David Alianiello - ASL--American Sign Language

Fingerspelling is a basic skill of American SignLanguage (ASL). It is not appropriate to fingerspellevery word during a conversation with another ASLsigner. Imagine having a conversation with anotherperson in which you voiced every letter of everyword you wanted to say. It would not be efficient.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when usingfingerspelling during a conversation.

• Use fingerspelling for names, places, or wordsyou do not know the sign for. This will help withclarity.
• Do not move your hand all over whenfingerspelling. Keep your hand in one place.
• Form each letter clearly, especially whenfingerspelling the letters e and o. Sloppinesson your part will make communication difficult.
• Dont mouth or voicethe letters or block yourface with your signinghand.
• Dont worry about howfast you can fingerspell.Clarity is moreimportant than speed.

ASL has five basic sign parameters used for each sign to convey meaning similarto the way phonemes are used in the English language to convey meaning.If you change any of the following parameters, it can change the meaning of thesign you are trying to use.

1. Handshape: Any shape in which you form your hand when making a sign.

If you sign the color blue, your hand forms the B handshape. If you accidentlyused the L handshape, it could be the sign for library, which is drastically different from blue.

2. Movement: Use the same handshape with different movements to formdifferent words.

Three different movements of the B handshape that represent different words:

When reading/watching how to sign different words, pay close attention to thedescription of the movement. A slight change in movement can dramaticallyalter the meaning of your sign.

3. Palm Orientation: The position of your palm. This includes the directionyour palm is facing, which helps with possession.

Some signs have the same handshape, but the direction of the palmdiffers. My: The open palm faces towards the signers body.

4. Location: Where you are signing the word. Your signing area is usually thearea in front of your body, but other locations can be your face, your armsand legs, your waist, etc.

You can use location to indicate where you feel pain.

Hurt can be signed anywhere on your body to show that you are feeling painin that area. Instead of signing, My head hurts which would be three differentsigns, you can just simply sign the word hurt in the location of your head.

5. Non-manual Markers: Facial expressions and body language/movement.This is one of the most critical components of American Sign Language.Actors do not survive the acting business if they show no facial expressionsbecause no one wants to watch them. The same goes for ASL. If you donot use facial expressions, the meaning of what you are signing becomesunclear and/or boring.

The images below show the clear ways to sign angry.

Facial expressions add effectiveness to the sign. Use facial expressionsto determine the degree of anger. You can differentiate between thepictures below who is slightly angry and who is extremely angry.

The direction of your eyebrow movement indicates what kind of questionyou are asking. Raise your eyebrows when asking a yes/no question such as Do you want dinner?

Lower your eyebrows when asking a who, what, where, why, or when questionsuch as Where did you eat?

This helps the person watching you sign determine if you are asking a question.A lack of these facial cues will cause confusion between the two signers.

Body Language/Movement: When telling a story that has two or morecharacters in the story, signers shift positions of their bodies to indicatethat someone new is speaking.

If you are telling a story about a discussion between you and your brother, youwill use one position to indicate its you talking/doing something and anotherposition to indicate that its your brother talking/doing something.

You: I am so sick of his dog barking all night.