Wilder, an associate psychology professor, doesn't allow talking in her class. It's been that way since the beginning of the semester, she said.

"It's a challenge that they can't use their voice sometimes," Wilder said.

Wilder is teaching American Sign Language I. It may be one of the few language classes where the less speaking students do, the better.

Sign language courses have been gaining popularity at Western since they began in the 1990s. The number of sections being offered this semester increased from three to five because of higher student demand, Wilder said. About 100 students are enrolled in sign language courses on the Hill this semester.

American Sign Language can go along with different types of majors and will enable better communication in any field, Wilder said.

ASL curriculum is offered at other Kentucky universities, and more classes could become available at Western in the future.

American Sign Language I is an elective in the department of communication disorders. The class can also fulfill the foreign language general education requirement. A second level of the course will be offered next semester.

Students learn enough sign language skills to communicate on a functional level, Wilder said. They will learn faster if they interact with people regularly.

Students had the chance to interact and practice their signing skills at the end of a class this semester. About 20 students had to relay a message to one another using only facial expressions and the signing abilities they had learned.

The students were arranged in rows with their backs to the person receiving the message. They turned around when it was their turn to decipher their classmates' message, and then made their own attempts to pass the statement.

Laughter circulated around the room as students tried to express feelings without using their voices.

"If they're speaking, they're connecting that with their signing," Wilder said.

Nathan Morgan is taking American Sign Language for his foreign language credit and probably wouldn't recognize the voices of his classmates.

"I've met people, but I've never heard them speak really that much," said Morgan, a junior from Morgantown, W.Va.

Many students like Morgan are using ASL as a foreign language credit. Some said sign language will be valuable in their future careers.

Lexington freshman Ashley Dickinson said she wants to be a teacher and thought sign language would help her educate disabled children.

Dickinson practices ASL with her roommate and a friend from home who is deaf.

"She laughs at me when I get things wrong," Dickinson said.

Munir Muwwakkil, a sophomore from Clearwater, Fla., is a student and instructor in the class. Muwwakkil has been deaf since he was about 3 and uses American Sign Language to communicate.

During a class last week, Muwwakkil stood in the middle of a circle of desks while students imitated the movements of his and Wilder's hands. He walked around the circle and corrected people's fingers. They hesitantly formed words after his instruction.

Allen County junior Nancy Perry also assists with Wilder's classes. Perry, who is deaf, has taught community classes in American Sign Language.

"I just enjoy interacting with students," she said. "It keeps me company."

Wilder's hands made the same gesture repeatedly as she patiently gave instructions to her class. She signed numbers, introductions and school subjects that her students were learning about that day.

Students can use their experiences from Wilder's classroom during social gatherings outside of class. But Wilder said she would like to provide more signing opportunities at Western in the future.

ASL students and other interested people gather at the food court in Greenwood Mall to socialize using sign language twice a month.

An ASL lab at Western will help reinforce what students learn in classes. It will include activities that include card-playing and other real-life experiences, Wilder said.

The lab will be in Tate Page Hall and will open by the end of the month, Wilder said.

A Deaf Access Station is also being installed at the community college. The station will use video-conferencing technology to give deaf and hard-of-hearing people access to interpreting services that may not be available on site. A demonstration and introduction to the station will be at 4 p.m. on Sept. 22 at the community college.

Wilder's plans to expand ASL programs at Western include establishing a sign language studies minor. It would include courses about deaf culture, finger spelling, linguistics and four levels of ASL classes, she said.

"The minor would not be that tough," Wilder said. "The important thing would be to hire some deaf faculty."

Wilder made a recommendation to the communications disorders department and the College of Health and Human Services for the minor and it is being considered, she said.

Wilder's goal is to have an interpreter training program available at Western.

"There's nothing in this part of the state, and there is a need for it," she said.

Eastern Kentucky University is the only school in Kentucky that offers a four-year degree for ASL interpreters. Students can also take classes from Eastern's program at the University of Louisville.

Twenty students at Eastern will graduate from the program in May, said Laurence Hayes, director of Eastern's program.

Eastern's sign language program is competitive because there is a high demand for the major, Hayes said.

About 51 people are accepted into the program at the U of L campus, said Shannon Grider, the coordinator at U of L and an American Sign Language specialist. She is also the president of the Kentucky chapter of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.

There is a call for more interpreters in Kentucky, especially in primary and secondary schools, Grider said. The Kentucky Board of Interpreters for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing lists about 100 licensed interpreters on their directory.

Wilder said she would like to have a satellite of the Eastern program at Western. The first American Sign Language classes offered at Western were originally through Eastern.

For now, students at Western can take the two levels of ASL to learn a useful skill and a unique language, Wilder said.

"You speak English, you speak French, you speak Spanish, but with this language you are truly using your body to communicate," she said. "I just think it's a very unique kind of experience."

By Samantha Hupman