Receptive and Expressive Skills

In language learning, receptive skills are the ability to understand a language — reading and listening in spoken languages, watching and comprehending signing in sign languages — while expressive skills are the ability to produce the language. For sign-language learners, receptive signing means being able to watch a fluent signer and accurately interpret handshapes, movement, facial expressions, and spatial grammar, while expressive signing means producing clear, grammatical signing that a fluent Deaf person can understand. AI-based ASL learning tools typically address receptive skills through video dictionaries and comprehension quizzes, and expressive skills through video-based self-assessment and computer-vision feedback. Educators stress that both skill sets require different instructional and technological approaches.