British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 1B (T5003)

15 credits, Level 3 (sub-degree)

Spring teaching

This second-stage module of the 60-credit pathway in British Sign Language (BSL) and Deaf Culture will develop your range and conversational technique in BSL in everyday contexts. It will expand your knowledge and awareness of Deaf culture. The module will enable you to:

• hold a conversation
• gain a clear understanding on how to sign grammatically correct sentences
• create your own everyday sentences about everyday topics (e.g. food/cooking, hobbies, travel) in a range of everyday settings
• study the world of deaf people in the UK and abroad
• develop study skills to access academic resources relating to deaf people and deaf issues
• begin to explore deaf culture topics which relate to your discipline.

Your classes will include a variety of activities, including regular practice in pronunciation (production of signs) and listening (understanding signs), simulations, practical exercises and conversation. These will be based around themes, grammatical structures and language skills to encourage autonomous use of the TL.

Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, individually and in groups.

This module is at A2/+ on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Equivalent Signature Level 103 part A; 201 part A.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 46 hours of contact time and about 104 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.