Locations of L 2 / Ln Sign Language Pedagogy

There has been tremendous growth in the teaching of sign language as a foreign sign language in elementary/secondary schools, colleges/universities, private businesses, and agencies. While this surge has allowed students to obtain foreign language credit for personal or professional reasons, the acceptance of teaching sign languages has had its challenges. Traditionally, sign language courses have been provided face-to-face using a variety of curricula in diverse departments, academic programs, and degree programs in different countries. This paper acts as a reference guide that provides locations of where sign languages are formally taught around the world, as well as learning about Deaf culture. Historical and current pedagogical practices are also discussed. Looking ahead to the future, one growing trend is providing sign language courses online in a distance-learning format to meet the high demands of interested students and reach a wider population. Moreover, examining the importance of utilizing well-trained and certified instructors, and implementing current pedagogical practices and materials that include appropriate cultural opportunities are needed to effectively teach sign language classes.


Introduction
The teaching of sign language, as a foreign language or second language (L2), has seen tremendous growth in the last few decades (Quinto-Pozos, 2011;Rosen, 2008;Rosen, 2010).Sign language classes have been taught at various educational institutions; elementary/secondary schools, colleges/universities, private businesses, and agencies.Individuals take sign language classes for personal, professional, and academic interest.Due to a significant number of agencies that pro-vide sign language classes for all ages, this paper provides a reference guide to specifically provide locations of elementary/secondary schools and colleges/universities where sign languages are formally taught around the world.
According to the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD, 2016a), there are 70 million Deaf individuals around the world who use over 300 different sign languages including dialects and other sign systems (Gallaudet University, n.d.).In the United States and Canada, the visual sign language used by the majority of Deaf 1 individuals is American Sign Language (ASL).ASL has become one of the fastest growing foreign languages in agencies, elementary/secondary schools, and post-secondary education (Quinto-Pozos, 2011;Rosen, 2008).It is ranked as the third most widely taught non-English language in the United States after Spanish and French (Gallaudet University, n.d.; Goldberg, Looney, & Lusin, 2015;Harrington, 2016).This fast surge has allowed students to take ASL to fulfill foreign language requirements (Quinto-Pozos, 2011;Rosen, 2008).
While there is a US comprehensive list (e.g., database) regarding where sign languages are taught, there is not a public list for foreign sign languages taught in other countries.Therefore, the information in this paper required individual searches within individual countries and then by type of educational institution.
These searches were through Deaf agencies, elementary/secondary schools, and colleges/universities that teach sign language in different countries.The following eleven countries: United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are discussed in this paper; therefore, it is not a comprehensive view of sign language as an L2 in all countries around the world.
The emergence and acceptance of teaching ASL, as a foreign language, did not occur without challenges (Rosen, 2008).Originally, sign languages were not considered languages due to a long-standing debate on the characteristics of languages (Rosen, 2008).However, Stokoe (1960), a renowned American linguistics pioneer (known as the "Father of ASL"), recognized ASL as a complete language that included all of the linguistic features such as phonology, morphology, semantics, and syntax (Harrington, 2015;Maher, 1996).He observed that sign languages were equivalent to spoken languages with the exception of modality (e.g., visual versus auditory).As a three-dimensional, visual-spatial language, they have unique characteristics (Mayberry, 2006;Valli, Lucas, Mulrooney, & Villanueva, 2011;Wilcox & Occhino, 2016).Given this research into sign linguistics, next we will highlight the process of sign language gaining recognition in different countries.

