Benefits of Using American Sign Language in an Upper Elementary Classroom

Abstract

This research paper is based on a qualitative study of the benefits of using American Sign Language in an Upper Elementary Classroom. The study was conducted in a fourth grade classroom and involved the participation of students and their teachers. The goal of this study is to determine if sign language is useful for classroom management and whether signing can build student-teacher rapport and make school more enjoyable for the students and teachers. I acted as the class’ student-teacher for a four-month period and taught the students sign language through incorporating signing in the curriculum and in class management strategies. At the end of the four-month period, I surveyed the students and the class’ teacher to collect feedback on their experience learning sign language. The results showed that a large majority of the students liked learning sign language, thought it made school more fun, and wanted to do more sign language in school. Teachers reported that using sign language was helpful in creating an interesting and enjoyable classroom environment and that signing was a useful tool to manage classroom procedures and behavior expectations.