American Sign
Language: Dr. Bill's RPM Teaching Method
A teacher writes:
<< Dr. Vicars,
I've been looking at your website for inspiration on how to teach an
ASL class. I've been learning ASL for years, and I
have recently started offering a basic ASL class at my church. I was hoping that
you could give me some advice on a particular issue I'm facing.
I want to have the class converse and use the vocabulary that they have
learned, but I'm not sure as to the best time to introduce the new
vocabulary. For example, there are 23 words in the first vocabulary list,
should I present them at the beginning of class and have the students
work
on using them in conversation, or should I present the words during a
class and use the words during the next class meeting as a type of
review?
I'm trying to cut down on as much homework as possible (this is not a
class for credit or anything official, they just want to learn and most
of
them are older adults).
If you have any professional advice to offer me, I would be most
appreciative.
Thanks, T.M. >>
Dear T.M.,
When I teach "in a classroom" I use an
LCD (computer projector) and PowerPoint
slides. If the site doesn't have an LCD
projector, I use an overhead projector. If
there is no overhead projector, I use a flip
chart. If I don't have my flip chart...well
then, I use the "board." Prior to class I
create twenty questions from each day's
vocabulary. For example, " YOU FROM?" (Where
are you from?)
I type them into the PowerPoint presentation
format. Then I make quarter sheet handouts
with ten questions on each and label them
with the lesson number and an "A" or "B." If
you are going to teach without voice it is
very helpful that all of your students know
the following signs:
HEY (fluttering of the hand to get
attention), SLOW, AGAIN, SPELL
I write these on the board and review them
prior to teaching new vocabulary.
I sign a question to one of the students. He
uses signs like, "slow, again, and spell" to
figure out what I'm signing. Then he answers
my question. Then I ask a few other students
the same question and give them a chance to
respond.
Every once in a while a student freezes up
and doesn't have a clue what I'm signing. I
point to the board to remind the student to
use the signs "slow, again, and spell."
Quite often I will turn to a random student
and ask, "HE (where)-FROM?" Meaning, after I
ask student "A" where he is from I turn to
student "B" and ask where student "A" is
from. This encourages all of the students to
stay awake and watch the other students'
answers in case I ask them what the other
students said. If I ask the second student,
"HE [pointing to first student] FROM?" and
the second student doesn't know, I sign,
"ASK HIM" and require the second student to
find out personally where the first student
is from.
After the various ASL interchanges, I
"flash" the question on the screen so they
can all read in English what we recently
covered. This helps any stragglers clue into
the meanings of the recently introduced
signs. If an you don't have an LCD projector
or overhead projector you can make a flip
chart with large letters showing the
sentences.
Of course, you can write the sentences on
the board. I think is "okay" but it takes
time away from your students whenever you
turn your back to write a sentence on the
board. While it is possible to write the
sentences on the board prior to class, I
think doing so is less effective for
encouraging students to pay attention to
your teaching. If students know ahead of
time what sentences you will be
signing--they disengage their brains.
However, suppose there is a "pull down"
screen or map in the room--you can write the
sentences on the board then use the screen
to reveal the sentences at the right time.
The "right time" to reveal a sentence is
after the majority of class has figured it
out. Don't give in at the first sign of
difficulty, but do give enough support to
allow for student success.
For example suppose the following exchanges
takes place:
Teacher: "YOU (where)-FROM?"
Student: "YES"
You know that the student is not
understanding. At that point rather than
prolong the student's suffering I hold up an
index finger to indicate "Wait a minute,
hold that." Then I show or type on the
overhead the words:
FROM vs "(where)-FROM" and I model the
different facial expressions
Then I have another student sign "WHERE."
And have yet another student sign "FROM."
Then I go back to the first student and ask
him again, "YOU (where)-FROM?" Whereupon he
(usually) answers correctly. This helps to
protect the student's self esteem by
providing them just enough context to figure
out the meaning of the sentence.
After I've covered three or four sentences
and gotten answers from the students-- I
press the "back" key to display a recently
taught question. I choose individual
students and have them sign selected
vocabulary back to me.
Also, every once in a while I'll spell the word I want signed. I spell
it very quickly, but students can see the sentence behind me on the screen.
All the students have to do is glance at the screen to pick from amongst the
four or five words in the sentence. This helps them to focus on figuring out
the shape
and movement of the word--recognizing it as a whole--and not the individual
letters. If they don't catch it the first time I spell it again, slower. The
third time I spell it while holding my hand underneath the word on the
screen. The student makes the connection and signs the word back to
me.
Having the sentence available
provides enough of a clue that the students almost always figure out or
guess which word I spelled.
