The Routledge Handbook of Sign Language Pedagogy

Russell S. Rosen

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781315406800
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Sprachen & Linguistik
• Subtopic: Sprachen

The Routledge Handbook of Sign Language Pedagogy is the first reference of its kind, presenting contributions from leading experts in the field of sign language pedagogy.

The Handbook fills a significant gap in the growing field of sign language pedagogy, compiling all essential aspects of current trends and empirical research in teaching, curricular design, and assessment in one volume. Each chapter includes historical perspectives, core issues, research approaches, key findings, pedagogical implications, future research direction, and additional references.

The Routledge Handbook of Sign Language Pedagogy is an essential reference for sign language teachers, practitioners, and researchers in applied sign linguistics and first, second, and additional language learning.

Part I

Standards

1

Standards in sign language pedagogy

Russell S. Rosen

Introduction

Teachers and educational practitioners conduct pedagogical activities in sign language as L1 and L2/Ln with children and adults. They develop curriculum, instruct, and evaluate their learners’ learning. Underlying the pedagogical activities are presumptions about the aims and effectiveness of language instruction and the content domains in instruction, curriculum, and assessment. The presumptions are dictated by the goals of a community of language users. The community goals pertain to the domains and levels of achievement and the means for reaching it.

However, in many countries there are no standards in sign language pedagogy. Consequently, there is nonconformity and nonstandardization in sign language instruction, curriculum, and assessment. Teachers and practitioners often revert to their own understanding of what language is, how to teach it, how learners learn, and how to assess learners’ language knowledge and skills. Without an understanding of language, its transmission, and assessment among teachers and learners, a plethora of knowledge and skills may result, with the consequences being the lack of uniformity in language constructions, the teaching and learning of the language, and language abilities among teachers and learners within and across sign language classes.

There is a need to ensure conformity and conjunctions in sign language pedagogy in classes within and across countries. In addition, there is a need to enhance quality assurance in language pedagogy, the professionalization of teachers, and the use of research- and evidence-based data to guide pedagogical language activities. These needs for quality assurance provide the impetus for the development of standards not only in language instruction, curriculum, and assessment, but also language classes and programs, teacher preparatory programs, and teacher development and qualifications. Below are the theoretical constructs in standards.

Theoretical perspectives

Standards are a set of domain areas and a level of quality, expectations, and attainments in knowledge and skills in the domain areas. They are the “ought to haves” in knowledge and performance that are deemed as important in society. It is a value system, a product and a process. In standards, the value system is a set of domains that is worth knowing and skilling on, the product is a set of benchmarks, and the process is a series of protocols that reach the benchmarks. The purposes of standards are to ensure that individuals have the knowledge and understanding of the concepts in a domain area and skills in performing tasks effectively. Individuals who meet the standards are endowed with recognition.

The standards in pedagogy contains benchmarks, or milestones, of knowledge and skills in the domain areas of instruction, curriculum, and assessment. They also include protocols, or procedures, for performances that demonstrate the knowledge and skills that meet the benchmarks. The benchmarks and protocols in the standards are measured as outcomes in rubrics that are used to determine qualifications (Taut & Sun, 2014). Individuals in the fields of pedagogy who meet the standards are endowed with different forms of recognition such as degrees, certifications, licensures, and accreditations. The standards are developed to ensure higher learner achievement and teacher quality, and bring professionalism into the field of language pedagogy and learning (Phillips, 1999; Call, 2018). By focusing on the quality and assurance in pedagogy, the standards have an impact on language teaching, course design, testing, and educational policy (Cox, Malone, & Winke, 2018), and learners’ learning performances (Troia, Olinghouse, & Wilson, 2016). Research studies found that learner outcomes are positively correlated with board certified teachers who meet the standards (Belson & Husted, 2015), and where assessments are closely aligned with the standards (Troia, Olinghouse, & Zhang, 2018). This chapter does not cover interpreters; it covers the constituencies that are involved in instruction, curriculum development, and assessment.

There are different standards for different constituencies of pedagogy, which are learners, teachers, practitioners, and teacher training programs. Different social institutions hold the responsibility to develop, oversee, and monitor standards for the different constituencies. In addition, standards vary by countries, states and provinces, and by sources within the countries. The standards and its constituencies and controlling institutions in sign language pedagogy are discussed below.

