Earlier this summer, I put up a poll on this issue; 91% overwhelmingly supported the idea that ASL classes satisfy state’s foreign language requirements in secondary settings. Admittedly, I am still somewhat ambivalent about this. Don’t get me wrong; I love ASL and have taught ASL in a secondary setting before. I did have a “less than positive” experience in teaching ASL in a secondary setting, but that was due to my faults as a beginner teacher more than anything else.
Let’s say that a high school decides to offer ASL classes to its students, and that these courses can satisfy the foreign language requirement needed for graduation. Obviously, a lot of students would be interested and enroll in these courses. I would hazard a guess that the majority of them would think that ASL is an ‘easy’ class as opposed to traditional courses in French, Spanish, Italian, etc. The students may not even like ASL, may not take it seriously, or respect it as a language. In a nutshell, a lot of the students enroll in these ASL classes, usually all for the wrong reasons.
These high school students usually are in for a rude awakening once they enter the ASL classroom. Studying ASL requires the same amount of work, dedication, and discipline similar to those studying Spanish, Italian, Greek, etc. Student’s expectations and attitudes towards the ASL class falls apart quite readily, and leads to increased student dissatisfaction and frustration. Which in turn, adversely affects the ASL instructor and his/her expectations, goals, and teaching approaches in the class.
Granted, this ‘disconnect’ between high school students and instructors pretty much exists at any foreign language classes offered at high schools nationwide. There will always be pockets of high school students disgruntled with their studies in Russian, Japanese, Spanish, etc. Foreign language instructors, and ASL instructors are of no exception, need to utilize effective classroom management strategies in engaging their students and having a productive classroom.
There is one little difference when it comes to Deaf ASL instructors. If they have a frustrating experience in their classroom, how do they cope? Students may belittle or not take ASL seriously. How do they deal with these attitudes day in and out? How are their peer faculty treating them? (I know one ASL teacher that had won Teacher of the Year award at a high school in the past few years, so YMMV.) How do they deal with the ‘burnout’ that comes with the job, if they have it at all?
Now, if the ASL class was offered on an elective basis, these issues usually do not factor in an effective ASL classroom. High school students who take the class usually are the ones who want to learn the language, takes it seriously, and gives it the respect it deserves. The expectations, interests, and goals of the students are usally aligned with those of the ASL instructors. The ASL instructor usually has more latitude and freedom in teaching ASL, and having an enriched foreign language learning environment. The overall level of satisfaction for students and teachers involved in this classroom would be higher, I’ll bet!
However, offering ASL classes as an elective does not promote job security for the ASL instructor. Interest in the classes may vary year to year. A night school (available for high school students) once offered beginner’s sign language classes (with me as an instructor) and only one student showed up. Sure, a better advertising job could be done, but the end result was that I didn’t get this part-time job opportunity. Some regions (such as my area) may express little interest in ASL, and vice versa in other regions. The old adage, “Your Mileage May Vary” (YMMV), certainly applies here!
Now that I’ve laid out the ‘pro’s and con’s’ of offering ASL classes in a secondary setting, what do you, the readers of this blog, think? I’d like to hear from ASL instructors, especially those that have taught in secondary settings before.
(Blog entry coming soon: Should ASL be taught as a “Foreign” Language course when it’s a language as American as Grandma’s apple pie?)