After going through ten questions, I hand out the practice sheets (with
the questions written in both ASL gloss and English) to half the class and
instruct them to find a partner and ask that partner all ten questions. Then
when they get done once, they switch and the other partner asks the
questions of the first partner. If they get done before everyone else they
are to select vocabulary from the sheet and spell it to their partner who
signs the words back to them.
When I see that four or five pairs are
spelling to each other I know that the vast majority of students have had
sufficient time to make it through the dialog sheets at least once and it is
time to move on. Then I teach ten more sentences using the same method. When
it comes time to hand out the second set of practice sheets, (suppose there
are 20 students in class), I hand ten sheets to half of the pairs of
students. For example suppose John and Bob were partners in round one. Mary
and Fred were also partners. For round two I hand practice sheets to both
John and Bob but I don't hand practice sheets to Mary and Fred. This
requires John and Bob to have to change partners. John goes and sits with
Mary. Fred comes over and sits with Bob.
Why don't I give practice sheets to both partners at the same time? I
don't want the receptive partner looking off a piece of paper to figure out
what the expressive partner is signing. I want the receptive partner to
interact with the expressive partner through signing, gesture, mime, or
fingerspelling to figure out what the question is and then answer it.
At the beginning of the next class period I give a quiz by signing 10
questions from previously covered practice sheets. I give these quizzes
"daily" (or each time class meets). I make them worth one percent
of the students total grade. One percent is a low enough number that
students don't get stressed, but it does encourage them to study, and it
does add up over the semester to about 20 percent of their grade.
The things I like about this approach:
The Vicars Method is
1. Highly interactive.
2. Engaging. No more than a few seconds go by in class before the
students have to engage their brains and either respond or be ready to
respond.
3. Personal. The questions elicit real answers about peoples life
circumstances.
4. Fast. Computer-based overheads are available at the push of
a button. They can be hyperlinked for non-linear access. (Which is to say,
you can't jump right to a certain portion of your presentation from any
other place in your presentation.)
5. Bilingual. The overheads supply "L1" (Native
Language) support which makes use of the student's existing language
foundation to expedite second language acquisition.
6. Informative. Students are constantly required to
provide comprehensible answers. You are highly aware of whether
students understand what is going on or not. If a student answers a question
incorrectly you know immediately that you need to clarify certain
concepts.
7. It is low maintenance. After creating the initial question sets,
handout format, and PowerPoint template for unit one, it is an easy matter
to plug in new content.
8. It is backward compatible. If you don't have a computer you can just
use overhead transparencies or even a large flip chart.
9. The regular quizzes help making grading more reflective of student
performance. The quizzes promote good attendance without bribing the
students. Rather than giving students points for "good attendance"
--they have to "work for their grade" by earning points on the
quizzes rather than just warming a seat.
Remember, before using this method you need to teach them fingerspelling,
and how to use signs like "HEY," "SLOW,"
"AGAIN," and "SPELL." So that they can control the
learning environment. Also remember, I write the words "slow, again, and spell"
on the board so that if a student becomes confused and is just sitting there
looking stressed I can point to the each word to remind the student to use
his "tools" to get information from me.
Cordially,
-- Dr. Bill
The "Responses Per Minute" (RPM)
Teaching Methodology
In a message dated 10/10/2006 1:51:26 PM
Pacific Daylight Time, an instructor writes:
HI Bill-
I have been using your curriculum for
the past 8 semesters or so at our
community college for beginning ASL 1
and 2 and LOVE it. Therefore, we
get through 40 of your lessons.
At that time, the students, if they are
continuing on, go to Intermediate ASL 1,
and their instructor begins them on [a
different curriculum], lesson 1.
These students are very frustrated
because they know all the vocabulary and
feel they are not being challenged at
all. I have approached this
instructor about this and am told that
the students I give to her have NO
conversational skills whatsoever.
These students, and I, completely
disagree. We just went through 40
of your lessons together, practiced with
your sentences and created dialogs for
tests and in class work among other
things. I feel I can't get my
point across because this instructor and
our Dean feel that vocabulary should not
be taught, only learned naturally
through conversation. I found on
your website your points showing the
differences between these two
curriculum's, but I need more. My
department needs more. I don't
want to be told that we can no longer
use your curriculum. I send
students from ASL 101 able to
communicate with the Deaf (in a small
way but they can communicate). Can
you help me here?
Is there also a way that you can just
respond back to me and not put my email
in your newsletter? Or, leave my
name and email out?
Thank you so much,
(name on file)
Dear (name on file),
Road Safety experts
will tell you that the main cause of automobile
accidents is because someone "glanced" when they
should have "looked." Some people "glance"
quickly at something and turn away without
having seen what was really there.
