Due by class time on: Fri., Feb. 18th, 2011
The responses by the whole class are due by class time on: Mon., Feb. 21st, 2011
The text you need to read is here.
By: Lauren Foley
To begin, the article was about American Sign Language and Grammar. It is defined as “visual gestural language, which incorporates facial grammatical markers, physical affect markers, spatial linguistic information and finger spelling, as well as sign made with the hands” (Humphrey and Alcorn). The article started out explaining how it can be difficult for people to notice the grammatical details in their native-language. They compare it to an infant; infants acquire their language through constant exposure, but no nothing more than how it works. If we put more effort into learning how language works, grammar would actually be paid attention to. The grammar of language can be looked at basically as “the foundation for its form, organization, and functionality”. The article goes on to explain how language has special functions that all work together just like the human body.
A huge part of grammar is its assigned function, or purpose. The different parents of ASL include:
1) Noun
2) Verb
3) Adjective
4) Pronoun
5) Preposition
6) Conjunction
7) Interjection
Two differences between ASL and English are passive voice and articles. These are not part of ASL, but are part of the English language. The article then moves on to syntax. Syntax includes word order, accent, topicalization, and time. Tense is something that English-language users can just change the verb to clarify the tense. ASL can express tense through sign choice and sign location. The article finishes up with giving definitions and/or examples of subject, predicate, object, and infinitive. All of these are important factors in language, grammar, and ASL.
_____________________________
by: Gregory Nehrkorn
ual-geThe article “ASL Grammar “is about American sign language and grammar. ASL is described by Humphrey and Alcorn as “a visual-gestural language which incorporates facial grammatical markers, physical affect markers, spatial linguistic information and fingerspelling, as well as signs made with the hands.” The author defines grammar as a language’s system of use, essentially how a language functions.
All people use grammar on a daily basis but most are unable to refer to grammatical details within their native language. The article uses the example of how children learn and use language. Basically, a young child is constantly exposed to a language by the people that surround them. Although they have no knowledge of how the language actually functions, they can learn how to use it properly by trial and error. In a native language, there is very little reason to actually learn about its inner workings unless we want to build on our skills or learn a new language.
Grammar is the foundation of a language. Without grammar, one cannot communicate. Vocabulary is not a language without grammar. Different parts of language have specialized functions that work together to support communication.
An important part of grammar is a sign’s “part of speech” –its purpose. Parts of speech for ASL include: Noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. There are two key differences between English as a spoken language and ASL: Passive voice and articles. Neither is used in ASL.
Syntax refers to word order, order of expression and organization of words. The syntax of languages can vary widely. Word-order, accent and topicalization are things that need to be understood in order to understand a language. Within ASL most topicalized sentences look like this: Object > Subject > Verb. There is often a pause after announcing the object. This establishes the topic; the rest of the sentence is referred to as the comment. If time has not been established it must be the first thing in a sentence; time > object > subject > verb.
The subject is the one that carries out an activity. The object is the one that receiving what the subject does. All verbs in ASL are always in the infinitive form.
This article states that we need to understand how grammar and language works to excel at it. The article relates grammar skill to the human body which is a great analagy. The similarity of the two would be that when body builders work out, they make sure they understand the body to get the best results. It's the same situation for grammar and language. We need to first understand grammar to excel at it because grammar, in my opinion, is the building blocks for great language and writing skills. This article also states that it's harder to understand your native language because you are just simply raised speaking it so you don't ask evaluate it more intensely. When you learn a foreign language, though, when you're older, you go more in depth with that language because it's not natural to you.
ReplyDeleteThe two students who summarized the article did a very good job at pinpointing the main ideas. Basically, we should all be aware of language and the many uses it has. For example, sign language. Some may not know sign language but it is universal and we see it everywhere. I think it is a great idea to have a basic foundation of how to utilize different ways of language/grammar in our writing skills and everyday life. Of course, it will take time to learn these new methods of communicating, but it is beneficial to have a basic knowledge of how to use sign language. Just like the students stated in their summaries, it's about trial and error; as children we pick up ways to use grammar and growing up we enhance it. Without grammar no one can communicate.