Standards in sign language pedagogy

Different sources contribute to the development of items in the standards for curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The constituencies in sign language pedagogy use standards to ascertain their knowledge and skills in curriculum, instruction, and assessment for degrees, certifications, licensures, and accreditations. The following information on standards in each area of pedagogy is drawn from works by Phillips (1999), Ricento (2006), and Tollefson (2013).

Standards for curriculum

The standards for curriculum cover the scope and sequence of content topics; lesson plans and its learning objectives, teaching goals, prerequisite knowledge, sign vocabulary and grammar, conversation tasks, instructional materials, and assignments; and evaluation of learners’ learning and teachers’ teaching. The standards for curriculum in L1 and L2/Ln sign language classrooms are similar, with one difference based on the goals and ideologies of governmental education bodies that develop the standards. The similarities are that the curriculum tends to begin with basic everyday and high-frequency vocabulary and basic grammatical structures, and ends with inflected forms, complicated grammatical structures, and discourses. It also includes information about culture such as the language community and their history, beliefs, behaviors, traditions, arts, and literature. The difference is that in L1 curriculum, teachers and learners use sign language to teach and learn academic subjects, including sign language.

Standards for instruction

The standards for pedagogy for instruction cover teaching strategies, materials, and medium of presentation, and its appropriateness for the topics and learner population under instruction. They also include the use of language to teach sign language and the use of sign language to teach academic subjects. For L1 sign languages, the standards for instruction concern the materials and strategies for using sign language to teach academic subject matters and transmitting sign language to deaf and hard of hearing learners who use sign language as their L1. For L2/Ln sign languages, the standards for instruction concern the materials and strategies for transmitting sign language to L2/Ln learners. Standard-bearing educational bodies determine the domain areas in instruction.

Standards for assessment

The standards for assessment cover content domains, test formats, test administration, assessment procedures, media, and rubrics. The standards for assessment are twofold. One is to assess learning outcomes, the other is to assess teacher qualifications. The tests and assessments are measured against a rubric that indicates stages of attainment in language and culture that are in conjunction with the standards for learner learning outcomes and teaching skill assessments. For L1 learners, the standards pertain to knowledge and skills in content areas of academic subject matter, and knowledge and skills in sign language for communication purposes. For L2/Ln learners, the standards for learning objectives include the knowledge and skills in sign language, and about deaf people, community and culture. The standards for qualifications of teachers of L1 sign languages are knowledge and skills in deaf education theories and pedagogies, psychology of deaf children, and literacy. The standards for qualifications of teachers of L2/Ln sign language classrooms include knowledge and skills in linguistics theory and applications; sign language and deaf people, community and culture; and knowledge and skills in pedagogy.

Sources of sign language standards

The standards are developed by different sources and there are different standard-bearing institutions. The institutions that are standard bearing develop standards and monitor its fulfillment by its constituencies. A discussion of the role of the different sources in standards development is given below.

Sign language policy and planning

The standards on sign language pedagogy is ascertained by the language policy and planning (LPP) of national and local governments. Governments create policy and planning on language in its creation, status, selection, codification, recognition, and implementation, as well as migration, reductions, and closures in society (Haugen, 1983; Hornberger, 2006; Ricento, 2006). There are several aspects of LPP, and the aspects that are relevant in pedagogy are language recognition, status, scope, and implementation. Governments ascertain the status of languages, including its standardization and uses (Kloss, 1968). They create criteria for implementation and allocation of languages in schools and society, and the learning and acquisition of languages (Cooper, 1989). LPPs are developed amidst the complex interplay of social, cultural, and political forces. The forces may lead governments to recognize or not recognize languages, increase or decrease the number and distribution of languages, and to choose between monolingualism and multilingualism for its populace. The LPPs also determine the standards of qualifications for the awarding of degrees, certifications, licensures, and accreditations to different constituencies in pedagogy.

Different countries have different standards based on their different value systems and goals regarding languages. For instance, the US sees English as a globalized language, favored monolingualism for its inhabitants, and offer other languages as a means for them to participate in the world’s peoples and cultures. The European Union favors plurilingualism as transculturality and translanguaging as a method of instruction. China sees the learning of other languages, primarily English, as a tool to obtain scientific and cultural information from the world, and to participate in globalization for nationalistic purposes.