That is
the way some instructors are regarding the
Lifeprint Curriculum.
They look at it for a
few minutes and think they understand it when
they really have no idea what it involves or how
it works in the classroom.
For example,
they "glance" at one of my "lesson pages" and
see what they think is a list of vocabulary,
followed by a list of sentences. Then they
think, "Oh, I've seen this before. That is
how we used to teach ASL back in the 1960's--a
list of vocabulary and some practice sentences."
What this person fails to realize is that what
they are seeing is not a list of vocabulary, but
rather it is a list of hyperlinks that lead to
in-depth explanations of each concept.
When
it is pointed out to them that these are
hyperlinks and not printed words on paper, they
then glance again and say, "Oh, right, that is
the 'grammar-translation' method where you learn
about the language but you don't really use it."
Thus we see such people managing to crash twice
in the span of a few minutes.
The Lifeprint
Curriculum is a discourse-based curriculum that
is taught in-person via modeling and
conversation and then followed up via homework
in a bilingual-bicultural computer-assisted
language learning (CALL) online environment.
New concepts are introduced in the target
language mode (visually/gesturally) via direct
association (pictures and graphics) and
embedding (placement of new concepts within the
context of previously learned material).
The
big words aside, let's look at an example.
In
lesson 3, one of the target vocabulary items is
"CITY."
In the classroom the teacher shows a
PowerPoint slide of a house. The sign
HOUSE is then modeled by the instructor.
The
teacher then shows a PowerPoint slide of a a
city. The sign "CITY" is modeled by the
instructor. Then a different slide is shown
showing a different CITY and the sign is modeled
again. Next the student is shown a slide
representing a house then the teacher, using
ASL, asks a specific student, "What is that?"
(Student responds: "house") Then the
teacher shows another slide representing a city
and asks a different student, "What is that?"
The student signs "CITY."
At this point the
students have (partially) learned two concepts
via "direct association."
Next the instructor
will embed the concept of CITY into a question
utilizing previously learned material. In
the previous lesson the students learned the
sign "LIVE/address." They have also learned that
furrowed eyebrows are often interpreted as being
a "Wh"-type question.
The chooses a third
student and signs, "CITY YOU LIVE?" (using
appropriate facial expression).
The student
responds by fingerspelling where he lives or by
asking for clarification. Note: All of
this is taking place in the target mode without
voice.
Then the teacher selects a fourth
student and asks, "CITY HE/SHE LIVE?" (referring
to the student who recently answered). The
fourth student responds by telling where the
third student lives. The instructor asks a
fifth student, "HE RIGHT?" (regarding the forth
students answer). Note: five students have been
directly engaged in discourse and all of the
students have had to pay attention throughout
the whole process because they might be called
upon to answer at any stage of the process.
Next the instructor shows a PowerPoint slide of
the phrase "What city do you live in?" along
with the gloss "CITY YOU LIVE?"
The
instructor models it one more time then directs
a sixth student to "ASK-me "that question"
(referring to the phrase on the board).
The student asks the teacher the phrase and the
teacher responds. (Sometimes accurately,
sometimes giving false information to check for
understanding.)
This process is repeated four
more times to introduce a total of at least five
vocabulary concepts and five phrases which
comprises a "set" or "card." Within a span of 10
minutes the instructor engages up to 30 students
in personal, interactive discourse in a target
mode (visual/gestural) environment.
Next the
instructor places the students in pairs and
distributes cards containing the recently
learned five questions to one person in each
pair. To the second person in each pair the
instructor hands a review card containing
questions from the previous class session or a
previously covered lesson. The students then
take turns asking each other questions in the
target language and responding. Thus in less
than 15 minutes all of the students have moved
from not knowing those five signs, to
recognizing the signs in both isolation and in
context and then using the signs in meaningful
discourse with a communication partner. For as
much as a full third of the class every student
is engaged in conversational discourse in ASL. I
have coined the phrase "responses per minute" or
RPM to describe the Lifeprint method of
teaching. This method is a combination of
the natural method, the bilingual-bicultural
approach. Using this method an average
instructor can easily cover three sets (or
"cards") in 45 minutes.
This is a "high RPM environment" and leads to
rapid acquisition of demonstrated conversation
skills because the students are using the
language to learn the language.
