ADVANCED GRAMMAR
What is Topic-Comment?
This ASL structure places the main topic first, followed by information about it.
What is a Yes/No Question?
Raised eyebrows are commonly associated with this type of question.
What is a noun/entity?
CL:3 is commonly associated with this category of objects.
What is Role Shift?
Turning the body or shoulders can help establish this storytelling technique.
What is Fingerspelling?
This is the ASL system used to represent English letters with the hands.
What are Time/Tense Markers?
This grammatical feature can show past, present, or future time.
What is a WH-Question?
Furrowed eyebrows and a forward head position are commonly associated with this question type.
What are vehicles?
CL:3 is commonly associated with this category of objects.
What are body position, eye gaze, and facial expression?
During role shift, the signer may change this to represent a different character.
What is Lexicalized Fingerspelling?
When fingerspelling becomes incorporated into a sign or lexicalized form, it is called this.
What is Spatial Referencing?
ASL uses this to establish people or objects in different locations in signing space.
What is Negation?
Head shaking can be used to indicate this grammatical concept.
What is a Descriptive Classifier?
A classifier that shows the shape, size, or appearance of something is often called this.
What is Character Perspective?
This is used when a signer temporarily takes on the perspective of another person.
What are Pacing, Chunking, and Context?
These three skills can make fingerspelling easier to understand.
What is an Indicating/Directional Verb?
This type of verb can move between established locations to show who is doing something to whom.
What are Non-Manual Markers?
Eyebrows, eye gaze, mouth movements, head position, and body movement can all contribute to this.
What is movement/action in depicting space?
Using a classifier to show a car turning, stopping, or crashing demonstrates this.
What are Referents?
A good ASL narrative uses signing space to establish these before referring back to them.
What is a Fingerspelling Receptive Challenge?
CHALLENGE: One student fingerspells a difficult word. The other team must identify it without asking for repetition.
What is Inflection?
In ASL, changing the movement, direction, or manner of a sign can change its grammatical meaning.
What is changing the grammatical or discourse meaning through NMMs?
Explain how changing the non-manual markers can change the meaning or intensity of an ASL sentence.
Why are classifiers more than simply “handshapes”?
They combine handshape, movement, location, orientation, and other grammatical features to depict meaning.
Tell a 30-second story using at least two characters, role shift, eye gaze, and spatial referencing.
Judge by classmates
What major ASL linguistic concepts are being demonstrated?
Spatial referencing + indicating/directional verbs + eye gaze + ASL grammar.