ASLEnglish Bilingualism:

1
ASL/English Bilingualism Communication and
Language Planning for Diverse Students
Susanne Scott, M.S., CCC/A ASHA
Convention November 2006
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center
2
Receptive Communication Continuum
3
Receptive Communication

• V Accesses communication visually via ASL
• VA Accesses most information visually via ASL
  obtains some benefit from auditory
  information
• VA Equally accesses information via
• ASL or Spoken English
• Av Accesses most information through spoken
  English, sometimes needs information via signs
  for clarification
• A Access all information through Spoken English

4
Expressive Communication Continuum
Continuum concept Bettie Waddy-Smith Laurent
Clerc National Deaf Education Center
5
Expressive Communication

• S Uses ASL Only
• So Primarily uses ASL uses some spoken English
• SO Equally able to use ASL and spoken English
• Os Primarily uses spoken English uses signs
  for clarification
• O Uses spoken English only

6
Language/Communication outcomes will vary based
on

• The student
• The family
• Technology Used
• Language/communication competence

7
What is a Language Plan

• description of a students use of language (ASL
  and spoken English) for communication and
  learning in various contexts
• A guide for goal development to facilitate age
  appropriate language skills
• Establishes guidelines for language allocation
  for instruction and learning
• Description of the recommended student services

8
Developing the Plan

• Document background information
• Develop a Student Communication and Language
  Profile
• Functional Assessment
• Formal Assessment (as needed)
• Make Recommendations

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Student Communication and Language Profile

• Description of a students conversational
  proficiency (P-Level)
• Description of students access to spoken English
  
• Description of students Sign Production and
  Speech Intelligibility
• Description of students Functional Communication
  Skills
• Description of students current ASL and spoken
  English development
• Recommendations for follow-up (i.e., further
  assessment, additional IEP services)

10
Conversational Proficiency LevelsP-Levels

• Informal assessment of communicative competency
  from birth to maturity
• Descriptive scale, Level 0 through Level 7
• Focuses on areas of expressive competencies in
  conversational situations (emphasis on BICS, not
  CALP)

French, M.M., Starting with Assessment A
Developmental Approach to Deaf Children's
Literacy. (1999) Pre-College National Missions
Programs, Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.
11
Sign Production Rating

• After viewing the student signing, use the
  following scale to rate sign production.
• The students signs are easily understood by a
  variety of viewers. He/She has no obvious
  production errors.
• The students signs are generally understood by a
  variety of viewers.
• The students signs are fairly clear to a variety
  of viewers.
• -Intelligible to viewer when topic is known
• 4. The students signs are very difficult to
  understand by a variety of viewers.
• -Signs spontaneously but only isolated words
  and/or phrases are understood
• 5. The students signs are unintelligible to an
  untrained viewer
• Intelligibility Rating _________

12
Speech Intelligibility Rating

• After listening to the student using spoken
  English, use the following scale to rate speech
  intelligibility.
• The students speech is easily understood by a
  variety of listeners. He/She has no obvious
  voice and/or articulation errors.
• The students speech is generally understood by a
  variety of listeners.
• -
• 3. The students speech is fairly intelligible to
  a variety of listeners.
• -
• 4. The students speech is very difficult to
  understand by a variety of listeners.
• -Vocalizes spontaneously but only isolated
  words and/or phrases are understood
• 5. The students speech is unintelligible to an
  untrained listener.
• -Only vocalizes on demand
• -Only imitates a few speech sounds
• Intelligibility Rating _________

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Auditory Access
Not Amplified ____Loaner HA__HAE____CI In
process____ Technology Used Hearing Aid
Cochlear Implant Consistency Of Use All
Day___ Intermittent____ Rarely____
Never____ Responses to Ling 6 Sound Test (at
conversational level) __ah __ee __oo __sh __s __m
m
Audiogram of Familiar Sounds taken from American
Academy of Audiology (www.audiology.org)
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Functional Communication Skills Checklist

• Functional Communication Skills are evaluated in
  both speech and sign
• Examples of skills assessed
• Eye Contact
• Turn Taking
• Facial Expressions
• Gestures
• Following Directions
• Conversational Strategies

15
Spoken English/Communication Observation Record

• Indicators Emerging-Developing-- Proficiently
• Speechreading
• Listening Skills
• Spoken English and Speech Production Skills
• English Language Structure
• Phonemic Awareness

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American Sign LanguageAreas Evaluated

• Emerging-----Developing-----Proficiently
• ASL Comprehension
• Receptive skills, or comprehension is determined
  from observing the childs responses to
  behaviors, pictures or questions through
  appropriate facial expressions, actions and
  language.
• ASL Production
• ASL has the various grammatical characteristics
  typically found in spoken languages and is a
  morphologically complex language. Deaf children
  go through similar stages of language acquisition
  as those of their hearing counterparts. ASL, like
  with other languages, emerges in the child in a
  rapid, patterned and above all, linguistically
  driven manner.

ASL DEVELOPMENT OBSERVATION RECORD Early
Childhood Education Department California School
for The Deaf
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Summary of Students Communication Language
Proficiency

• Sign Production Rating ______
• Not Applicable______
• Speech Intelligibility Rating ______
• Not Applicable______
• Kendall Conversational Proficiency Level
• ASL__
• Spoken English_____
• Current IFSP/IEP Status
• Additional Services
• Summary and Recommendations
• Strengths and Areas of Improvement
• Assessment Needed