Vicky A. M.Ed. Allen
American Sign Language as a Bridge to English is a unique guide for HEARING teachers of HEARING students to use ASL as a ’bridge’ to learn English as a foreign language. The book contains over 250 signs to be used in the classroom, each with a simple illustration and description. Along with the signs, there are also ’snippets’ of information that teachers will find helpful. These provide the teacher with information about signing, deaf culture, and other helpful resources. The distinctiveness of this book is that it teaches the handshapes of ASL prior to learning the ABC’s. By introducing the handshapes first, not the alphabet, a teacher who is learning to sign for the first time will have a better opportunity to teach the signs correctly to her students without needing to be fluent in ASL. The kinesthetic addition of ASL will help students more readily recall the English word by putting ’ever-present’ flashcards in their hands. Since many of the handshapes represent letters of the alphabet, students will soon be fingerspelling their names without formally learning the ABCs. NOTE: This book is not attempting to teach the language of American Sign Language but to use ASL as a tactile aid to recall the English word. But, in saying this, some students and teachers, hopefully, will be motivated to continue to learn American Sign Language as a subsequent foreign language.
