Increasing numbers of attendees at Tucker Signing Strategies workshops for teachers are teaching  English language learners. Many report having heard from colleagues that the strategy can help students learn to speak, read, and write English faster and more easily than traditional programs alone.

Reasons why Tucker Signing Strategies can help students to learn the language more easily include all the reasons that it helps English-speaking students—it is fun and fast for all. The strategy offers additional benefits, however, for English language learners. For example, we have all experienced hearing people from another culture introduce themselves. Often, and much to our embarrassment, we must ask them to repeat themselves, because we’re not sure what sounds they blended together to form their names. Students learning English experience this frustration daily as they attempt to identify and repeat the sounds they hear.

Tucker Signing Strategies help with this process. If we are attempting to teach the word tower, for example, and we show the signs for t, ow, and er, the English learner can actually feel the diphthongs, digraphs, and individual sounds they are hearing and seeing. This multi-modal approach is particularly helpful to those who are learning new skills within any discipline.

What do students have to say about the strategy? Merci, gracias, saha, xiexie, danke, asante/asante sana … thank you!