About
AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE ACADEMY was established in April, 2009. I am Manuel Martin, the owner and program director. The company is new, but the ideas for it were developed over a period of many years. The curriculum had its beginnings in 1994, when I started to teach elementary grade classes in Worcester, MA. and there were no effective teaching materials I could find. I eventually was teaching 15 to 20 classes a week, from kindergarten to adults. In 2001, I started teaching college classes. By 2006, I was teaching pre-school to University levels, from beginner to full fluency.
From this experience, along with studying second language acquisition, brain function in processing language, exploring visual-spatial perception by left and right-handed persons, analysis to break signs down into their tiniest components, and related areas, the present curriculum was developed. It has been used for a number of years with great success.
We have four semesters per year - fall, winter, spring and summer. In the summer, we also offer Summer Institutes, levels 3, 4, 5 and 6, and two-day or three-day Immersions. Click on those pages for information.
Starting in 2012, we are expanding our teaching through the use of technology. We will soon have level 1 available as an on-line course. Students can study with us six different semesters during the year.
We have classes in pre-schools and kindergartens, both public and private, elementary age classes in public and private schools and for homeschoolers, and classes for middle and H.S. age homeschoolers. Click on the links for “Classes” for times, dates, etc.
ASL for age 3 through Elementary Age students: The ASLA curriculum is called “See it, Say it, Sign it, Spell it, Write it” and not only teaches ASL effectively, but reinforces classroom concepts as students use their bodies and space to become fully involved in the language learning process. Fingerspelling and numbers practice help develop letter recognition and a kinesthetic experience with numbers.
ASL Institutes are courses that are 5 days in length. These Institutes are intensive and very productive for students who want to accelerate their learning.
ASL Immersions are two-day or three-day sessions where students will have instruction and lots of interaction, using only the target language, ASL. On one day of the Immersion, students take a field trip to experience real-world learning.
Professional Development workshops can be done on professional days at schools, after school, evenings, weekends, or whatever will fit your needs. See the link “Professional Development Workshops” for more detailed information.
As we continue to develop our website, we hope you will leave us your feedback to help us make this site as user-friendly as we can. You may leave comments by email: learnasl@aslacademy.org
Manuel Martin
ASL Academy
391 and 461 Main St.
Pawtucket, RI 02860
401 722 1022