Teaching no-voice in an American Sign Language (ASL) class

If you wanted to become a professional swimmer, it would make sense to spend as much time as possible in the water.

If you were only around a swimming pool a few hours per week, it would be smart to make the best use of your time at the swimming pool by diving in and swimming as much as possible while you have the chance.

If you want to learn ASL and interact with Deaf people and are only in an ASL classroom a few hours per week it also makes sense to dive in and "swim around" as much as possible. By that I mean, turn off your voice and lift up your hands and get signing while you have the opportunity. That includes the few minutes before class officially begins and the time in the hallway right after class.

There is another aspect to turning off your voice in the ASL classroom and that is: "respect."

When around Deaf people it is proper for sign language students to turn off their voices and sign. Mixed language environments are a bit different. For example, if in a restaurant, a Hearing non-signing waiter comes up to take your order it is generally fine for you to voice your order but the moment the waiter leaves -- turn your voice off again.

ASL majors especially need to get in the habit of choosing to sign rather than voice.

Getting students to turn off their voices seems to be a constant challenge for ASL instructors.

I myself have tried all the popular coercion methods: threats, throwing objects, showing basic decency by respecting for Deaf culture, etc.

Sometimes it helps to resort to good old-fashioned propaganda.

prop•a•gan•da (prŏp'ə-gān'də)
noun

The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.

I find that small, quick, daily reminders do wonders for getting students to turn off their voices. I tend to post propaganda in my classes and or on my overheads.

You have to be VERY careful in high school and youth classes regarding "what" you put in your propaganda. Generally it is best to make any high-school and lower grade level propaganda "G" rated.

For example:

"Signing is to a rainbow
as
Voicing is to black and white."

However, In my college classes, closer to the end of the semester when the students know I love them -- I have gotten away with such propaganda as:

"Murderers, rapists, child molesters, people who voice in class, wife beaters..."

Your results may vary.

I don't recommend you use such strong propaganda unless you have a VERY good relationship with your students and they will understand from such a post that you are not trying to offend them, but rather to help them understand that this is an important topic.

If you are not confident, instead you can use simple, subtle propaganda such as:

Delight went to ASL class and turned off her voice and was blessed with good luck. She won the lottery, met the man of her dreams, and found the perfect job!

Dick used his voice in his ASL class and was cursed with bad luck. His girlfriend left him, he lost his job, and his dog died.

Be a Delight.
Don't be a Dick.

Signing burns extra calories and helps you get an "A" in class.

Voicing (in class) bother's your neighbors and shows a lack of intellect.

Sample statement for Deaf teachers of ASL to use in securing either a no-voice classroom or a full-time interpreter:

"Total immersion instructional approaches have been found to be successful in the teaching of ASL. In other words, the students in an ASL class can be expected to totally turn off their voices and communicate in ASL with limited use of written or typed English to fill in occasional gaps. Why is a no-voice classroom important? It allows Deaf instructors to have full access to the flow of information going on in our classroom. If the administration will not join a Deaf instructor in insisting that students use the target language of instruction in an ASL class then it is important to immediately hire a full-time certified interpreter to be in the classroom to interpret anything said by the students so as to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act."

Some ASL instructors require their students to sign a "no-voice contract" in which the students agree to turn off their voices when in the ASL classroom.

Perhaps a better result would be obtained if school administrators were also made to sign a contract in regard to ASL instruction at their school?

Voicing in an ASL class is a form of cheating and is disruptive behavior. Incoming ASL instructors should insist that the administration recognize and agree in writing to treat voicing in ASL class is a form of cheating and disruptive behavior. The contract should stipulate that the school district's predetermined sanctions for students who engage in this cheating and disruptive behavior will be applied to students who voice in an ASL class.

Additionally the other people who should sign the contract are the parents of the students. It is not uncommon for parents to have to agree to allow their students to participate in certain types of school activities prior to the student being allowed to participate in that activity.

Some general advice that I recommend to teachers which you may or may not already be doing:

Memorize every student's name. If they voice in class contact the parents and ask for a parent / teacher meeting.

Seat the students in a semicircle without desks. Use the Vicars' Responses Per Minute teaching style to create a highly engaged / interactive non-voiced learning situation.

Control who sits by whom. If a student voices, the next day that student should be seated with and work with three or more students who are strong, committed non-voicing students who will model appropriate signing behavior.

Change up the seating on a daily basis -- even several times per class.

In departments or programs that have one or more Hearing teachers as well as one or more Deaf teachers, consider switching teachers every other day. This is a form of "team teaching" that makes it so that every other day the students are exposed to a Hearing teacher who can hear, catch, and document which students voice and can "write up" those students for sanctioning and/or removal from class for having cheated and engaged in disruptive behavior.

Install web cameras and other video recording equipment. You can buy a camera for $30 these days online. One semester when I was forced by the administration to teach in a cramped classroom and needed to give a final exam in that classroom I brought four video cameras during the day of the final and had them aimed at each area of the classroom to help remind students to keep their eyes on the teacher and/or their own paper and no-where else.