Topics Covered in Linguistics 7


TOPICS COVERED IN LINGUISTICS 7 (Sign Language and its Culture)

This course studies the language (American Sign Language or ASL) and culture of Deaf Americans - a minority culture that generally goes unnoticed.

I.Deaf People: Their History and their Lives in Different Societies
How do people discover they are Deaf?
How was sign language discovered by the hearing world?
How has the hearing world's view of sign language changed over the last two centuries?  
How have Deaf people been affected by these changes? How have they reacted to them?
How have Deaf people's lives changed over the last two centuries?
What kinds of lives do Deaf people lead in the United States today? In other countries around the world?
How are the Deaf like other minority groups in American society? How are they different?
What makes the Deaf a cultural group?
What is the role of ASL in Deaf culture?
Why is there a distinctive Deaf culture in some societies but not in others?
Are there societies in which deafness is not stigmatized? What brings this about?
What are Deaf people's lives like in a society where most people can sign?

II. Language: History and Structure of ASL in Cross-Linguistic Perspective
What does ASL reveal about the Four Mysteries of Language?
What is the difference between gestures and signs?
Do ASL signs correspond to English words?
How does ASL borrow words from other languages?
Where did ASL come from?
How do sign languages differ in different countries?
How is ASL related to other sign languages?
How do ASL verbs express complex meanings that require at least three or four words in English?
In a signed conversation, why don't signers watch each other's hands?
How different is ASL from English?
In what ways is ASL more like other languages than like English?
What makes ASL pronouns different from the pointing gestures they resemble?
Why can't children pick up manual forms of English the way they can pick up a signed or spoken language?
How do sign languages originate? How are they passed on from generation to generation?
How was a new sign language born in Nicaragua in the last 20 years?

III. Literature
What kinds of literary works exist in ASL? What is their role in Deaf culture?
How do stories and poems in ASL reflect experiences shared by Deaf people?
What does ASL poetry have in common with poetry in oral languages?
How does ASL poetry exploit artistic possibilities unique to sign languages?

General Information
Ling. 7 has no prerequisites.
No previous knowledge of ASL or of linguistics is assumed.
Ling. 7 satisfies the Muir and Warren cultural diversity requirement and the Revelle American cultures requirement.
Ling. 7 counts toward the Muir and Revelle social sciences requirement,  the Thurgood Marshall disciplinary breadth requirement, the Sixth College breadth requirement, and the Eleanor Roosevelt College regional specialization requirement.
In Warren, Ling. 7 counts toward the Program of Concentration in Language and Linguistics and the Program of Concentration in Linguistics.

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Maintained by David Perlmutter. Email: dperlmutter@ucsd.edu