Recognition of ASL in the United States
The driving force that introduced ASL in the United States was the Education 1 Capital D in Deaf refers to people who see themselves as a cultural and linguistic minority using a visual language regardless of their audiological status (Padden, 1980).
NGT in their language) that are not yet officially recognized (Schermer, 2012).
Even in officially bilingual countries, it has been difficult to obtain formal recognition for sign languages.For example, in Canada, spoken English and French are the official languages but ASL and Quebec Sign Language (or Langue des signesquébécoise-LSQ in their language) have not been given this status.There is some movement to recognizing these sign languages by the federal government in Canada, as they recognize the communication barriers experienced by Deaf people and the importance of including them in society (National Post, 2016).
In addition to the push from WFD (2016c), there are other driving forces leading to the desire to take sign language courses.For example, Sweden requires hearing parents of Deaf children to learn Swedish Sign Language (STS) (Mahshie, 1995), as all Deaf children are expected to have literacy skills in Swedish, English, and STS.Thus classes to learn STS are provided in elementary and secondary schools (Svartholm, 2010).Early intervention programs also push for sign language services to support Deaf children's early communication and linguistic needs (National Association of the Deaf, 2018).The Department of Education in the United Kingdom funded a British Sign Language (BSL) signing project, I-Sign (Signature, 2009) to support interactions between Deaf and hearing individuals.Signing programs for families have also been established; for example, Deaf Children Australia 2 .Last but not least, sign languages courses are found in a variety of interpreting and Deaf Studies programs at colleges/universities providing multiple opportunities to take courses all over the world.

Locations Where Sign Languages Are Taught
While there are over 300 different international sign languages used around the world, sign language courses have been established at a number of formal (e.g., elementary/secondary schools and colleges/universities) and informal (e.g., agencies, private businesses) locations.These courses are taught for various reasons to children, youth, and adults.

Levels of Educational Institutions
In colleges/universities, sign language courses are found in various academic departments such as World Languages, Modern Languages, Linguistics, Languages, Deaf Studies, and Deaf Education.These courses may be part-time or full-time degree programs; they may be continuing education courses or lead to a certificate, a diploma, associate, bachelor, or master's degrees (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 2014).General locations of where sign languages courses or programs are provided in different countries are provided next.
United States.In the United States, there has been a 4000% increase in the teaching of ASL at colleges/universities between 1987 and 2005 (Rosen, 2010).ment (DECD) has identified 27 schools that offer an Auslan language program in primary schools.A list of schools is provided in the link below that was updated as of November 2017; however, it is not a complete list 8 .
At the university level, there are three universities that provide Auslan courses.One is at La Trobe University 9 that provides Auslan courses, as electives.Another institution, Macquarie University 10 , provides several master's degrees and a diploma in various types of Auslan-English Interpreting (e.g., translating and interpreting, advanced translating and interpreting studies, conference interpreting, and translating and interpreting studies).The University of Newcastle 11 also provides Auslan courses that lead to a diploma in Languages.
New Zealand.NZSL courses can be found at several universities that provide NZSL and Deaf Studies programs such as a bachelor's degree at Auckland University of Technology 12 , and both a bachelor's degree and certificate at Victoria University of Wellington 13 .Brazil.In Brazil, one can take Libras courses at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina to obtain a bachelor's degree in either teaching or interpreting 14 .
Finland.Individuals who are interested in learning FSL can take courses at one of several universities.University of Jyväskylä 15 provide bachelor's or master's degree in FSL, but students have two options to study the language.One option is for native signers to study the language in more detail.The other option is for non-native signers or foreign students to study FSL as a foreign language.Another location is at Humak University of Applied Science 16 where Finnish and foreign students can learn a new sign language and culture.Diaconia University of Applied Sciences17 also provides a degree in interpreting and sign language.
Germany.There are several universities that provide German Sign Language  36 .UCL recognizes BSL as a foreign language for university applicants and allows students to use it to meet modern foreign language requirements (Tes Reporter, 2017).As a result, UCL is the only university in the UK that requires all undergraduate students to take a foreign language; BSL is on the list with other foreign languages.
This section provided hard-to-find information regarding where sign languages are located around the world.These findings showed how diverse and multilingual these countries were with spoken and signed languages.The next section will discuss the history of how sign languages were taught and how to implement new sign language courses or programs.

History of Pedagogical Practices
The historical aspects of teaching sign languages has not been heavily researched or documented.Despite this limited research regarding the history of sign language pedagogy, the history of foreign language pedagogical practices or teaching in the classroom placed emphasis on students' mastery of grammar (Watzke, 2007).Mastering grammatical structures and forms does not sufficiently transfer those skills to actual use of the language (Schulz, 1996).While there are several approaches used to teach a foreign language such as the lexical approach, structural approach, and eclectic approach, there are two commonly used approaches to foreign language teaching; grammatical (or grammar-based/formal) and functional notional (or communication-based/informal).These two commonly used approaches are described next.

