Understanding Challenges and Opportunities of Technology-Supported Sign Language Learning

Around 466 million people in the world live with hearing loss, with many benefiting from sign language as a mean of communication. Through advancements in technology-supported learning, autodidactic acquisition of sign languages, e.g., American Sign Language (ASL), has become possible. However, little is known about the best practices for teaching signs using technology. This work investigates the use of different conditions for teaching ASL signs: audio, visual, electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), and visual combined with EMS. In a user study, we compare participants' accuracy in executing signs, recall ability after a two-week break, and user experience. Our results show that the conditions involving EMS resulted in the best overall user experience. Moreover, ten ASL experts rated the signs performed with visual and EMS combined highest. We conclude our work with the potentials and drawbacks of each condition and present implications that will benefit the design of future learning systems.