Fingerspelling Practice

VELS Domain: LOTE

VELS Dimension: Communicating in a LOTE

VELS Level: 3

URL: http://www.auslan.org.au/spell/practice.html

The official Auslan site has clear demonstrations of all signs, including fingerspelling and word signs, and this self-test of reading words as they are fingerspelled in the video. This activity corresponds precisely to the VELS progression point example for Auslan learners at Level 3. This, along with the enormous range of words that are spelled makes it a highly appropriate and beneficial for students learning Auslan. It is self contained and you can quickly navigate around the dictionary and grammar guides if students wish to refer to them.

The primary difficulty with this activity is that the words that are spelled out are not always words that students at this level would be familiar with, or contain spelling patterns that have not yet been covered at that level. However, students could note down the letters of every word, even those they were unfamiliar with, and research any words they were not familiar with or confused about the pronunciation of. This type of cross-curriculum benefit is a regularly promoted positive aspect of second language learning, as discussed by Taylor and Lafayette (2010).

References
Taylor, C., & Lafayette, R. (2010). Academic achievement through FLES: A Case for promoting greater access to foreign language study among young learners. Modern Language Journal, 94(1), 22-42. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00981.x