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FOR BSL- Why British Sign
Language should be taught to ALL
school children
What is British sign language (BSL)?
 It is a “visual-spatial language… (which) uses hand
shapes, hand movements and facial expression to
convey meaning” (BBC See Hear, 2006)
 There are records of signing being used in the 16th
Century
 It has been a recognised language in the UK since
2003 (RNID, 2009 & MyChild website, 2010)
 There are local variations in the signs used and there
are grammatical rules that are different to the British
language
An example of a signed word
Images from:
http://www.britishsignlanguage.com/words/in
dex.php?id=46
A history of BSL
1576- Records of a signed wedding ceremony
1698- Two handed alphabet is published in a pamphlet
1760- 1st school for the deaf opens
1880- Deaf educators vote for the oral method to be used in schools
1889- British Government vote to use oral methods in schools
1890- British Deaf and Dumb Association founded (later BDA)
1893- UK Education act results in compulsory education for all
1974- Research proves that BSL is a language due to the presence of
grammatical rules
 1980’s- Courses set up to train deaf individuals to become BSL
teachers
 1992- 1st BSL dictionary published
 2003- British Government recognise BSL as an official language
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Statistics
 Approximately 688,000 individuals
with a severe to profound level of
deafness (RNID, 2009).
 20,000 children with a severe to
profound hearing loss and
approximately 12,000 of these were
born deaf (RNID, 2009).
 These individuals will struggle to
hear and understand everyday
conversations and so BSL enables
them to communicate easily with
other BSL users.
Who currently uses sign language?
 Everyday people use non-
verbal communication
which is a form of sign
language
 A nodding or shaking of
the head is an example
 Different types of jobs use
sign language, such as
divers, those working in a
noisy environment
(signedlanguage.co.uk)
Anyone else?
 There are estimated to be “50,000 deaf people in the
Britain who have no functional understanding of
written English and whose only language is British
Sign Language (BSL).” (Darby, 2001)
 An estimate in 1999 suggested there are “over
70,000 people whose first or preferred language is
BSL” (BDA Sign language policy, 1999)
 There have been cases of children with normal
hearing who learn to sign before they can speak
Human rights
1) UN Declaration on the Rights of
Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic,
religious or Linguistic Minorities (Article
2.1) 18 December 1992.
2) Two cultures together.
3) Deaf Ex-Mainstreamers Group (DEX)
wants performance standards. (DEX
2010)
4) Attainment gap and teacher training.
5) Awareness of BSL.
6) Support and sustainability for BSL in
education.
Teachernet (2009)
Further human rights issues
7) Choice, rights and inclusion.
8) Language, identity and culture.
9) UN Convention- Protection and Promotion of the Rights
and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities. Article 21- Freedom
of expression, opinion and access to information.
Grove (2006)
10) Survival in wider world.
(Whetnall 1971)
11) Choice by the child and equal opportunities.
12) Adult development.
13) Inequalities in education.
(Smith 1992)
Negative implications of being unable to
communicate
 Depression
 Loss of identity and confidence
 “an inability to use British Sign
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Language” (Barlow, 2007)
Isolation
Embarrassment and humiliation
Children find it hard to make friends
(Laeb and Sarigiani, 1986)
“when BSL interpreters are not
available it leads to an exclusion of a
section of society and can cause serious
problems” (K-international, 2009)
Advantages of effective communication
 “Communication is the ability to express positive and negative ideas and feelings in
an open, honest and direct way. It recognises our rights whilst still respecting the
rights of others. It allows us to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions
without judging or blaming other people. And it allows us to constructively confront
and find a mutually satisfying solution where conflict exists.”
By (Hopkins, Lee "Assertive Communication)
There are many advantages effective communication, most notably these:
· It helps us feel good about ourselves and others
· It leads to the development of mutual respect with others
· It increases our self-esteem
· It helps us achieve our goals
· It minimises hurting and alienating other people
· It reduces anxiety
· It protects us from being taken advantage of by others
· It enables us to make decisions and free choices in life
· It enables us to express, both verbally and non-verbally, a wide range of feelings
and thoughts, both positive and negative
(Hopkins, Lee "Assertive Communication)
Further examples
• Effective communication builds strong business and personal
relationships because you learn to understand exactly what
people want and how to give it to them. Learn to communicate
your thoughts and emotions in ways that they instinctively
understand at an unconscious level. (Grahams Gibbs)
• If you have a sore throat or laryngitis, you don’t need to speak to
communicate (assuming you teach your friends and family to
sign.
( Phil Lewis )
• If you have a concert where its loud or far away from some one
you need to talk to, you can communicate without yelling.
( Phil Lewis )
Benefits to speech and language (1)
 Sign language can help facilitate verbal language development in babies.
