Enhancing American Sign Language Learning Using Video Technology

Lead Faculty Member: Diane Brentari
Supporting Faculty Members: Robin Shay, Jill Lestina, Ray Olson Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

picture of hand signing The project goal was to design a model of American Sign Language (ASL) instruction that includes integrated video units with content, practice, and assessment components by combining streaming video and the quizzing function in WebCT.

Instructional goals

Provide ASL students a means of immediate feedback
Increase students’ awareness of each of ASL’s structural elements: fingerspelling, sentence structure, vocabulary, non-manuals and language-particular expressions
Demonstrate particular content to practice in each skill
Provide a formal assessment of skill areas for assigning grades

Project Rationale

ASL is the fourth most widely used language in the U.S. and there has been a sharp increase in the demand for ASL instruction in the last ten years. Currently, Purdue has a thriving program with four semesters of ASL offered, with roughly three sections of each level taught each semester (240 students per semester).

The instructional problem that ASL instructors face is twofold. First, the best-designed curricula to teach ASL take for granted that there is a Deaf Community with whom the students can practice their emerging ASL skills. This is no longer the case, however: In central Indiana there are few Deaf individuals per capita and they are widely dispersed. Second, while the technology for making digitized video more widely available exists, its application to a teaching setting, in particular to course materials and assessment, has been limited. This project will provide a model of ASL instruction to address these problems, using Purdue’s online course management system, WebCT, along with integrated video clips.

Implementation

Implementation of this project included shooting several hours of instructors demonstrating sign language. The video was then digitized and edited into words or phrases. Geoff Holden, Educational Technologist at the Instructional Development Center, applied a code within the WebCT interface that would allow for video to be used. Once the WebCT environment was enhanced in this way, ASL instructors and the IDC team built several online video items, giving students the opportunity for immediate feedback. The ASL content consisted of three components – presentation, practice, and assessment. One unit, designed for the introductory course, ASL 101, was constructed to act as a model for all future development. Funding for this project was provided by a Digital Content Development Grant from Teaching and Learning Technologies.

Technologies Used

The project brought together existing technologies in ASL materials design, video technology, and WebCT.

Impact on Student Learning

Qualitatively, both students and instructors reported that the web-based materials are beneficial. Student comments on course evaluations indicate that the web-based materials helped their sign skills improve. Instructors reported that their time is more profitably spent focusing on weak areas as indicated by the quizzes via item analysis. The materials and tools developed through this project provide much needed practice for students in foundational skills involving the comprehension of ASL: fingerspelling and the number system, sentence types, vocabulary, and language-particular expressions.

Although the project unit applied to ASL 101, the project helps the whole ASL program because it developed the WebCT tools needed to create new units for any of the ASL courses. The presentation, homework, and quiz applications will eventually be utilized throughout the program. The project team plans to use the final product as a demonstration of its effectiveness to obtain funding from NEH for a larger materials development grant (up to $200,000).

Given the dramatic increase of ASL programs and courses at large universities that utilize WebCT or similar online course tools, this project innovation will be useful as an example to other ASL Programs. The project team plans to present their work at the ASL Teachers’ Association to disseminate their results.

More generally, if the use of streaming video is a success, this project can serve as a model for spoken foreign language instruction as well, since audio files could just as easily be substituted for video files.

IDC Staff Contact: Geoff Holden