ReplyDeleteASL (American Sign Language), according to the article ASL Grammar, is a visual-gestural language. It was interesting to read about some of the different grammatical and physical affect markers, such as the placement of hands, when signing, to indicate tense: hand placement closer to the front of the body for present, out in front for future, or more towards the rear for past. As the article mentions, learning the grammar of our native language will greatly east the transition into a new language, including ALS, which may reverse the subject and object of a sentence in their language.
ReplyDeleteI thought the article about ASL and grammar was interesting. I do not know much about ASL, or how it functions, in regards to the English language. Trying to understand the different components that make up ASL is less complicated than I assumed. However, it does make me wonder if the ASL students are being taught correct syntax in written and spoken English. I would imagine that it would be hard for an ASL student to know exactly how standard proper English actually works in terms of grammar, because syntax in ASL differs from the English language. The author also discussed how ASL uses tenses, word order, and topicalization, among other things. He also states that many native English speakers can’t point out grammatical errors, or details, because of our lack of awareness. Some do not understand that grammar is the key factor to using a language correctly. Aside from being able to use our language correctly, if one desires to learn a new language it is crucial to understanding and relating key concepts in both languages.
ReplyDeleteThis was a nice article about ASL grammar. I find it interesting that ASL does not include articles such as "the," but not surprising, since many languages do not have articles. That they don't include passive voice is interesting as well. I agree with the author that grammar knowledge is fundamental to learning a second language and having a full understanding of one's own native language.The differences in conjugation are interesting as well.
ReplyDeleteThe two students that summarized the articles did a tremendous job writing what the articles are about. In the Article “ASL Grammar" It is about American sign language and grammar. Grammar is the foundation of a language in which Without grammar, one cannot communicate. Vocabulary is not a language without grammar. Different parts of language have specialized functions that work together to support communication. ASL uses tenses, word order, among other things. Also states that many native English speakers can’t point out grammatical errors, or details, because of our lack of awareness.This article was a great source of reading.
ReplyDeleteThrough this article, I have first encountered the structure with ASL(American Sign Language). It is interesting that ASL can do some kind of concept or idea noun with sign language. I think those abstract concepts are hard to express even using a spoken language. On the other hand, the passive voice and articles does not exist in ASL is makes sense. It is really hard to express the passive voice through sign language which is mainly using hand gestures. Sometimes, I think the articles in English are a kind of conjunction function and it does not really meaningful so that it is really make sense that not having the article in the ASL. Finally, I think both Lauren Foley and Greg Nehrkorn have done a good job also.
ReplyDeleteBoth summaries were key at summing up the main points of the article.
ReplyDeleteNow on to the article, I had no idea that sign language literaly flipped the sentence structure around. Now this has explained to me that when I get letters from my cousin, why her sentence structure is the way it is. She is so used to signing with her family that when it comes to her actually writing the language she will try to write how she should be signing. Understood now that sentence structure is important.
The article about ASL had a different perspective on the way we learn grammar and the english language. I never considered facial expressions and hand gestures as a part of learning grammar. Also the article talked about the differences between earning ASL and spoken English. ASL does not include any articles ( the, a, an). As a language, it is much more to the point, direct and about addressing the main idea as opposed to being lush and descriptive.
ReplyDeleteI liked this article, because of how it was written. I liked that the author compared ASL to parts of the human body that all have to work together. I agree with the author that learning ASL would be as difficult as learning to speak for the first time. Also, I have thought about taking sign language classes, and found this article to be a very interesting view on the subject. I never considered that facial expressions play a large role in ASL.
ReplyDeleteI liked the article because it describes how ASL grammar is a visual-gestural language. I found it interesting that certain hand gestures and facial expressions to insinuate punctuation. It makes me think about the fact that English and sign language can have similarities especially with ASL being a universally spoken language. ASL even uses tenses, word order, nouns, verbs, all the grammatical structure that English uses. So I thought this was a cool article because it brought out facts that I didn't even know about.