 A longitudinal study conducted by Goodwyn et al (2000) evaluated the
effect on speech development in 103 hearing infants, by encouraging them
to use simple gestures as symbols for objects, requests, and conditions.
• The parents of infants in the experimental group (sign training group)
encouraged their infants to communicate with symbolic gestures. The
control groups knew nothing of symbolic gestures. This consisted of a
verbal training (VT) and a non-intervention (NC) group.
 Infants from all three groups were tested in the lab at 11, 15, 19, 24, 30, and
36 months, each session was videotaped, and a variety of standardized
measures of both receptive and expressive were administered.
 Results- Verbal training does not impact on the performance of the
children when compared to the non-intervention group. Symbolic gesturing
does not hamper verbal development but may even facilitate it.
Benefits to speech and language (2)
 Basic forms can be used by babies (signedlanguage.co.uk, 2009)
 Increases child confidence and reduces frustration
 The local sign language dialect can be learnt- a national programme
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could cut out colloquial signs
Deaf children who communicate through sign language from birth
can communicate as well as those children using a spoken language
(Kumar et. Al, 2009)
Children will develop better communication (Kumar et. AL, 2009)
Developing bilingual skills allows access to a greater number of
opportunities, including schools (Kumar et. Al, 2009)
Sign language can develop children's speech ability to other
languages, even if they have a hearing impairment
(signedlanguage.co.uk, 2009)
Evidence of the benefits
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gSZfW4gVhI&f
eature=player_embedded
 Children who are deaf can also ‘sign sing’ and learn
nursery rhymes
Your turn
 I have taught some BSL to children when I was a primary
school teacher. They were always very enthusiastic.
Sign language is
•
Fun
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Expressive
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Interactive
It is very easy to start having conversations with. So I
thought I would show you how easy and fun it is by us all
having a go!
Practicalities (1)
 Arguments against teaching BSL include the practicalities of bringing it
into the school curriculum and include lack of specialist teachers, room
on an already crowded timetable
 One particular school was looked at-Christchurch Junior School in
Dorset- to see how Spanish was successfully introduced from starting
position of no previous Spanish teaching and no specialist teachers.
Strategies include;
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A number of teachers attending basic BSL evening course.
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Other teachers taught basics on teacher training days and in staff
meetings .
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Lunch time and after school clubs set up for children to practise
Spanish skills.
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All classes had1 hour timetabled for Spanish- to include fun
activities and games, role play etc.
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Spanish brought into other curriculum areas such as art,
geography, dance.
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Board displays were situated in classrooms and around the school.
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Annual Spanish week established.
Practicalities (2)
 Result- successful integration of
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Spanish onto the primary
curriculum.
Principles and ideas could easily
transferred to bring BSL into the
curriculum.
Potential for weeks to focus on deaf
awareness
Sign language is a powerful
medium for expression through
dance and music, some deaf
individuals sign sing in BSL.
Children may want to continue to
study BSL
An example of a sign
singing concert in the
USA from front.bc.ba
Personal experiences (1)
 Tanya 28yrs has been deaf since birth and communicated by sign language
with her family.
 Her feelings on sign language are:
- Can divide people as it is a whole new language which many people don't
know.
- People can "run away" from someone who signs because they don't know
how to deal with them
- It is difficult to communicate in shops
- You get used to not communicating with anyone outside of your network
- At school some friends learnt sign language which made communicating a
lot of fun
- It is always a great feeling when someone starts to sign back to you when
you didn't realised they could sign
- She thinks children should learn to sign as it is a great skill to have
- It will open their minds to learning other languages
- Thinks it is "...a great asset for a person to communicate with sign
language, just as much as any other language“ (www.signedlanguage.co.uk)
Personal experiences (2)
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Family two consists of: one 11 yr old girl, three boys aged 4, 5 and 9.
The 9 yr old boy has a profound hearing loss, but the others have normal hearing.
The 9 year old is also autistic and has a speech delay
The family is low middle class with few means of paying for high healthcare costs
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“They reported that he signs less and acts out his intentions when he becomes frustrated. Early
last year, he was a candidate for a cochlear implant but was denied one due to his diagnosis of
autism. He was also eligible to attend the Texas School for the Deaf, but the parents were
unable to find a means to transport him to Austin. They also feared that he would not be able to
cope in a new environment in the absence of his family members”.
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In sum, signing is an essential part of functional daily life for this family. Even though the
parents sought testing and medical insurance coverage to facilitate additional communication
methods with their 9 year old son, the benefits that sign language brought to them greatly
improved their communication and allowed them to cope.