Grammatical Approach
The grammatical approach places most of the emphasis on grammatical mastery or forms that includes phonological forms, morphological forms, syntactic patterns, and lexical items (Canale & Swain, 1980).It also divides learning objectives into performance objectives (seeking proof of mastery of each) such as changing a present verb to its past tense.As the fields of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics emerged beginning in the 1970s, a shift away from the grammatical approach occurred.This shift led to individuals actively learning a foreign language in context that provides an authentic learning experience known as the functional notional approach.

Functional Notional Approach
A British linguist, Wilkins, proposed the functional notional approach (1972; as cited in Canale & Swain, 1980), which was to connect proficient language models with students, and teach them the meaning within the context of a natural social situations, which was better aligned with new information regarding the nature of foreign language learning (Canale & Swain, 1980;Guntermann, 2001).
The grammatical features of the language were not formally taught explicitly, but learned and corrected in context through natural and interactive conversations based on specific communicative functions such as describing, apologizing, requesting, arguing, and inviting (Berns, 1983;Canale & Swain, 1980).
For optimal foreign language learning that is similar to natural language acquisition, conversations should be encouraged to occur naturally in which the ability to "produce or understand utterances [is] more important [and] appropriate to the context in which they are made" (Campbell & Wales, 1970;as cited in Canale & Swain, 1980: p. 4).As a result, the functional notional approach has been an effective and practical approach when teaching foreign languages (Berns, 1983;Smith, Lentz, & Mikos, 2008).Because of the success using the functional notional approach, a variety of ASL curricula were developed, and used in a number of high schools and colleges/universities in the United States.
Signing Naturally is one ASL curriculum that is widely used by ASL instructors that uses the functional notional approach (Smith et al., 2008).
Learning a foreign sign language in a full language immersion program with cross-cultural interaction should be implemented at all levels of educational institutions for effective language instruction.The goal is to keep students motivated by engaging them in interactive group activities, teaching them about appropriate Deaf cultural behaviors (e.g., eye gaze, turn taking, leave taking), showing them how to respect Deaf culture prior to attending Deaf community events, and developing communicative purposes in order to interact with Deaf individuals in the community (Smith et al., 2008).There is greater student participation and communication competence within the functional approach than the structural approach (Ahmed, 2013), leading to more effective skill development.Therefore, the goal of teaching a foreign language through the functional notional approach is to provide students with information, practice, and experience that meet their communicative needs rather than learn the grammar of a language (Canale & Swain, 1980).

Current Pedagogical Practices
Current sign language pedagogical practices vary by countries.A number of educational institutions have created, developed, and implemented sign language programs or classes to meet the needs of students in different countries.
This first section will discuss program implementation, curricular materials, and teaching strategies.

United States
Historically, the process of implementing sign language programs in high schools in the United States involved numerous parties that varied in different states according to a national survey completed in 2005 (Rosen, 2008).One case originated with teachers who knew ASL and wanted to teach it as a foreign language for credits to students (Rosen, 2008).Another case was by a chairperson of a language department who contacted the state department of education to inquire if sign language can be accepted as a foreign language credit for graduation (Rosen, 2008).The last case involved interpreters who made an inquiry to the principal if students can get foreign language credit for taking sign language classes (Rosen, 2008).Through their initiatives, they all went through a similar process to gain support from schools, teachers, parents, teachers, and the community to implement sign language classes (refer to Rosen, 2008).While it was no easy feat, it was important to look at the needs of schools, resources, and availability.At the college level, the first sign language class was offered on a college campus by DePaul University (Chicago, Illinois) in 1965 (Shroyer & Holmes, 1980).The National Association for the Deaf (NAD) established the Communication Skills Program in 1973, which encouraged schools and agencies serving Deaf people to offer sign language courses (Newell, 1994).Not only did the US implement various sign language programs, other countries also implemented similar sign language programs.

Other Countries
Research studies were not easily found regarding how sign language programs were implemented around the world.However, a large push was through early intervention where parents needed to learn sign language to communicate with their infants (Snodden, 2014).These curriculum tend not to follow the traditional functional approach as they are community based and do not require high In summary, implementation of sign language programs in schools and agencies varied in the US, Canada, and around the world.The big push to implement such programs at the high school level were either from teachers, chairpersons, and sign language interpreters who wanted to teach ASL as a foreign language credit.In addition, parents in early intervention programs needed a way to communicate with their Deaf children; thus there was a need for sign language classes.Besides implementing sign language programs, the next section discusses what types of curricular materials were used to teach sign language.

