Texas Administrative Code › Title 19 - EDUCATION › Part 2 - TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY › Chapter 114 - TEXAS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS FOR LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH › Subchapter C - HIGH SCHOOL › Section 114.37 - American Sign Language, Level IV (One Credit), Adopted 2014

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) General requirements. Level IV can be
				  offered in middle or high school. At the high school level, students shall be
				  awarded one credit for successful completion of this course. American Sign
				  Language (ASL) Levels I, II, and III are prerequisites for this
				  course.
(b) Introduction.
(1) The study of world languages is an
				  essential part of education. In the 21st century language classroom, students
				  gain an understanding of two basic aspects of human existence: the nature of
				  communication and the complexity of culture. Students become aware of multiple
				  perspectives and means of expression, which lead to an appreciation of
				  difference and diversity. Further benefits of foreign language study include
				  stronger cognitive development, increased creativity, and divergent thinking.
				  Students who effectively communicate in more than one language, with an
				  appropriate understanding of cultural context, are globally literate and
				  possess the attributes of successful participants in the world
				  community.
(2) Communication is the
				  overarching goal of world language instruction. Students should be provided
				  ample opportunities to engage receptively and expressively in conversations, to
				  present information expressively to an audience, and to comprehend cultural and
				  linguistic aspects of the language. The American Council on the Teaching of
				  Foreign Languages (ACTFL) identifies three modes of communication:
				  interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational.
(A) In the interpersonal mode of
				  communication, students engage in direct signed communication with others
				  without voice. Examples of this "two-way" communication include but are not
				  limited to signing face to face or in a group discussion. Interpersonal
				  communication includes receptive and expressive skills.
(B) In interpretive (receptive) mode of
				  communication, students demonstrate understanding of receptively viewed
				  communication within appropriate cultural contexts. Examples of this type of
				  "one-way" receptive comprehension include but are not limited to ASL video
				  weblogs (or vlogs), other signed presentations, and signed DVD
				  conversations.
(C) In
				  presentational (expressive) mode of communication, students present information
				  in expressive form without voice to an audience of receptive listeners with
				  whom there is no immediate expressive interaction. Examples of this
				  "one-to-many" mode of communication include but are not limited to an
				  expressively signed presentation to a group or recorded in some way where there
				  is no receptive listener present to respond.
(3) The use of age-level appropriate and
				  culturally authentic resources is imperative to support the teaching of the
				  essential knowledge and skills for languages other than English (LOTE). The use
				  of culturally authentic resources in world language study enables students to
				  make connections with other content areas, to compare the language and culture
				  studied with their own, and to participate in local and global
				  communities.
(4) ASL difficulty has
				  been determined by standards of the Foreign Service Institute and Defense
				  Language Institute as a Level IV out of four (Level IV being the most
				  difficult). The American Sign Language Teachers Association (ASLTA) states the
				  challenge to ASL is primarily in the modality of learning. This conclusion is
				  based on the complex grammar system and significant structural and cultural
				  differences in the language. Students are generally seated in a semi-circle to
				  facilitate visual communication, notes cannot be taken without looking away
				  from the primary source of information, and instruction occurs in the target
				  language where learning is done spatially and words are not processed
				  sequentially. The linear nature of spoken language cannot be used in ASL and
				  the simultaneous expression of complex units is used. The level of difficulty
				  of ASL should be noted.
(5) While
				  other languages possess a spoken and/or written element, ASL incorporates
				  manual components with no verbal and/or written form. ASL is a fully developed
				  natural language that is used by members of the North American Deaf Community.
				  The language is distinct from gestures seen in spoken languages in that signs
				  used in ASL are controlled by the structures of its linguistic system,
				  independent of English. ASL encompasses all of the features that make a
				  language a unique, rule-governed communication system. ASL includes handshapes,
				  movements, and other grammatical features needed to form signs and sentences,
				  and parts combine to make wholes. It is not a simplified language and contains
				  structures and processes that English does not. The premise of Deaf culture is
				  rooted in the language itself and cannot be separated.
(6) ASL is a signed language where the modes
				  of communication involve different skills than written and/or spoken languages.
				  ASL is not a formal written language; glossing is the term used to describe a
				  chosen written system of symbols devised to transcribe signs and nonmanual
				  signals to an English equivalent. Since ASL information is received visually
				  and not in an auditory manner, communication skills in ASL are defined as
				  follows:
(A) interpretive listening and
				  reading targets are called interpretive receptive;
(B) one-to-one interpersonal targets are
				  called receptive and expressive; and
(C) one-to-many presentational speaking is
				  expressed through signs and the target is presentational expressive.
(7) Using age-appropriate
				  activities, students in ASL Level IV expand their ability to perform novice
				  tasks and develop their ability to perform the tasks of the
				  intermediate-to-advanced language learner. The intermediate-to-advanced
				  language learner, when dealing with everyday topics, should understand ASL
				  phrases receptively and respond expressively with learned material at an
				  intermediate-to-advanced proficiency level; sign learned words, concepts,
				  phrases, and sentences at an intermediate-to-advanced proficiency level; apply
				  acquired knowledge of Deaf cultural norms to the development of communication
				  skills; and apply knowledge of the components of ASL to increase accuracy of
				  expression. Students use expressive and receptive skills for
				  comprehension.
(8) ASL Level IV
				  proficiency levels, as defined by ACTFL and ASLTA, are as follows:
				  interpersonal receptive, intermediate high; interpersonal expressive, advanced
				  high; interpretive receptive, intermediate high; and presentational expressive,
				  advanced high.
(9) Students who
				  have fully or partially acquired the skills required at each proficiency level
				  through home or other immersion experiences are known as heritage speakers.
				  Heritage speakers may be allowed to accelerate based on their ability to
				  demonstrate a proficiency in the Texas essential knowledge and skills at the
				  prescribed proficiency level and communicate across all modes of communication.
				  According to ASLTA's National K-16 ASL Standards, "heritage language learning
				  is an emerging issue in ASL instruction. The formal instruction of ASL to deaf
				  is a very recent phenomenon, as is the availability of ASL instruction in K-12
				  settings for hearing children of deaf parents. Heritage language learning is an
				  important and developing interest in the field of ASL teaching and
				  learning."
(10) Statements
				  containing the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while
				  those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative
				  examples.