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Research from UNT health science centre (social and behavioural sciences/public health
department)
Conclusion
 Speech and Language Development
 Effective Communication
 Negative implications of being unable to
communicate
 Human Right
 Practicalities of teaching Sign Language to all
References (1)
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/seehear/info/bsl.shtml
 http://www.mychild.co.uk/articles/learning-british-
sign-language-131
 Darby, A. (2001) War Resisters’ International- The
fourth language [online], Nottingham, Available:
http://www.wri-irg.org/node/2228 [accessed
06/03/10].
 www.k-international.com/bsl
 Image of deaf child:
http://www.csdf.k12.ca.us/outreach/resources/deafed.htm
References (2)
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Deaf Ex-Mainstreamers Group (DEX) (2010) Scottish Sensory Centre: Benchmarking
Sign-Bilingual Education, Wakefield. Available:
http://www.ssc.education.ed.ac.uk/courses/deaf/dex.html [Accessed 04/03/10].
Teachernet (2009) BSL pilot project, Available from:
http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/sen/datatypes/vihimsi/bslpp/ [Accessed
04/03/10].
Grove, N. (2006) “Signing For Children with Special Needs”, ISVR1014-15318: Common
Learning Programme: Patient/Client/Carer Perspectives [online], available:
http://blackboard.soton.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fweb
apps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_107050_1%2
6url%3d [accessed 05/03/10].
Darby, A. (2001) War Resisters’ International- The fourth language [online],
Nottingham, Available: http://www.wri-irg.org/node/2228 [accessed 06/03/10].
Petty, T. and Glass, E. (2008) BSL Dictionary: Deaf Awareness [online], Edinburgh:
Stories in the Air, Available from: http://www.learnbsl.org/deafawareness.htm [Accessed
06/03/10].
Whetnall, E. and Fry, B. (1971) The Deaf Child 3rd ed. London: William Heinemann
Medical Books Limited.
Smith, C. (1992) Sign In Sight, London: Souvenir Press (Educational & Academic) Ltd
References (3)
 Munoz-Baell, Irma M., Ruiz, Teresa M (2000) 'Empowering the Deaf. Let the deaf
be deaf Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health [online] 54 (1) Available
from: http://jech.bmj.com/content/54/1/40.full [Accessed 5th March 2010]
 Barlow, Julie H., Turner, Andrew P., Hammond, Christina L. and Gailey,
Loraine(2007) 'Living with late deafness: Insight from between worlds',
International Journal of Audiology [online], 46: 8, 442-448 Available from:
http://pdfserve.informaworld.com/747852_731198554_780756997.pdf [Accessed
5th March 2010]
 Aguayo, Miguel O., Coady, Nick F. (2001) 'The Experience of Deafened Adults:
Implications of Rehabilitative Services' Health and Social Work [online] 26 (4) 269274 Available from:
http://docserver.ingentaconnect.com/deliver/connect/nasw/03607283/v26n4/s7.
pdf?expires=1267814337&id=55409503&titleid=6450&accname=University+of+So
uthampton&checksum=77493566374EE4C2197DB5EA9BA4D0DB [Accessed 5th
March 2010]
 Warren and Hassenstab in Bench, John (1992) Communication Skills in Hearing
Impaired Children Newcastle on Tyne, Whurr Publisher Ltd.
Laeb and Sarigiani in Bench, John (1992) Communication Skills in Hearing
Impaired Children Newcastle on Tyne, Whurr Publisher Ltd
References (4)
 Phil Lewis (Sign language association)
 Grahams Gibbs (student manual learning in teams)
 MLA Style Citation:
Hopkins, Lee "Assertive Communication - 6 Tips For Effective Use."
Assertive Communication - 6 Tips For Effective Use. 19 Jan. 2005
EzineArticles.com. 9 Mar. 2010 <http://ezinearticles.com/?Assertive-Communication---6-Tips-For-Effective-Use&id=10259>.
 APA Style Citation:
Hopkins, L. (2005, January 19). Assertive Communication - 6 Tips For
Effective Use. Retrieved March 9, 2010, from
http://ezinearticles.com/?Assertive-Communication---6-Tips-For-Effective-Use&id=10259
 Chicago Style Citation:
Hopkins, Lee "Assertive Communication - 6 Tips For Effective Use."
Assertive Communication - 6 Tips For Effective Use EzineArticles.com.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Assertive-Communication---6-Tips-For-Effective-Use&id=10259
References (4)
 Kumar et al. (2009) Communication outcomes of children with
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permanent hearing loss developing speaking and signing
concurrently: A Review. International Journal of speech-language
Pathology. 11 (2) 135-146
www.signedlanguage.co.uk
Goodwyn, S; Acredolo, L; and Brown, C. (2000). Impact of symbolic
gesturing on early language development, Journal of nonverbal
behaviour, 24, p81-103
Image of a sign singing concert: http://front.bc.ca/image?id=415
Communication image:
http://www.communicationmatters.org.uk/Publications/Videos/Th
e_Power_of_Communication/Fig__Power_of_Communication.jpg
Images the signed word ‘wind’ :
http://www.britishsignlanguage.com/words/index.php?id=46