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Prerequisite for entry
For complete beginners or those who have had only very little contact with the language.
Term duration
20 x 2-hour classes over two terms, with the option for a third term (10x 2-hour classes) of revision and consolidation.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of the course is to enable students to communicate at a basic conversational level (basic vocabulary, phonology and grammar). Students should be able to communicate in and understand British Sign Language in a range of everyday conversational contexts. Language learning skills, including autonomous learning and how to approach authentic material, will be enhanced. Some transferable skills will also be covered.听
Functions
- greeting people and responding
- introducing oneself and others
- spelling names
- fingerspelling
- referencing using pointing and possession
- numbers, including numerical signs
- thanking, apologising, basic enquiries
- asking people about themselves, giving information about oneself
- naming and describing objects
- enquiring about prices
- describing rooms
- shopping
- talking about one鈥檚 job and studies
- telling and asking the time of day
- expressing agreement/disagreement
- accepting, refusing
- asking for directions
- requesting and giving information
Course Content
Main topics/themes to be covered:
- personal details
- family relationships
- close acquaintances, friends
- occupations
- household goods
- food and drink: the home, supermarket, social occasions
- numbers, time of day, days of the week, months, dates
- hobbies, leisure activities, holiday activities
- aspects of Deaf culture (this will be covered throughout the course)
Term 3 (optional):
- revisit and reinforce Term 1 & 2 content
- practice communicating with the tutor and other students
- translate video clips into written English
Linguistic Structures
Phonology
Formational properties of BSL signs (handshape, movement, location, orientation and non-manual features).听
Grammar of BSL
Morphology of British Sign Language including:
- types of BSL verbs (plain, indicating and depicting);
- classifiers/depicting signs (entity, handling, tracing and size & shape specifiers);
- pointing;
- personal and possessive pronominals;
- adverbs and adverbials;
- aspect and time marking;
- numeral incorporation;
- syntax: basic sign order (topicalisation), interrogatives (yes/no questions and wh-questions), negation, imperatives.听
Learning resources
Books
Sutton-Spence, Rachel, & Woll, Bencie. (1999). The Linguistics Of British Sign Language: An Introduction. Cambridge, UK New York: Cambridge University Press.
IBSN: 9780521637183 / 9781139167048听
Useful websites
A selection of authentic material will also be used e.g.听
- BSL Corpus Project: ).听听
- BSLZone: 听
- SignBank: 听
- Sign Dictionary: 听
- Spread the Sign: 听
