University American Sign Language Learners: Longitudinal Self- and Faculty Evaluation Ratings

Students who are Deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) represent a small yet diverse population of students with individual needs who often receive educational services provided by sign language interpreters and teachers of the Deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH). Many interpreters and teachers appear unprepared to model fluent American Sign Language (ASL) skills when working with D/HH students who use sign language for communication and instruction. We investigated the ASL skills of 19 interpreting and Deaf education candidates within one university preparation program at two points in time: the end of ASL I class (Time 1) and a year later at the end of ASL IV (Time 2). We used video recordings of candidates’ signed renditions of a picture book, a rubric of 12 sign language indicators with five levels of proficiency across each indicator, and ratings conducted independently by the candidates and the five authors. Four of these authors were university professors in two different Deaf education/interpreting preparation programs and the fifth was a teacher at a residential school for the Deaf. Three have typical hearing and use ASL as a secondary language; two are Deaf and use ASL as their primary language. We compared candidates’ self-ratings to those of the five authors. We found that candidates tended to over-estimate their skills at T1; self-ratings and author ratings increased from T1 to T2, and candidates had higher agreement with most authors at T2 compared to T1. In addition, we found differences among ratings between the university faculty and the high school teacher. We discuss these differences in our findings and address implications for evaluating and improving university candidates’ ASL skills

Communication Strategies Used by Physical Education Teachers and Coaches in Residential Schools for the Deaf in the U.S.

The purpose of this study was to determine what communication and instructional techniques including coaching strategies were being implemented by coaches and physical education (PE) teachers working in residential or day schools for the deaf throughout the U. S. Further, to share this information with coaches and PE teachers in general education classrooms. Questionnaire was answered electronically from 32 coaches and PE teachers (38 % return rate). Topics in the survey included: a) types of sports/PE classes; b) mode of communication used; c) coaching and teaching techniques; d) coaching and teaching strategies; e) breakdowns in communication; f) advice to new coaches a teachers starting out in the field. Advice for new coaches, who had not previously worked with the individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH), six themes emerged: become fluent in ASL, remember to get the student’s attention before you start signing, use a lot of modelling, role playing, and videos (when needed), keep it simple, stress the fundamentals and insist on repetition until skills are mastered, and be flexible, each player will learn differently. Our results suggest that targeted and adapted communication strategies in PE and physical activities play important role for individuals who are D/HH