The countries also vary in the statuses of sign languages. The countries’ attitudes and LPP toward languages other than their mother tongue, coupled with their attitudes and LPP toward sign languages, shape sign language distribution, allocation, standards, pedagogy, and purposes. Some countries view sign languages as not languages and that deaf communities do not exist, in which case they do not recognize or legitimatize it, and do not prepare standards. Once a country recognizes sign languages, it would need to create mechanisms to ensure that the languages are offered, the teachers are teaching it, and the learners are learning it. It creates standards in learner outcomes and teacher qualifications. Some countries see sign language as a disability language, in which case sign languages tend to be offered in service professions for interpreters, social workers, and psychologists to learn and use it to work with deaf people. Still other countries view sign languages as a tool and a means to introduce spoken and written mother tongues; under this view sign languages tend to be used in schools and educational programs for the deaf by teachers who use sign languages to teach academic subjects and mother tongues. A few countries view sign language as a culture and deaf people as a cultural and linguistic community. In this case they tend to offer sign languages as one of the foreign or world languages at schools.

Different governmental bodies within countries create different educational programs for different constituencies of sign language pedagogy. The standards for L1 in public policy are built on the value system of governments and localities pertaining to the purposes of education of the deaf and the hard of hearing. Governments devise curricula in deaf and hard of hearing education, including subject matters, number for credits to award, and degree requirements, and create items and criteria in learner and teacher qualifications, examinations, and certifications. The standards for L2/Ln in public policy are built on the value system of governments and localities that pertain to language learning and the learning of different languages, peoples, and cultures. They develop curriculum topics and its scopes and sequences. They establish requirements for learner and teacher world language programs, including courses and course credits, and also create items and criteria in learner and teacher qualifications, examinations, and certifications.

Research studies

The items in standards may derive from research studies in pedagogy. Research studies conducted by scholars in the areas of pedagogy produce longitudinal, synchronic and cross-sectional diachronic evidence that demonstrate the characteristics, performances, trends, and achievements in pedagogy. The research studies that focus on sign language as L1 and L2/Ln look at its linguistic aspects; acquisition; the effectiveness of sign language use in teaching, curriculum, and assessment; the history, sociology and anthropology of deaf people, community, and culture; and the effectiveness of learning sign language to learn scholastics and literacy skills. Findings from research studies become parts of the benchmarks and milestones in standards. Governments and education agencies determine standards, and the items and criteria that governments and education agencies create in their standards as they appear in learner degree and teacher certification examinations are guided by research studies in sign language and culture.

Practitioners

Practitioners such as educators and educational developers are another source of standards. They provide instruction, develop curriculum, and prepare assessments for children to learn, use, and demonstrate their knowledge and skills in sign languages. The professional organizations of practitioners, guided by their experiences, knowledge and skills in pedagogical activities, provide recommendations for instruction, curriculum, and assessment in the development of standards. They advise and recommend in the areas of language and communication; the scope and sequence of linguistic aspects of sign languages; and uses and strategies with sign languages in the teaching and learning of scholastic subject matters. The practitioners also advise on teacher training programs where teachers receive preparation according to standards. They also give advice on standards in assessment to ensure quality teaching and learning. For L1, the practitioners provide advice in the use of sign language to teach scholastics and literacy. For L2/Ln, they provide advice in the use of languages in the teaching and learning of L2/Ln sign languages.

Deaf community

Deaf community is another source of standards. Individuals in the Deaf community are knowledgeable about sign language and Deaf culture. In essence, they live the beliefs, traditions, and history of their community. They develop cultural artifacts of arts and literature, major cultural events, ways of life, social and cultural institutions, and worldview throughout its history based on their deafness, use of sign language, their visual orientations, and their relationship with the majority culture of speaking and hearing people. Members of language communities inform standard developers by creating the concepts and items in the standards for sign language pedagogy regarding the constitution of their community and culture; the major events in community history; the language they use; the arts and literature they created; the main cultural activities they conducted within their communities; and experiences in their relationship with the majority (speaking and hearing) culture.

Standard-bearing social institutions

There are different institutional bodies that offer recognition of sign...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Information
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Figures
• Tables
• Contributors
• Introduction: Pedagogy in sign language as first, second, and additional language
• Part I Standards
• Part II L1 sign language pedagogy
• Part III L2/Ln sign language pedagogy
• Part IV Learner characteristics
• Part V Special issues
• Index