BSL The story so far British Sign Language

BSL: The story so far

British Sign Language (BSL) • In 2011, 12, 533 people in Scotland answered the question 'Do you use a language other than English at home? ' by ticking a box saying ‘Yes, British Sign Language’ • BSL users are everywhere…!

Promoting BSL • This language has been known to linguistics since the 1970 s. • It was not until this century that governments began to take formal steps to ‘recognise’ it • On 17 th September 2015, the Scottish Parliament voted unanimously for a BSL (Scotland) Act: “An Act of the Scottish Parliament to promote the use of British Sign Language” • One way in which the language might be promoted would be to encourage teaching and learning of BSL • Where better to do that than in schools?

Schools and BSL • Schools and BSL have an uneasy history… • Of major significance in international Deaf history is the date 1880 – when a congress of educators voted against the use of signing in the education of deaf people • Since that date, BSL users have challenged this stance • We’re not here to debate the best way to educate deaf children • The BSL (Scotland) Act changes the landscape for signers in Scotland – permanently • The law now agrees that BSL must be valued as a language • Today is about promoting the study of BSL alongside other modern languages.

#BSLEnlightenment #valuing. BSL • Hundreds of thousands of people in Britain have already discovered the benefits of learning BSL • Durham University ran training for Deaf BSL teachers in the 1980 s and 1990 s – scores of Deaf people graduated • The BBC ran a 15 -part ‘Beginner’s Guide to BSL’ series in 1988 • By 2000, BSL was the second most popular evening class subject in the UK (after First Aid) • From 2005, Heriot-Watt University ran a Graduate Diploma for Deaf people focusing on BSL teaching and the ‘training of trainers’

First of three SUII events • Our objective is to prepare the ground for the promotion of BSL as a modern language in Scotland’s schools • We’re not here to write a syllabus and ten years’ worth of lesson plans! • We’re just starting to ask questions that will help us to see what’s possible: - Would BSL be a valuable addition as a modern language to the school curriculum? Are models already ‘out there’ to guide us along such a path? Where could BSL fit into the programme of study? How could we begin to plan – in a realistic way – to introduce BSL in schools? What relevant resources do we already have and what else would we need? How can we and others work together towards appropriate goals? What targets could be set for short-, medium- and long-term developments? Would it be appropriate to connect BSL to Scotland’s 1+2 languages policy? (What’s that? You’re about to find out more…!)