  We outline a bidirectional translation system that converts sentences from
American Sign Language (ASL) to English, and vice versa. To perform machine
translation between ASL and English, we utilize a generative approach.
Specifically, we employ an adjustment to the IBM word-alignment model 1 (IBM
WAM1), where we define language models for English and ASL, as well as a
translation model, and attempt to generate a translation that maximizes the
posterior distribution defined by these models. Then, using these models, we
are able to quantify the concepts of fluency and faithfulness of a translation
between languages.