ReplyDeleteThe article "American Sign Language and Grammar", is an interesting concept of how proper grammar is dictated through signing. The way signing in relation to its individual functions, work together to form a phrase or sentence is remarkable. Even futher the way sentences in realtion to their functions, work together to form paragraphs is even more amazing. I can honestly say that I thought sign language was hard enough to learn but the fact that one must be grammaticly correct signing as one would speaking is a whole new ball park.
ReplyDeleteIn this article, the author basically speaks about how we should get a better understanding of language. I liked how that author compared ASL to body parts. It really helped me understand the article better. Me personally, I never thought of hand gestures or facial expressions as apart of grammar. When I think of grammar I think more so of written words with grammatical errors that needs to be corrected. It is interesting to know that things of that such is considered to be apart of grammar.
ReplyDeleteIn the this article about ASL, I didn't find it too interesting. I was looking up articles for my Literature Review and came across one that had equations drawn out for grammar syntax, which was a turn-off. I did find the part about body language to be very interesting. The way we use body language like hand gestures and facial expressions are parts of grammar and particularly how babies learn to speak. I see and agree how there is a difference between English and ASL.
ReplyDeleteI thought that both students did a terrific job pointing out the important details in the article to summarize. I agree with the point that the author made when he wrote, "Many people cannot cite grammatical details where their native-language is concerned, yet are fluent users of it." Most people have one language that they fluently speak but they do not know the grammatical details. Personally, I do not know much about ASL but this article helped me to understant it a little better.
ReplyDeleteThe article covering ASL grammar provides insight into the way language is obtained. Their interpretation of its creation is based on empathic exposure. ASL is taught by professional sign language interpreters; they do not use language or grammar the way native English speakers do. I enjoyed how the author expressed his/her definition of language without grammar. The ASL article states, "Without grammar, language is reduced to simply words that cannot extend meaning beyond themselves," and it follows with an example: "Without grammar, words do not a language make." This idea shows how words must be controlled by some type of system. I found that their system is much different from typical English usage. The word order, lack of articles and infinitives, and body language were all major differences between the two ways of language. It definitely introduces the importance of concise utilization of language.
ReplyDeleteI think this article on "ASL" was different. Although it did not interest me much, it did make sense. Language and grammar go hand and hand, without either we would not be able to communicate. This topic was sensible yet not as interesting as the previous articles. Therefore, I do not care for it much in comparison. The title through me off entirely and I expected a story more about sign language instead.
ReplyDeleteThis article states the process of language through the American Sign Language also known as the ASL. The basis of the article was explaining that in order to proper use grammar and language you need to understand how it works. The authors of the article Lauren Foley and Grey Nehrkorn have done a great job in explaining the technicalities of the sign language process. An interesting point that the article raised was that it is harder to actually understand the language that you are raised to speak. The point that the article made was that since you are brought up speaking this language( your native language) it is much harder to understand the actual proper ways of speaking and writing it. This was very interesting to me, because my Native language is English and while actually learning the proper grammar techniques is quite challenging sometimes. Overall this was a very informative article.
ReplyDeleteBoth summaries were very well written and explained the article very well. The article "ASL" is different and make some interesting points like the actual proper way to learn and understand grammar and language. I was expecting the article and the summaries to talk about sign languages based off the title. I do not know much about american sign language so reading these summaries informed and persuaded me to learn more. Overall, I enjoyed reading both summaries.
ReplyDeleteThe author's discussion of ASL and grammar was interesting. I'd never really thought about how grammar in ASL works. I suppose that just because I didn't understand it at all, I always just assumed that it didn't have an particular grammatical rules. Thanks to this article, I now know otherwise. I thought the ordering of the sentences, with regard to subjects, verbs, and objects, was particularly interesting. I also agree with the author that one must understand how grammar works in order to appreciate how important it is and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteThis article is very interesting because it gives insight into how ASL works. The article breaks down ASL very nicely and opens up with an intro about how kids can pick it up just like any other language. ASL is a complicated language, just as any written language is; this is something that I picked up from reading the article. The article also does a good job of breaking down ASL into learnable categories. Allowing the reader to pick up some knowledge on the subject. All in all this was a nicely made article that gives some insight into ASL.
