Ericka Washburn

Prof. Cassel

English 1201.203

6 May 2018

Research Project

Integrating Sign Language into Educational Institutions: Preschools, Kindergartens and

Elementary Schools

The author of Dancing with Words: Signing for Hearing Children's Literacy, Marilyn

Daniels once said, “sign language is a dance with words to be enjoyed from babyhood through

childhood to adulthood.” Many preschools, kindergartens and elementary schools are not giving

children the opportunity to reach their full potential, but sign language can provide a gateway for

these children to overcome this limit. In order to increase a child’s ability to communicate and

learn, preschools, kindergartens and elementary schools should incorporate sign language in the

classrooms.

Integrating sign language into these institutions brakes barriers. On April 5 of 2018,

Sinclair’s Sign Language teacher, Professor Minor, states how sign language can benefit both

hearing and Deaf children. She gave the example of her own family. When she had her children,

she taught both of her children sign language since before they could verbally communicate. The

reason she did this was because she knew that there were many beneficial outcomes from

starting to teach children at a young age. As Professor Minor used sign language and spoken

word to communicate to her infant children, she witnessed firsthand how her children were able
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to communicate with her before they could speak verbally. With this visual language

development, Professor Minor was able to know why her children were crying, or she was able

to know what her kids were wanting. This was important because she no longer needed to guess

what her children needed, but Professor Minor was able to understand and fulfill what was best

for her children. If preschools take the stand to teach sign language to these infants and toddlers,

there would not be as many miscommunications between the caregivers and the child.

Not only will sign language break barriers between the caregiver and the child, but sign

language will break barriers between many situational problems. The Infant Hearing Program

published a list of twenty-five benefits from learning sign language, and some of these benefits

will help overcome current restrictions of solely communicating verbally. The first includes

communicating in loud environment. If he or she learns sign language, he or she can hold a

conversation in that loud room without being confuse about what was vocalized. Also, on the

opposite extreme, the Infant Hearing Program states how there won’t be a need for whispering,

and an individual can sign while he or she eats without being rude or food spilling out of his or

her mouth. Also, no need to be talking in the library and creating a distraction in a quiet area

because sign language is a non-verbal means of communication. Lastly, if sign language is

translated into hunting or hiking, the outdoors fellow will not be disrupting the birds or wildlife

(Infant Hearing Program). All these are examples of how sign language can break situational

barriers. Learning sign language will open the opportunity for everyone to communicate despite

sound blockades. This is significant to remember because if sign language is incorporated into

these educational institutions then these barriers will be eliminated. Many times, since hearing

individuals are used to their way of life, sound blockades are overlooked as simply being
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annoyances, but once sign language is taught to these children and there is a ripple effect, these

annoyances will end.

The truth is that many people do not have much information or knowledge behind the

benefits that come from sign language, so once individuals hear the results, they tend to like the

idea. Sadly, many times, these individuals do not take action to learn sign and incorporate the

language. This is often times due to the misconception that sign language is just for the Deaf, but

this is definitely not the case. Individuals need to stray away from their previous way of thinking

because their ideas are often times uninformed and invalid. With this misconception, children

will not be able to reach their full-potential and create a language barrier between other

communities. The truth of the matter is that sign language will not hinder language development

skills and isolation, but sign language will do the opposite. At a latchkey program at Helke

Elementary school, sign language was incorporated into their activities. Through this integration,

there has been a little girl, named Ava, that has completely transformed. Before learning some

sign language, she did not interact much with the other children or the teachers, but after a

couple signs were taught, she began to open up. At this program they would walk like certain

animals using sign language, and Ava would begin to participate. They also would have a short

quiz time over the signs learned, and Ava would raise her hand to answer. This shows how sign

language did not isolate individuals.

This language will provide benefits that will enhance the child’s learning capabilities. A

study done by Rachel H Thompson and other researchers that was published in the Journal of

Applied Behavior Analysis called “Enhancing Early Communication through Infant Sign

Training” reveals how when they began their research they were nervous that looking into this

method of communication would hinder the children’s vocal language development. But, as
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these researchers began to search previous articles and journals, they found there would not be a

delay for the child. These findings and their own research concluded that children were more

receptive and expressive in the vocal language. This was also supported by Marilyn Daniels on

page 48 of Dancing with Words: Signing for Hearing Children's Literacy. Marilyn explains how

“children receiving sign instruction in their prekindergarten classes were demonstrating large

advances in their receptive English vocabulary,” and this improvement was calculated over the

course of three years. The bar graph below comes from Marilyn’s findings on page 47.

Figure 1: The Results of Incorporating Sign Language into the Prekindergarten Institutions.

Integrating sign language into these institutions will give children the opportunity to

increase the sharpness of their brain (25 Benefits). This is simply in reference to the child’s

reaction time, peripheral vision, and IQ points. These claims are possible because the a study was

conducted by Doctor Charlotte Codina, that was published on February 6, 2017 on the University

of Sheffield, that proved these claims to be correct. This is simply because the brain is not fully

relying on the front left part of the brain for producing the language but is now exercising the

right back part of your brain which is needed for visuospatial processing. This claim also came

from an article called Sign Language and the Brain: A Review, which was published on the
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Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, in the Winter publication of 2007 by three different

researchers: Ruth Cambell, Mairead MacSweeney, and Dafydd Water. Since the hearing part of

the brain is not being pressured, the vision and sensory portion of the brain is activated. This

allows for a quicker response and better observation of the physical surroundings. This is

important because as children grew up they are developing skills where reaction time is very

important as well as their peripheral vision. An example of when these qualities are very

important includes driving. Since these children who have learned sign language have developed

the observational skills of watching other individuals sign, then when they are driving, these

children will become more aware of their surrounding and be able to react more efficiently.

