American Sign Language Classes
The American Sign Language Teachers Association
recommends an optimal instructional class size for classes in American
Sign Language of 8 to 20 students depending on the level and nature of
instruction. This is based on recommendations from the disciplines of
foreign language instruction and sign language interpreter training, as
well as a survey of recommendations from 300 sign language program administrators.
Maximum enrollment for beginning level instruction should not exceed 20
students, and smaller class sizes are recommended for intermediate and
advanced classes based on the considerations outlined below.
Guidelines developed by the Association
of Departments of Foreign Languages (ADFL) in effect since 1978 indicate
that the optimum class size for introductory foreign language classes
is 12, and the maximum should not exceed 20. Position papers published
by the Conference of Interpreter Trainers in the mid-1980s and re-issued
in 1994 and 1998 strongly recommend class sizes of 8 to 12 students per
section. In a 1995 survey of sign language program administrators (Cooper,
1997), 84% of the sign language program administrators recommended class
sizes of 8 to 10 students (the remaining 16% suggested class size might
include as many as 35 students).
ASLTA supports the need for small class
size for the following reasons:
- Beginning level instruction may appropriately
focus on receptive skills development with less focus and evaluation of
students' expressive skills. Intermediate and advanced level classes will
have more emphasis on expressive, conversational, and presentation skills
requiring smaller classes.
- ASL is not a written language, so written
drills and compositions are difficult and/or ineffective. Frequent in-class
recitations are necessary for teachers to observe student progress and
language proficiency and the process of observing each student is time-consuming.
- The use of videotaped feedback, which
allows students to see their performance and facilitate self-correction
of production errors, is strongly recommended. This technique is extremely
time-consuming, considering that each ten-minute tape takes 30 to 45 minutes
to critique, plus time needed for instructors to sit with each student
individually to watch the tape and point out correct and incorrect features.
- ASL is a visual/spatial language, and
all students must be able to see the instructor and other class members
as the language is modeled and introduced to the class. This precludes
the traditional classroom seating arrangement where students are aligned
in rows behind one another; being seated in a semicircle arrangement enables
students to see each other better but limits the number of seats in the
classroom. The visual nature of this language also necessitates more time
for turn-taking in the classroom, as all must turn to make eye contact
with the next speaker in order to "hear" (see) what is being
said.
Prepared by Sheryl B. Cooper, Ph.D.
September 1998
