A Review in Retrospect: American Sign Language Instructional Guide by Todd Czubek (review)

Part of my decision to leave the classroom and pursue a doctoral degree stems from my work in teaching separate courses in academic American Sign Language and English-language arts at the Texas School for the Deaf from 2009 to 2013. In this role, I worked with students of all language levels, ranging from native fluency in ASL or a strong command of English to minimal fluency in ASL and weak—or no—understanding of English. My experiences were not unique: There are deaf learners in education programs nationwide who have so many different skills but consistently struggle with using language, particularly in the area of higher-order skills such as questioning or critical thinking. While I was at the Texas School for the Deaf, I had the opportunity to receive instructional training using the American Sign Language Instructional Guide (AIG), developed by Todd Czubek of Boston University (Czubek, n.d.). This book review provides a summary of the content of the AIG and its application to working with students as they develop their understanding of language and thinking skills. Some of its uses and benefits will be highlighted, and limitations will be addressed.

Scope

This review may be of benefit to professionals who educate learners who are deaf. It is understood that there is continual evolution in the identification of the type of learner as deaf, Deaf, or hard of hearing. While this review includes learners who identify with each of these labels, it should be noted that those who work in state funded K–12 programs that have a mixed population of day and residential students and employ a bilingual (ASL and English) language of instruction may be interested in considering the AIG as a curriculum guide, or as an instructional resource for teachers of ASL.

American Sign Language Instructional Guide

The AIG is a curriculum instruction resource with a wide range of instructional activities that can guide the academic¹ ASL teacher’s lesson planning. These materials provide the ASL teacher with an understanding of the differences in the structures of ASL and English, and how students can learn to compare these differences through a critical thinking lens. The AIG emphasizes that ASL is a spatial language, whereas English is a linear language. Both systems are represented as equal in value, different and unique in their own purposes. This fundamental understanding of the different structures of ASL and English is also essential to priming the deaf learner’s mind for critical thinking. For example, ASL is described as analogous to a New York City skyscraper, in that the skyscraper is built from the ground up, and meanings in ASL are inferred from the ground up. To comprehend ASL, one must understand what signs the hands are producing and connect those signs with physical motions and the accompanying facial expressions, which combine to create an understanding of the expressed concept and contextual inferences. In contrast, the AIG characterizes English as linear, comparing its structure to the landscape of buildings in Santa Fe, NM. Because of local construction regulations, each building is limited to a certain height. Buildings are not as vertical as the skyscrapers in New York City; rather, they are closer to the ground and extend out horizontally. To comprehend English, one must view all of the components both individually and then sequentially, across meaning units.

The New York City/Santa Fe model comparison is one of the first lessons I taught my ASL students from the AIG curriculum, facilitating their understanding that both ASL and English are valuable languages, and that each language conveys meaning differently. Once this concept is established, the AIG introduces deeper learning through activities such as Dr. Grammar and Sentence Sense. In Dr. Grammar, students view videotexts² of ASL sentences and identify the sign that does not fit; they then replace the sign with an appropriate one so that the sentence makes sense. In Sentence Sense, students view different videotexts of...