ReplyDeleteInfants learning to speak through trial and error is true, but they also learn how to use grammar that way? Impressive! I never knew that. ASL seems that it would be harder to learn than an actual written language, but with some determination it can be done. But the fact that it too uses grammar is very surprising. not to mention the methods in which the grammar is used.
ReplyDeleteI found the article and the two responses to the article very interesting. All three helped point out the importance of grammar in language. The fact that ASL was used to show this also makes the article interesting because it shows how it can differ.
ReplyDeleteThe article was very interesting, and both students a fantastic job of summarizing the article. The article basically is telling us that we need to be aware how grammar works to become better at it. ASL users become accustom to body language and face markers, thus they are very good when it comes to sign language. The article also goes into detail about how the ASL and the spoken language of English are different. Overall, a great article.
ReplyDeletethis article was interesting and somewhat explained the purpose of American Sign Language and sign language in general. His comparison of sign language to the way an infant learns operated as a good parallel. The english language has many grammar rules that are broken commonly throughout english speaking nations, but it goes largely unnoticed because of the way we learned to speak, through exposure.
ReplyDeleteBoth students did an excellent job on their summaries. The article was very informative. I had never considered that sign language would have its own set of rules for grammar and syntax. I wonder if learning sign language could improve someone's grammar skills?
ReplyDeleteI really liked this article. The author did a really good job with all of the information that they put in the article. Both students dod a very good job at summarizing the article. I did not know that sign language has it's own rules about grammar. I wonder if a person is deaf are they taught this, or can they use incorrect grammar like regular english.
ReplyDeleteThis article was interesting. I took a year of sign language and I noticed even though the language is visual, grammar is still key in communicating with ASL. The author is right about both ASL and American English grammar, through the idea that grammar needs to be learned in order to understand the function of a language.
ReplyDeleteI thought the summaries were well written, and encompassed what the author was trying to get across. I thought this article was alright, nothing too exciting. But one part when he talks about paying more attention to grammar. I feel we should. By paying more attention to it in our schools, it will show students they need to learn the language, not just be able to speak it in slang.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting; it explains the importance of understanding how grammar and language works so that we may be able to excel at it. We should be aware of language and it’s many different uses, such as sign language. I have always been interested in sign language and for a long time have wanted to learn it. Now after reading this article that want has gotten stronger. I never realized that sign language is everywhere, and is universal. Even though ASL does not include articles such as “the” or passive voice, I believe that it contains the building blocks for grammar and is something everyone should learn.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great article, it touches on how understanding grammar enables writers and speakers to articulate fluent sentences. I like how the author relates the studying/understanding of the human body to understanding grammar. This makes it a little more simple to grasp. Take a football player; the player has a great grasp on what he is doing, and with this knowledge is able to play better. This directly correlates to writers when in terms of grammar; the better understood it is, the better it can be 'preformed'.
ReplyDeleteThis article talked a lot about different structures of language and how that ties into grammar. this relates back to the previous article we've had about how structure shapes language and how it ties into life of the individual. the author also tries to get the reader to understand the importance of the language being used at the time. I also thought that both students did a good job at the summaries. how you each broke it down and gave great details massively helped me as a reader.
ReplyDeleteThe article "American Sign Language and Grammar" is about about sign language and grammar. In it the author describes that the parts of speech are an important part of speech for sign language the parts of speech are Noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. She also says that syntax is important too, because otherwise sentences would not make sense. I thought that this article was interesting and I thought that it made a lot of sense what the author was talking about.
ReplyDeleteI knew ASL was different compared to Grammar. My cousin is deaf and she signs. However when she attempts to write; she writes how she signs . Similar to how I write what I speak. This makes her words seem like baby talk. You can gather there is a sentence there but you may not comprehend it.
ReplyDelete