Grade 9: Understanding Culture and Society

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

• describe how characteristics of Deaf culture relate to ASL
• identify ways in which sign languages from other countries and ASL have influenced one another

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Foundations in other grades click on an icon below.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Have the class brainstorm suggestions as to why sports and recreational activities might be important to the Deaf community (e.g., social cohesion, communication, empowerment, and pride). Then invite a member of the Deaf community to speak to the class about this issue.
• Show a series of slides or video excerpts that reflect everyday life of Deaf individuals (e.g., TTY use, captioned television, auxiliary aids). Have students note similarities to and differences from their own lives.
• Present students with a variety of colloquial signs that are used across North America. Discuss the similarities and differences among regional signs that share similar meaning.
• Show students a video of two people interacting. Ask students to work in groups to emulate their conversational behaviour (e.g., turn-taking, eye contact, attention getting) and to explain how and why the situation and the relationship between the participants influences communicative interactions. The group findings could then be presented to the class.
• Encourage students to maintain ongoing lists of pictorial representations of signs used in ASL that have been borrowed from other sign languages. Discuss possible reasons for each of these words being used rather than the ASL sign. As an extension, challenge students to identify ASL signs used in other sign languages.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

• When assessing students' conversational behaviour, note the extent to which they:
  • turn-take appropriately
  • use appropriate attention-getting behaviours (e.g., hand waving, shoulder tapping, foot stomping)
  • demonstrate eye contact
  • actively attend, through appropriate facial expression, to what others sign
  • understand the need for particular rules of behaviour
• Ask students to compare the experiences of Deaf and hearing people in sports and recreational activities. Look for evidence that they are aware of the ways in which such activities are important to Deaf and hearing cultures.
• As students add to their list of loan signs, discuss the possible reasons for incorporation of these signs into ASL. Students can then create ASL stories that use at least five loan signs in one story.
• Ask students to compose short stories or anecdotes using as many words as possible from their list of borrowed ASL signs. Have them present their pieces to partners or small groups to assess the appropriateness of their usage. Look for evidence that they:
  • are able to recognize ASL signs used in another language
  • are interested in relationships between languages
  • make an effort to use the words appropriately

• The Book of Name Signs: Naming in American Sign Language

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