Remember earlier I said that the students had
only "partially" learned the sign "CITY?" That
is because the "natural" method has a major
weakness. It doesn't support rapid
acquisition of multiple meanings of words or
expansion of semantic range. Many students will
walk out of such a class with very limited
concept of the sign "CITY" -- not knowing that it
also means "community" and can be used in such
phrases as "the Deaf community." The Lifeprint
method of instruction solves this problem
(truncation of semantic range) by including (in
the student's native language) a synonym list
when appropriate. For example, such a list can
be included at the bottom of the slide that is
shown to the sixth student. This is where
a bilingual-bicultural approach is superior to a
"target language limited" or so called "natural"
approach. Students who learn ASL via
target language only approaches often report
that they "understand" what a person is signing,
but they can't put it into "words." Students who
have learned ASL via the RPM method tend to
become excellent interpreters because in
addition to understanding what is being signed
to them, they also have excellent back and forth
conversational skills, and the semantic range
required to interpret between their native
language and the target language.
Most "immersion"-labeled courses cannot by any
stretch of the imagination be considered to
provide an experience similar to that of "living
in the environment of the native users of the
target language." A couple hours a week sitting
in a classroom provides only limited exposure.
At best a "target language only" course should
be called "the slow drip method."
In addition to the RPM (Responses Per Minute)
method, the Lifeprint curriculum utilizes
Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL).
From the convenience of home the student is able
to access the online lessons. Upon
clicking the "HOUSE" link, the student is showed
two versions of house and the related sign CITY.
Upon clicking on the CITY link, the student is
shown two versions of the sign for CITY and is
instructed that this sign also can be used to
mean "Community."
This enables students to
easily reinforce their learning at home and thus
experience more success in the classroom.
Cordially,
Bill
___________________________________________
William Vicars, Ed.D.
Director, ASL
Online and Immersion Programs
Sacramento
State, College of Continuing Education
6000 J St. - Eureka Hall, Room 308
Sacramento, CA 95819-6079
www.Lifeprint.com *
ASL.ms * ASLpah.com
In a message dated 5/10/2004 6:44:34 AM Pacific Daylight Time, Eric-Kollar@smh.com
writes:
If you
were teaching in a more traditional environment how long would you
have the class working on each lesson?
Thanks in advance!
Eric
Eric,
I've found that it depends on how you teach the class.
In general it takes 45 to
60 contact hours to teach 15 lessons from Level 1 (depending on how
much out of class work you get the students to do).
If you teach no voice, and introduce the material via embedding it into
sentences and the students have not "pre-studied" the material from the
website, it takes 40 minutes to an hour to introduce the vocabulary material
in one lesson. Then you need 15 minutes to a half hour for "guided
practice." If you have an LCD projector and PowerPoint slides you can cut
your vocabulary instruction time down considerably.
If you assign and require the students to study the vocabulary on their own
from the website then use the class time for review and to focus on grammar
and conversational skills development instead of teaching vocabulary, you
can teach a lesson (including practice time) in an hour.
Now...if you are just going to go into class and do something
dull like show a list of 20 signs
(written on the board in English) and demonstrate how to sign those 20
signs, you can get through the list in about 6 minutes (allowing for
occasional questions). But that isn't
really "teaching" now is it? The students might develop "vocabularies" but
they don't learn how to sign ASL...they end up signing in English on the
hands.
- Dr. Bill
I recently attended a workshop regarding "how to teach ASL."
The method of second language instruction promoted at that workshop seemed
to:
Strongly discourage linking ASL signs with English words
Strongly discourage use of fingerspelling to introduce new vocabulary
Strongly discourage any student use of gloss
Outlaw voicing in the classroom by either student or instructor
Claim that their text and materials are the "next" generation of language
instruction and better than all other curricula out there.
Personally, I see such an approach as being a silent version of the worst
aspects of the audio-lingual method combined with the direct-method and a
bit of vengeance (for years of oppression) thrown in for flavor. That
isn't new at all. Well, maybe the "vengeance" part.
It is the "vengeance" part that concerns me.
When I ask other (Deaf) instructors about it they shrug and reply, "We've
struggled all our lives, it's the Hearing student's turn."
Whoa!
That is so not me.
After teaching for many years and then spending three years learning
bilingual/bicultural methodology in graduate school at Lamar University (as it related to
teaching literacy to deaf children) I found myself seriously wanting to apply
"bi/bi" (bilingual / bicultural) and CALL (computer assisted language
learning) to ASL-L2 (ASL as a second language) instruction
methodology.
I'm sure I have been influenced by Jim Cummins' Common Underlying
Proficiency (CUP) model as applied to second language acquisition.
To be exposed to powerful teaching models such the "bilingual/bicultural
approach" and then sit through the
aforementioned workshop was indeed disturbing.
An adult hearing second language (L2) learner is not a "tabula rasa" (blank
slate).
