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Sign Language Program Structure and Content in Institutions of Higher Education in the United States, 1994–2004

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Sign Language Program Structure and Content in Institutions of Higher Education in the United States, 1994–2004 18017-SLS11.3 2/2/11 2:28 PM Page 298 SHERYL B. COOPER, JOEL I. REISMAN, AND DOUGLAS WATSON Sign Language Program Structure and Content in Institutions of Higher Education in the United States, 1994–2004 The popularity and prevalence of sign language1 courses in postsecondary institutions have increased dramatically since they ap- peared on campuses in the early 1980s (Brod and Huber 1997; Welles 2004). Administrators who oversee these programs face unique issues associated with the evolving pace and place of this discipline within postsecondary institutions. As sign language classes have become Sheryl B. Cooper is the coordinator of the Deaf Studies program at Towson University, Towson, Md. Joel Reisman is a statistician for the Veterans Administra- tion in Boston, Mass. Douglas Watson is a professor in the Department of Rehabil- itation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders, University of Arkansas. 1. The term sign language is used throughout this article to include any form of signed language (e.g., Signed English, American Sign Language, contact signing). We have chosen to adopt this commonly used term although the term signed language would be more grammatically correct. We also recognize that American Sign Language is a language, whereas Signed English is a code for the language of English, and that other forms of signed language also exist. In citations of previous literature, we have retained the original terminology (i.e., ASL, sign language). For the two original stud- ies reported here, the term sign language refers to any type of signed language used in the United States, whereas the terms ASL and American Sign Language refer specifically to the language used by culturally Deaf people in the United States. 298 Sign Language Studies Vol. 11 No. 3 Spring 2011 18017-SLS11.3 2/2/11 2:28 PM Page 299 Sign Language Program Structure and Content | 299 more entrenched in university curricula, old ways of allowing the fac- ulty to teach whatever and however they choose are giving way to more coordination, structure, and standardization. Administrators who direct these program have had limited re- sources with which to seek guidance to help their sign language pro- grams grow in a positive direction. A comprehensive review of the literature between 1993 and 2007 identified minimal research in the area of administration of sign language programs, supporting the idea that this area has received little attention from researchers over the years. However, programs have continued to develop and grow de- spite the lack of research, leading to the existence of diverse sign lan- guage programs in postsecondary institutions around the country. To establish a baseline of information about sign language programs on college campuses, Cooper (1997) conducted a study of sign language program coordinators. From a comparison of surveys of sign language programs (Cooper 1997; Cooper, Reisman, and Watson 2008), it ap- pears that many sign language programs are now more structurally es- tablished. The emphasis appears to be shifting from the establishment of sign language classes and programs to identifying and standardizing philosophies and trends in the field, enabling administrators to make de- cisions that provide a higher quality of education. Review of the Literature A comprehensive review of the literature on the administration of sign language programs was prepared by Cooper (1997) and was updated in 2007 (Cooper, Reisman, and Watson 2008). Previous research in- cluded studies by Shroyer and Holmes (1980), Battison and Carter (1982), Cogen and Moseley (1984), Delgado (1984), Cokely (1986), Newell (1995a, 1995b), and Jacobowitz (2005). These studies identi- fied the motivations of students taking sign language classes, the types of classes available, some characteristics of the faculty teaching the courses, and the availability of programs to train these teachers. Cooper (1997) established a baseline of information about charac- teristics of postsecondary programs offering any type of sign language classes in the United States during the 1994–1995 academic year and repeated the study in 2004, allowing examination of the growth and 18017-SLS11.3 2/2/11 2:28 PM Page 300 300 | Sign Language Studies change in the ten-year interval. This work was formatted on research conducted by the Modern Language Association on the administra- tion of modern language programs (Huber 1989) and on research on the academic acceptance of other emerging fields, such as women’s studies and black studies, whose growth parallels that of sign language and Deaf studies classes. Cooper, Reisman, and Watson (2008) identify the characteristics of the institutions of higher education offering sign language and the ac- ademic status of sign language at these institutions. Additionally, they describe the characteristics, qualifications, duties, priorities, and concerns of administrative personnel in sign language programs in institutions of higher education and identify the characteristics and expectations of teaching staff in postsecondary sign language classes. The current arti- cle presents the results of the ten-year comparison of program structure, program content, and program administrators’ opinions on coordinat- ing sign language programs. Methods Cooper (1997) reported on an analysis she had conducted as part of her doctoral studies. The 2004 study was a replication of the initial study to identify changes over the ensuing decade. Participating Programs To identify existing sign language programs, a mailing list was devel- oped from several lists of postsecondary programs from the American Annals of the Deaf (April 1994), interpreter-preparation programs listed in the 1994 directory of the Conference of Interpreter Trainers, Speech Pathology, and Audiology programs listed in the 1994 direc- tory of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, postsec- ondary programs with specialized support services for deaf students listed in the 1994 College and Career Guide for Deaf Students, colleges and universities known to teach sign language through the Less Commonly Taught Languages Project at the University of Minnesota, and other programs known to the investigator or that responded to inquiries through the Sign Language Linguistics List (SLLING-L) and DEAF-L on the Internet throughout 1994. This list was cross-referenced with 18017-SLS11.3 2/2/11 2:28 PM Page 301 Sign Language Program Structure and Content | 301 other lists of sign language programs in colleges and universities (Col- lege Level Sign Language Programs 1982, 1983, 1984). A total of 1,174 questionnaires were mailed to a variety of programs at 991 postsec- ondary institutions, including community colleges, four-year institu- tions, and universities with graduate programs, all of which offered majors that might include sign language classes. In 1994, a total of 371 responses representing 362 institutions were received, yielding a response rate of 37.9 percent. Of those, 301 insti- tutions offered sign language classes (83.1 percent). Responses from these institutions were used for data analysis. In 2004, the original mailing list was updated. Out of a total of 983 questionnaires mailed, 242 responses were received, yielding a re- sponse rate of 24.6 percent. Of these, 180 institutions offered sign language classes (74.3 percent), and these responses were used for data analysis. Questionnaire A questionnaire was developed in 1994 to collect data on the status of sign language programs in the United States, including information about faculty, administrators, program content, resources, and recom- mendations from administrators. Items for the questionnaire were de- rived from the literature on the administration of sign language programs, administration of foreign language programs (Huber 1990, 1992, 1993), and administration of parallel emerging fields, such as black studies (Hine 1990; McKay 1990) and women’s studies (e.g., National Women’s Studies Association 1990). The final questionnaire, used in both 1994 and 2004, included six major research questions that filled twelve pages and included more than eighty items. The questionnaire was addressed to the sign language program co- ordinator at each institution, with a cover letter explaining that the person responsible for sign language classes was being asked to com- plete the questionnaire. Some respondents left certain items blank, perhaps due to the length and specificity of the questionnaire. Blank responses were not included in the analysis. Thus, the number of re- spondents varied slightly from item to item. The questionnaire was divided into six sections; each section ad- dressed one research question. This article reports on three of those 18017-SLS11.3 2/2/11 2:28 PM Page 302 302 | Sign Language Studies sections: program structure, program content and resources, and rec- ommendations and opinions of program administrators. The results from the other three sections (characteristics of the institutions, the ad- ministrators, and the instructors) were published in the American Annals of the Deaf (Cooper, Reisman, and Watson 2008). The same questionnaire was used in 1994 and 2004, with the fol- lowing modifications: 1. The item used to identify the location of the sign language program within the institution (see table 2) was modified. In 1994, the respondents were given three levels of hierarchy to fill in (program, department, school/college), and in 2004 there were four levels available (program, department, division, school/ college).
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