Current Pedagogical Practices: Curricular Materials
Different types of curricular materials for teaching sign languages have been developed around the world.They differ by standards and what is being taught such as vocabulary, grammar, usage in different contexts, and cultural knowledge.The following countries are discussed; United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Italy, and Britain.

United States
Since the beginning of providing sign language courses in the United States, various curriculums have been used.In fact, the majority of curricula are old and dated, and developed to be taught face-to-face.The Signing Naturally curriculum is one common curriculum that is still used by the majority of instructors (Smith et al., 2008).This curriculum was developed for students to learn natural conversational skills in a social context, which occur in real life situations, as well as Deaf cultural knowledge (Smith, 1988).Other ASL curricula include: 1) A Basic Course in American Sign Language; 2) ASL at Work; 3) American Sign Language: The Easy Way; 4) Bravo ASL! Curriculum, Student Workbook, Videocourse; and 5) The American Sign Language Phrase Book (refer to Rosen, 2010 for detailed information).

Canada
In A joint international project between the Netherlands and Carleton University developed a formal sign language curriculum for parents in 2012-2015 38 .This project supported parents to become proficient in sign language and effectively communicate with their Deaf child rather than learn informally during home visits.Parents tracked their own learning, and met sign language learning needs and goals by completing seven modules.This formal sign language curriculum was aligned to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for language (Snodden, 2016).

Auslan Curriculum
Australia developed the first national Auslan curriculum in 2017; referred as the "F-10 Curriculum" 39 .It included two strands (e.g., communicating and understanding) and four aims to learn Auslan as a first language for Deaf students or as a foreign sign language for hearing students.This groundbreaking curriculum established consistency with standards and provisions for teaching Auslan on a formal level.

German Sign Language Curriculum
The

Swedish Sign Language Curriculum
The Department of Linguistics at Stockholm University (2018a) has a sign language section in which they have conducted a large body of research on STS since 1972.The department offers courses focusing on either the linguistics of STS or STS as a foreign language (Stockholm University, 2018a).STS as an L2 for Deaf individuals is another section within the department (Stockholm University, 2018b).This section works closely with the research section focusing on Swedish as an L2, which is offered for Deaf and hearing students (Stockholm University, 2018b).Its main focus is how students learn Swedish as an L2 (Stockholm University, 2018b).Courses are also offered to non-students that are based on theories and skills (Stockholm University, 2018b).Moreover, the department offers professional training or professional development courses for teachers who are interested in working with Deaf students (Stockholm University, 2018b).All courses are taught in Swedish and/or STS (Stockholm University, 2018b).

Italian Sign Language Curriculum
Siena School for Liberal Arts is the only school that offers two programs as part

British Sign Language Curriculum
A project through UCLAN established an online curriculum for instructors in higher education to teach BSL, "British Sign Language: Quality Embedding of the Discipline" (BSL:QED) in 2007 (Centre for Languages, Linguistics, & Area Studies, 2016) 40 .It adopted the CEFR's benchmarks as there were no others available.BSL:QED was implemented to develop a common framework of academic standards and qualifications to teach BSL (BSL-QED, 2018).With the number of universities in the United Kingdom offering BSL courses, this online curriculum was developed in partnership with UCL, linguists, and stakeholders to ensure common standards, assessments, and teaching methods.
In summary, each country develops and establishes their own standards when implementing sign language programs.Sign language curricula vary by region, state, and program (Rosen, 2010).There is an increased need for more current pedagogical practices to meet the diverse needs of individuals taking sign language classes.In order to make that happen, it is necessary for sign language curricula to be updated, developed, or created that best fits current pedagogical practices.Sign language has evolved over the years; therefore, it does not meet the old sign language curricula.In addition to needing current curricular materials to teach sign language, effective teaching strategies must be implemented for positive learning.

