This certificate offers skills for immediate employment such as a para educator while allowing a student to continue or return to complete a longer certificate or degree for job advancement.
This introductory ASL Certificate provides potential employers assurance that applicants who hold this certificate have valuable insight into the Deaf Community and employ basic language skills that will benefit a wide array of career fields including education, business, health care and human services/social work.
Please note that this Certificate will not certify students as Interpreters in ASL as it is not an Interpreting certificate. However, completion of this one year certificate may enable students to apply to transfer to an interpreting program in preparation for interpreter certification.
A student earning the One-year competency certificate should be able to:
- Demonstrate competency in American Sign Language both expressively (“signing”) and receptively (“listening”) at the mid to high Intermediate performance range as defined by ACTFL proficiency guidelines 2012.
- “Expresses self and participates in conversations on familiar topics using sentences and series of sentences. Handle short social interactions in everyday situations by asking and answering a variety of questions, can communicate about self, others, and everyday life.”
- “Communicates information and expresses own thoughts about familiar topics using sentences and series of sentences.”
- Understand basic differences between Deaf and Hearing cultures and be able to adapt communication to reflect understanding of the audience.
- “Recognizes and uses some culturally appropriate vocabulary, expressions, and gestures when participating in everyday interactions. Recognizes that differences exist in cultural behavior and perspectives and can conform in familiar situations.” “Reflects some knowledge of cultural differences related to written and spoken [signed]communication.”
- Communicate at an interpersonal level in a variety of settings.
- Students will be able to interact with native ASL users in a variety of casual settings about familiar topics. Can use the language to communicate at a basic level. For example, the successful student would be able to ask and answer questions in work settings such as office, retail, food service, production industries, hospitality, and ask and answer questions about basic comfort in a medical setting.