news@heraldsun.com; 419-6644
DURHAM -- Greyson Watkins, a junior at Durham School of the Arts, recently won the American Sign Language Literature competition for his story "The UFO."
The ASL Honor Society annually sponsors the ASL Literature competition. All students studying ASL are strongly encouraged to enter because the story competition allows students to practice and achieve new levels with their signing ability.
Watkins's story, "The UFO," won the number story category. A number story is when the signer uses hand shapes for numbers 1-10 and then goes back down again, arranging the numbers to tell the story.
The ASL number story guidelines state that students should demonstrate a good understanding of the use of sequenced number signs in a "visual, compelling manner in addition to a standard use of non-manual signals and other language skills relevant to the story."
Glenda Dinyari, sign language interpreter and teacher at DSA, said that number stories are a stylized version of signing.
"It's really more like poetry," said Dinyari.
What really makes Watkins's story stand out is the humor and expressions he uses, which was designed so that anyone who watches "The UFO" can tell what it's about, even if they don't understand the sign language. Watkins chose to enter the number story category for this reason.
"I think the number stories are more entertaining," said Watkins. "It just came into my head. It took about a week to do it -- I worked on it in class and got feedback. Then I fine-tuned it at home."
Watkins was born deaf and he has been taking ASL as a foreign language course for two years. He first learned how to sign using the English method, which differs from ASL. In English Sign Language, every single word is signed, whereas ASL signs explain the meaning of the words.
"I took ASL because people in the deaf community both use the two languages," said Watkins.
Along with signing, Watkins has wrestled for seven seasons and plays football. Watkins was a state qualifier for wrestling next year and is ranked seventh in North Carolina. He plans to enter the ASL Literature competition again next year.
