American Sign Language, Deaf Studies, and the Community - Certificate of Achievement

Program Info

Year Established
2024
Program Code
ASLDSCOMM.CA
Degree Type
Certificate of Achievement
Office Contact
School of Liberal Arts: 313-845-9624, lainfo@hfcc.edu, Liberal Arts Building, Room: K-201 and F-138
Faculty Contact
Jennifer Stewart: 313-845-6481, jestewart1@hfcc.edu, Liberal Arts Building, Room: K-235

Program Description

Description

Provides an understanding of Deaf culture and ensures that students reach an intermediate level of competency in American Sign Language (ASL) skills. ASL courses are aligned with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency standards. The proficiency goal for for students in this program is to reach “Intermediate Mid” on the ACTFL scale. According to ACTFL, an Intermediate Mid speaker is able to successfully handle uncomplicated communicative tasks in straightforward social situations, such as the exchange of information relating to the self and physical and social needs. In addition to responding to direct questions, these speakers are also able to ask a variety of simple questions. Intermediate Mid listeners (attenders) are able to accurately comprehend simple exchanges of sentence-length speech relating to familiar or predictable topics. Students may wish to continue studies at the university level; however, upon completion of the program, students are eligible for work in various fields, including education and social services. Graduates wishing to pursue a bachelor's degree may transfer most if not all of the course work toward that degree.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, students should be able to:

  1. Initiate, conduct and terminate context-specific conversations with Deaf or ASL users.
  2. Compare and contrast American mainstream culture with Deaf culture.
  3. Finger-spell words, numbers and loan signs clearly and accurately in regard to articulation, rate of transition from letter to letter, word configuration and distinction between words, moving from one letter to the next in a rhythmic fashion without extraneous movements
  4. Interpret ASL to grammatically-correct and correctly-phrased English.
  5. Describe psychological development of hearing and non-hearing individuals and communities.
Career Opportunities
  1. Education
  2. Health careers
  3. Social work
  4. Pre-ASL Interpreter
  5. Legal, financial, state, and local government
  6. Services and public accommodations

Program Requirements

Required Support Courses
Credit Hours: 6
Minimum Total Credit Hours
28.00
Requirements are subject to change. The information represented here is effective starting Fall 2024 and applies to the current catalog year. If you were admitted prior to this year, please check your requirements under the My Progress section of HFC Self Service.