The Unlearning Curve: Learning to Learn American Sign Language

2009, Rico Peterson. The Unlearning Curve is one of the few books to focus on helping students to learn American Sign Language. It includes: 1. A detailed survey to capture the preconceptions that ASL students bring to the study of ASL and how these hinder learning,
2. A discussion of the many of the common obstacles students face when learning ASL,
3. Practical suggestions to improve their study of ASL,
4. Questions and suggestions designed to help organize thinking and practice, and
5. Related readings lists. The Unlearning Curve takes a detailed look at what and how ASL students think about learning the language. Chapter 1 presents the Beliefs About Learning ASL Inventory. The survey is an attempt to capture the preconceptions that students bring to their study of ASL. Chapter 2 looks at student perceptions of and attitudes toward deaf people. Chapter 3 hones in on the central focus of this book, ASL. How do students describe ASL? How do students distinguish between ASL and English? Chapter 4 explores perceptions of language learning. How different is the study of language from other academic subjects? How important is grammar instruction, vocabulary development, receptive skill training to students? What factors do students think are important in learning a language? Chapter 5 looks specifically at how students see themselves as language learners. Most students bring into each new classroom a set of behaviors, techniques, and expectations. How and whether this repertoire is successful in dealing with what students encounter in a typical ASL classroom is the focus of this chapter. Chapter 6 discusses learning ASL from the perspective of language learning in general, with a specific focus on the special circumstances of learning ASL. Here we will talk about things like attitude, aptitude, motivation, learning styles, teaching styles, classroom dynamics and the like. Chapter 7 covers some of the current issues in teaching and learning ASL. It contains a brief history of ASL instruction, reviews of some of the most popular ASL curriculums and other items of interest to teachers and students. Chapter 8 looks again at the purpose of teaching and learning ASL and closes with some final words from the author. By detailing many of the common obstacles that students face and offering practical suggestions to improve their study, The Unlearning Curve: Learning to Learn American Sign Language makes a solid contribution to the learning and teaching of ASL. ISBN-10: 1-881133-24-9 ISBN-13: 978-1-881133-31-5