The effect of utilizing American Sign Language as part of a supplementary vocabulary instruction program with hearing kindergarten children

Research has shown that learning American Sign Language (ASL) contributes positively to receptive language development and improves expressive vocabulary skills in young children. While a number of studies addressing this topic have found benefits of ASL, most can be criticized on methodological grounds.; The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of utilizing ASL as part of a supplementary vocabulary instruction program with hearing kindergarten children. The researcher replicated a previous study (Birke, 2003), which found significant differences in receptive and expressive vocabulary skills when comparing a group of students who received ASL instruction to a group of students who did not. The researcher also addressed a limitation of that study, which was that given the nature of the design, it was uncertain whether differences found between the groups were due to the ASL instructional component or due to the additional time spent on vocabulary.; Participants were 61 kindergarten students from two elementary schools in North Central Florida. Classrooms were randomly assigned as the treatment group that received supplementary vocabulary instruction with ASL, and as the control group that received supplementary vocabulary instruction with no ASL. The receptive and expressive vocabulary skills of all participants were measured using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition (PPVT-III) and the Expressive Vocabulary Test (EVT). In addition, selected curriculum-based assessment (CBA) materials were utilized to reflect the kindergarten curriculum.; The results of the study indicate that the supplementary vocabulary instruction resulted in significant vocabulary gains for both groups; however, the addition of ASL as a component of instruction did not have an effect on vocabulary gains.