.

Supporting the teaching of ASL is a special testing facility where signing performance can be observed and filmed from behind one-way mirrors. Future expansion plans call for eventually equipping this facility with state-of-the art technology for teaching, testing, and evaluating ASL proficiency.

Contact Information

(806) 742-3145 (voice only)
(806) 742-3306 (fax)

Box 42071
Lubbock, TX 79409

Melissa Hays
Coordinator of ASL Studies
melissa.hays@ttu.edu

Carla Burrus
Advisor
carla.burrus@ttu.edu

Kristi Thrasher
Instructor
kristi.p.thrasher@ttu.edu
(806) 300-0787 (videophone)

Debbi Meier
Instructor
debbi.meier@ttu.edu

Lori Mallory
Instructor
lori.mallory@ttu.edu
(806) 686-0589 (videophone)

Audrey Sendejo
Instructor
audrey.sendejo@ttu.edu

COURSES:

* The ASL minor requires ASL 1301, 1302, 2301, 2302, 3301 and EITHER 3302 or 3312. All must be taken consequitively with the exception of 3312 which can be taken after completing 2301.

More Information