Our students' native languages (L1) are not poorly drawn pictures that
need to be erased and redrawn. To ignore or actively work against the native
language of adult learners leads to frustrated students and high attrition
rates.
A truly modern and effective ASL curriculum is one that capitalizes on the
common underlying (cognitive / language) proficiency of our students.
- William Vicars, Ed.D.
An ASL teacher writes:
Sorry for asking so many questions but I would like to get your
feedback regarding your no-voice policy in your ASL classes.
I read your page on the no-voice policy and a lot of what you stated
I agree with. I do make sure I implement plenty of activities and
this does work pretty well. I still do notice voicing in some cases.
It actually not bad (I think). I’m considering putting this in the
syllabus for next year plus I need to start gently reminding
students to turn their voices off in class with a notice such as:
ASL zone: When you enter the classroom, I strongly encourage you to
turn your voice off. If you choose to voice and if I believe your
voicing is disruptive to the learning environment or disrespectful
to your neighbors, consequences could be point reduction, letter
grade reduction, and/or you may be asked to leave the classroom.
I don’t want to be an angry Deaf disciplinarian. I want to find the
right balance where Hearing background is welcome but the goal is to
focus on and understand Deaf culture. My view is, yes there are
history of oppression against Deaf and sign language but using a
no-voice policy to create a near-oppressive state (even for
educational purposes) doesn’t make us all that different than those
that oppress Sign Language.
And I’m pretty sure I asked you about cell phone usage before but do
you have students put away their phone or do you have the students
utilized their phones in class?
Thank you for your patience!
[Name removed for privacy. Edited for clarity and flow.]
Dear ________,
Expecting students to not voice in an ASL class is no different from
expecting students in a swimming class to get in the water.
It isn't oppressive -- it is the goal.
ASL is a visual language. A student can't look at their cell phone
and be attentive to the signing going on in an in-person class at
the same time. Students can and should put their cell phones away
for the relatively short amount of time the class is in session. An
ASL instructor's time is valuable. An environment full of signers is
valuable. To waste that time looking at a phone is insulting and
indicative of poor judgment or lack of impulse control on the part
of the student.
Rowing classes at Ivy League colleges put the students into boats
where the students are expected to place their hands onto the oars.
Imagine a student on a competitive Ivy League rowing team taking
their hands off the oars during a competition so they can pick up
their cell phone and look at it?!? That student would be off the
team quick. Rowing students and ASL students can all leave their
cell phones alone for a short period of time.
You don't have to get angry to enforce your rules. You can develop
enough confidence to create an optimal learning environment and
expect the students to decide to stay and participate or to leave
and not participate.
You can choose to think of such policies as "rules" or you can
instead think of such policies as "best practices" for successfully
helping students to become signers.
You simply need to state your expectations in your syllabus and be
clear that grading will be based on those expectations.
Then memorize the name of every one of your students so that when
one of them informs you that they would like a lower grade (by
voicing or looking at their cell phone) you can adjust their grade
accordingly.
You will want to use a tiered approach that involves giving tactful
notice to the student (or in other words – a private warning) and
time to correct behavior prior to implementation of your
pre-documented consequences. Also, check your school’s policy manual
and/or show your syllabus to your Chair, Dean, or Provost to see if
it is acceptable in regard to what you are and are not allowed to do
at your school. (For example, some schools forbid expulsion from
class for cheating on any one test and only allow the instructor to
assign a zero for that particular assignment.)
In your email you mentioned something I would like to address.
You stated “... the goal is to focus on and understand Deaf
culture.”
I encourage you to think a little deeper and challenge or question
that statement.
You are teaching an ASL class not a Deaf Culture class.
If you are teaching a Deaf Culture class – then yes, the goal is to
focus on and understand Deaf culture.
If you are teaching an ASL class then the goal is to focus on and
develop expressive and receptive signing ability.
Yes, of course, the learning of ASL should be informed by and
respectful of Deaf Culture -- but an ASL class is not a Deaf Culture
class. The goals are intertwined but different.
If an ASL teacher and the teacher’s ASL students really, truly
respect and value Deaf people – then turning off their voices and
putting away their cell phones during class is a way of showing that
respect.
With all of the above in mind I will now also point out that at the
accredited university at which I taught for close to 20 years we had
a no-voice policy for our ASL classes -- but guess what? Eventually
the department started scheduling interpreters (for all of us Deaf
instructors) for the first day of class to expedite (or speed up)
the explaining of the syllabus and to reduce the amount of
misunderstandings between (some) of the instructors and their
students. In other words there really should be an asterisk in that
school’s catalog next to the statement that the course is:
“Taught in ASL without voice.*”
(* Except when it isn’t.)
Warm regards,
Bill
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