Figure 2: Picture presentation of the different brain part functions (Neura)

Integrating sign language into these institutions is simple. An organization called No

Small Matter provides a wonderful example for an effective way that preschools, kindergartens,

and elementary schools can begin incorporating sign language without interrupting the

previously established curriculum. In this organization’s YouTube video, which was published

January 14, 2017, they give a structure that will reveal the simplicity of integrating sign. This
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method includes three signs a week. The signs will consist of a letter of the alphabet, a noun that

begins with that letter, and a conversational sign. The example provided by No Small Matter

included “a,” “apple,” and “stop.” These signs were chosen since “a” is the first letter of the

alphabet. “Apple” was chosen because many times “a” is paired with the word apple. Then the

conversational sign that was chosen was “stop.” This is important because the teacher can begin

using this sign to get the children’s attention to quit what they are doing without the teacher

constantly repeating themselves. This structure is not intricate and will not take up much too

much time from the classroom curriculum. This is important because students can begin

receiving the benefits from sign language by starting to learn three signs a week.

Not only will the students begin receiving benefits from sign language, but the classroom

management can become more efficient. For example, if a student is raising his or her hand in

the middle of a presentation or during instructions, the only way that the teacher can know what

is wrong would be by stopping the instructions and ask the student what is needed. This

interruption can be eliminated by using sign language. For example, the teacher can teach the

students the sign for water, bathroom, pencil, and question. If from the beginning of the school

year, the teachers teach the children how to raise their hands with these certain signs, then

classroom management will become more efficient. This is important because students can get to

the point of why their hands are raised without sitting and waiting to be called on.

If parents begin learning sign language themselves and teach their children, then the

ripple effect will be seen in the schools. Parents can also use the same technique that No Small

Matter provides for educational institutions, or parents can follow the layout of the book, Baby

Storytime Magic, by Kathy MacMillan and Christine Kirker. In this resource, sign language is

integrated throughout the entire book such as pages 21, 24, 37, 43, 48, 52, 53, 66, 70, 71, 73, 85,
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86. But the importance of this book is that parents begin teaching their children when they are

infants. This will create the most beneficial results that will allow for children and parents to

have a deeper connection before a child can fully express themselves. These authors go into how

baby’s muscles are developed before they learn how to speak, so teaching sign at a young age

can help them communicate as young as four months. This will bring a better relationship

between the parent in the child (MacMillan 48). Also, Sign language is a living language that is

expressed not only with hands but also facial expressions. So, when words cannot be expressed,

sign can overcome that barrier. Even though this is not a verbal language. Learning sign helps

stimulate language development (MacMillan 37).

Preschools, kindergartens, and elementary schools should incorporate sign language in

the classroom to increase a child's ability to learn and communicate. If this would be

incorporated into these institutions, then this world would be a better place for everyone. There

would no longer be a hearing barrier that has always been in place. Both hearing culture and

Deaf culture could benefit from one another by creating a broader world view. Also, children

who have not developed language skills could use sign to communicate their feelings to their

caregiver and others. Also, since this language is so expressive, learning sign could create a more

descriptive world because many times words cannot due justice. Also, there are benefits that can

solve daily problems that everyone will face at one point in their lives.
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Works Cited

“25 Benefits to Learning American Sign Language – IHP ASL Services.” IHP ASL Services,

Silent Voice, http://ihp.silentvoice.ca/learn/benefits-of-learning/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2018.

Campbell, R., et al. “Sign Language and the Brain: A Review.” Journal of Deaf Studies and

Deaf Education, vol. 13, no. 1, 2007, pp. 3–20., doi:10.1093/deafed/enm035

Daniels, Marilyn. Dancing with Words: Signing for Hearing Children's Literacy. Bergin &

Garvey, 2000.

MacMillan, Kathy and Christine Kirker. Baby storytime magic: Active early literacy through

bounces, rhymes, tickles, and more. Chicago: ALA Editions, American Library

Association. 2014.

Minor, Jessica. Personal Interview. 5 April 2018.

“Sign Language Users Have Better Reaction Times and Peripheral Vision.” Sign Language

Users Have Better Reaction Times and Peripheral Vision - Latest - News - The University

of Sheffield, University of Sheffield, 7 Feb. 2017, www.sheffield.ac.uk/news

/nr/sign-language-users-better-peripheral-vision-1.679021. Accessed 5 April 2018.

Thompson, Rachel H et al. “Enhancing Early Communication through Infant Sign Training.” Ed.

Louis Hagopian. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 40.1 (2007): 15–23. PMC. Web. 4

Apr. 2018.

“Using Sign Language with Preschoolers | NO SMALL MATTER a film about early childhood

education.” (2017, January 14) YouTube, uploaded by No Small Matter, 14 Jan 2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTIR8omwu3w. Accessed on 5 April 2018.

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“Visuospatial Ability.” Neura. Neura. https://library.neura.edu.au/browse-library/signs-and-

symptoms/cognition/visuospatial-ability/. Accessed 5 May 2018.