Current Pedagogical Practices: Teaching Strategies
Teaching sign languages requires a visual modality for visual input regardless of the curriculum and teaching strategy used (Quinto-Pozos, 2011).As mentioned earlier, sign language is a three-dimensional, visual-spatial language that has unique linguistic and nonlinguistic features unlike a spoken language (Quinto-Pozos, 2011).Several teaching strategies are discussed next.

No-Voice Policy in the Classroom
One way to effectively teach sign language to students in the early stages of learning is to incorporate a "no-voice" policy in the classroom from the first day of class (Smith et al., 2008).Instructors often establish a rule that students leave their voices at the door prior to entering the classroom, including no talking, whispering, or mouthing of words.Generally, some students think that it is easier to learn sign language by using spoken language at the same time (Smith et al., 2008).However, it is not recommended, as learning and teaching signed languages requires a different input (e.g., visual; Bauman, Nelson, & Rose, 2006).
Not voicing in the classroom is initially a challenge.More importantly, this policy respects the linguistic and cultural beliefs of the Deaf community who use sign language.

Deaf versus Hearing Instructors
There is an ongoing issue in regards to who is the best person to teach sign language.Many believe that hiring a Deaf person reflects best practices (ASLTA, 2017;Quinto-Pozos, 2011).These Deaf individuals are thought to be appropriate candidates because they are the core of the Deaf community and use the language everyday (ASLTA, 2017;Quinto-Pozos, 2011).They can also provide a cultural learning environment that incorporates social-cultural history and cultural knowledge (Quinto-Pozos, 2011).Learning a foreign language is intertwined with learning the culture of those who use the language (Bauman et al., 2006).For instance, individuals who embrace a signed language as their first language, cherish Deaf culture (Padden & Humphries, 1988).ASLTA (2017) believes that teachers, whether Deaf or hearing, should have the qualifications mentioned above.They need to be able to represent sign language and Deaf culture as thoroughly as possible to provide an authentic, rich cultural experience with an embedded linguistic learning experience (ASLTA, 2017).

Deaf Tutors and Sign Language Labs
In addition to having Deaf instructors, students can strengthen their sign language skills and be immersed in Deaf culture by working with Deaf tutors, attending a sign language lab/language center, and participating in a sign language club.A number of colleges/universities in different countries provide sign language labs/language centers where students practice and review their sign lan- These sign language labs provide students with opportunities to learn and use a visual language with other students, staff, faculty, and community members, as well as improve their understanding of the Deaf cultural community.
In summary, with appropriate teaching strategies to teach sign language, it is important to respect the cultural and linguistic beliefs such as enforcing the no-voice policy.By using instructors and tutors who are knowledgeable about sign language and Deaf culture, they can provide a rich, cultural, linguistic experience for students.Learning sign language cannot be acquired without learning the culture of the Deaf community and being in an ASL-friendly environment.
To meet the high demands of students and reach a wider population, future trends must take place to effectively teach and provide sign language courses.

Future Pedagogical Applications
With the growing rise of students taking sign language classes around the world, there is a need to establish effective sign language programs and best pedagogical practices.There are several suggestions to consider for the future teaching and learning of a foreign sign language.

Online Format
Due to the high demand of college/university students in the United States expressing an interest in learning ASL, beginning in 2009 a trend began to provide courses online (Mortensen, 2015).The role of advanced technology has provided multiple methods and benefits to deliver educational content in traditional and non-traditional formats (e.g., hybrid and online).The online format is a popular future trend to teach sign language, as student enrollment grows in sign language programs.In fact, there is tremendous growth in online higher education courses (Craig, 2015).One faculty member, who teaches ASL courses online at Utah State University (USU), developed the "first ASL teaching series online in the United States" in 2009 (Mortensen, 2015: para 29).The use of technology, media, video conferencing, and video chat programs enhance the online learning environment (Mortensen, 2015).While there is no exact count of the number of institutions that provide sign language courses online, a small number of colleges/universities have moved to this format.
With more sign language courses being provided in a distance-learning format, there are benefits and challenges to this non-traditional online learning classes in schools.Finally, future research should look into how to effectively teach sign language classes online with advanced technology; therefore new teaching resources and strategies are needed.

