Deaf Studies
15 courses · Antelope Valley College · 2026-2027 Catalog
Classes: Fall 2026 · Winter 2027 · Spring 2027
DFST 101 American Sign Language I
- Units
- 4
- Hours
- 63 lecture hours, 27 lab hours, 90 contact hours total
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
As part of the American Sign Language (ASL) course sequence, ASL I is designed mainly to introduce ASL, a visual-gestural language used by the Deaf community in the United States and Canada, and, more importantly, to focus on the development of basic conversational skills, emphasizing receptive abilities. Deaf culture will be studied as it relates to the course.
DFST 101L American Sign Language I Skill Building Lab
- Units
- 1
- Hours
- 54 lab hours, 54 contact hours total
- Prerequisite
- Completion of or concurrent enrollment in DFST 101.
- Transfers to
- CSU
This course is designed for students in ASL I wishing to become more proficient in using ASL and to further develop vocabulary, ASL grammar, finger-spelling, and basic conversational skills. This course is taught in ASL only.
DFST 102 American Sign Language II
- Units
- 4
- Hours
- 63 lecture hours, 27 lab hours, 90 contact hours total
- Prerequisite
- Completion of DFST 101.
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
As part of the American Sign Language (ASL) course sequence, ASL II is designed for students who wish to develop or enhance their proficiency in ASL usage. The course stresses development of basic conversational skills with emphasis on vocabulary and expressive skills. Deaf culture will be studied as it relates to the course.
DFST 102L American Sign Language II Skill Building Lab
- Units
- 1
- Hours
- 54 lab hours, 54 contact hours total
- Corequisite
- Completion of or concurrent enrollment in DFST 102.
- Transfers to
- CSU
This course is designed for students in intermediate sign language (DFST 102) wishing to become increasingly more proficient in using ASL and to further develop their vocabulary, ASL grammar, and finger-spelling skills. This course is taught in ASL only.
DFST 105 Introduction to American Deaf Culture
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 54 lecture hours, 54 contact hours total
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
Discussion of various aspects of the American Deaf Culture, including description of deafness, deaf people and the Deaf community as defined by audiology and/or cultural means, services for and by deaf people, and culture as reflected in the language of Deaf people. Deaf culture vs. "Hearing" culture is also analyzed and discussed.
DFST 106 Introduction to Deaf Education
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 54 lecture hours, 54 contact hours total
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This course will provide the student with a general orientation to the Deaf community. The course provides an overview of the historical, philosophical, psychological and social aspects of Deaf education. In addition, it provides orientation to problems, issues and research in the field of education for the Deaf.
DFST 108 Visual, Gestural & Non-Manual Aspects of American Sign Language
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 54 lecture hours, 54 contact hours total
- Prerequisite
- Completion of DFST 101.
- Transfers to
- CSU
Examines the visual and gestural aspects of communication which form an integral base for communicating in American Sign Language. Non-manual features of ASL such as facial expression, mouthing, head and body movements will be identified and analyzed. This course will develop and enhance the student’s non-verbal communication skills, as well as improve expressive and receptive skills related to ASL's non-manual features.
DFST 110 Power, Privilege, and Oppression
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 54 lecture hours, 54 contact hours total
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
In this course we will use a critical-intersectional approach to analyze concepts such as racism, sexism, ableism, audism, homophobia, transphobia, white supremacy, immigration, coloniality, anti-racism, liberation, resistance, and decolonization to better understand the diverse lived experiences of Deaf peoples. An intersectional approach considers how structural forms of domination influence minoritized and majoritized groups and the experiences of people located within those groups and their intersections. This course assists in the development of culturally competent learners, citizens, and practitioners in diverse settings. Students develop knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to recognize, call-out, and resist oppression and oppressive ideologies, to promote policies and practices that value difference, and to foster equity in their spheres of influence.
DFST 199 Work Experience Education
- Units
- 1-8
- Hours
- 432 lab hours
- Transfers to
- CSU
Students must also attend a scheduled orientation or meet individually with the supervising instructor for an individual orientation. Work Experience Education is supervised employment designed to provide students a realistic learning experience through work. The ultimate goal is to teach students skills and attitudes that will equip them to function and adapt as an employee in a variety of situations and jobs. Work Experience Education is supervised employment extending classroom-based occupational learning in an on-the-job learning situation related to the students' educational major or occupational goal. Credit may be accrued at the rate of one to eight units per semester.
DFST 201 American Sign Language III
- Units
- 4
- Hours
- 63 lecture hours, 27 lab hours, 90 contact hours total
- Prerequisite
- Completion of DFST 102.
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This course is designed for students to acquire communicative competency in ASL. The course promotes the shifting from comprehension to production of ASL. With expanded vocabularies and grammatical patterns being exposed, the students continue to develop their ASL competencies in numerous conversational settings. The main emphasis is to bring the student's ASL fluency to a point of self-generated ASL for the purpose of furthering language use in ASL. Deaf culture will be studied as it relates to the course.
DFST 201L American Sign Language III/IV Skill Building Lab
- Units
- 1
- Hours
- 54 lab hours, 54 contact hours total
- Prerequisite
- Completion of or concurrent enrollment in DFST 201 . Designed for students in advanced sign language courses (DFST 201 or DFST 202) wishing to become more proficient in using ASL and to further expand and develop their vocabulary, ASL grammar, and finger-spelling skills.
- Transfers to
- CSU
This course is taught in ASL only.
DFST 202 American Sign Language IV
- Units
- 4
- Hours
- 63 lecture hours, 27 lab hours, 90 contact hours total
- Prerequisite
- Completion of DFST 201.
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
Advanced study of ASL grammar. Further development and refinement of ASL skills and fluency. Deaf culture will be studied as it relates to the course.
DFST 204 Structure of American Sign Language
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 54 lecture hours, 54 contact hours total
- Prerequisite
- Completion of DFST 102.
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This course will provide the student with the basic concepts of phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and sociolinguistic structure of American Sign Language (ASL). Social issues as they pertain to ASL will also be explored.
DFST 205 Numbers Fingerspelling and Classifiers
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 54 lecture hours, 54 contact hours total
- Prerequisite
- Completion of DFST 101.
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This course will focus on providing more advanced experiences and communication techniques with expressive and receptive fingerspelling, the use of classifiers, and the use of American Sign Language (ASL) number systems. Numbers will include, but are not limited to: cardinal, ordinal, informational numbers; numbers related to time, temporal aspect signs, measurements, sports and mathematical numbers.
DFST 206 Creative Signing
- Units
- 2
- Hours
- 36 lecture hours, 36 contact hours total
- Prerequisite
- Completion of DFST 102 and completion of or concurrent enrollment in DFST 201.
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This course will provide the student with techniques of facial expression, characterization, body movement, and use of space as it relates to American Sign Language. Development of expressive sign language skills through the use of ASL Poetry, skits, ASL storytelling, and Deaf jokes.