Conclusion
In conclusion, learning a foreign sign language continues to be a popular and growing trend in agencies, elementary/secondary schools and colleges/universities around the world for all learners (Quinto-Pozos, 2011;Rosen, 2008).With over 300 different sign languages used internationally, students have multiple opportunities to learn an L2 and its culture, as well as obtain foreign language credit (Quinto-Pozos, 2011;Rosen, 2008).Traditionally, foreign sign language courses have been taught face-to-face in a classroom setting in which instructors used a variety of sign language curricula that taught students communicative competence in natural conversations (Canale & Swain, 1980;Guntermann, 2001).
However, one growing trend that will increase in the future is providing sign language courses online in distance learning format.Regardless of how sign languages are taught, this chapter provided a general reference of locations where individuals can learn sign language and Deaf culture around the world.

(
or Deutsche Gebärdensprache-DGS) courses.One is at Hamburg University (Universität Hamburg 18 that also houses the Society for Sign Language, and Institute of German Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf 19 .They provide several undergraduate and graduate degree programs in sign language interpreting and sign languages.Humboldt University of Berlin (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) 20 offers a bachelor's degree in Deaf Studies and a master's degree in Sign Language Interpreting.RWTH AACHEN University houses SignGes, which is the Center for Sign Language and Gesture 21 .In addition, one may earn bachelor, masters and doctoral degrees at this university.Netherlands.In the Netherlands, several universities provide courses in Nederlandse Gebarentaal (NGT) or Dutch Sign Language.One is at the University of Amsterdam 22 where there is a minor in NGT.Another location, Wageningen University and Research, provides an eight-week beginners course and teaches introduction to Deaf culture 23 .Italy.Lingua deiSegniItaliana (LIS) can be learned at universities such as Ente Nazionale Sordi 24 and the University of Venice Ca's Foscari 25 .Siena School also collaborates with several universities in the United States, as part of a study-abroad program to learn LIS 26 .Sweden.To learn and study STS, one can attend Stockholm University 27 .Students can take courses to either learn the language as a foreign language or learn the linguistics of STS.Stockholm University also provides a PhD in STS, which focuses on linguistic research.United Kingdom.A large number of colleges/universities in the United Kingdom provide opportunities for individuals to learn BSL as a foreign language or become sign language interpreters.Several universities provide degrees such as the University of Wolverhampton that provides a bachelor's degree in BSL/English Interpreting 28 .The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) pro-vides both a bachelor's degree in BSL and Deaf Studies and a master's degree in BSL/English Interpreting and Translating 29 .Heriot Watt University provides a masters degree in Interpreting, Translating, and Applied Language Studies 30 .For students who are interested in taking BSL courses for personal interest, to advance their skills, or to communicate with Deaf individuals, several universities provide beginners and advanced courses.They include the University of Leicester 31 , the University of Nottingham 32 , New College Durham 33 , York St. John University 34 , the University of Edinburgh 35 , and University College London (UCL) Institute of German Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf at the University of Hamburg use Basic Course German Sign Language Level I & II Workbook and German Sign Language dialogues in video forms, as well as Signing Naturally for the beginning courses (Universität Hamburg, 2018).For the advanced courses, they use Grammar of German Sign Language from the perspectives of Deaf professionals (Universität Hamburg, 2018).Students are also provided with a variety of German linguistic and seminar texts, film and audio-based exercise materials to practice their receptive and productive skills, as well as their voicing, translation, and interpreting skills (Universität Hamburg, 2018).
of their semester and summer curriculum; Deaf Studies and Sign Language (Siena School for Liberal Arts, 2018a).Their Deaf Studies program offers a unique study-abroad opportunity related to Deaf culture and sign language for any ASL users in which they experience a full linguistic and cultural immersion into the Italian Deaf world (Siena School for Liberal Arts, 2018b).Their curriculum includes LIS, Italian Deaf Culture and History, and Italian language, as well as an intensive research program (Siena School for Liberal Arts, 2018b).
These students study ASL as an L2 and learn about the rich cultural heritage of the Deaf community.General learning outcomes are established to ensure that students gain language competence, knowledge, and appropriate attitudes to use ASL effectively with Deaf individuals.
guage skills with other students and tutors such as Lamar University 41 , Western Kentucky University 42 , the University of Cincinnati 43 , and Carleton University 44 .