BSL & Deaf Studies (Foundation Year)

Program Overview

---

Students will develop fluency in BSL while gaining knowledge of Deaf communities, history, and employment prospects in the field. The program's practical approach, expert educators, and work placement module prepare graduates for a variety of careers and higher education pathways in the Deaf community.

Program Outline

---

Degree Overview:

This program is a Foundation Entry course in British Sign Language & Deaf Studies, leading to a BA (Hons) degree. The course aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of deafness as a social and cultural phenomenon, develop fluency in British Sign Language (BSL), and equip them with the skills and knowledge necessary for a successful career in the Deaf community.

---

Outline:

The program is a four-year full-time program delivered in-person at the Preston Campus. It is structured as follows:

---

Year 0:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Essential Study Skills for Higher Education: This module provides foundational study skills, including academic writing, referencing, and critical analysis.
• Developing Academic Knowledge: This module introduces critical thinking, discussion, and essential skills for university success.
• Target Award Extended Study: This module focuses on developing digital literacies and research skills relevant to the target honors degree.
• Learning by Experience: This module explores group working, negotiation, and task-based learning while building a reflective learning portfolio.
• Optional Modules:
• Skills for Languages and Area Studies: This module enhances language learning processes, fosters reflective skills, and introduces Area Studies.
• Skills for English: This module explores English Language & Linguistics diversity and key literary forms.

---

Year 1:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Deaf People in Society: This module explores the experiences of deaf people, different models of deafness, and the international deaf world.
• Deaf Communities and Culture: This module examines the concepts of community, culture, and identity, exploring their relationship in a multicultural society.
• Employability and the Deaf Community: This module explores issues relating to deaf people in the workplace and their employment prospects.
• Historical Development of British Sign Language: This module delves into the history and roots of BSL, exploring significant issues surrounding sign languages and their culture.
• British Sign Language 100: This module develops basic communication skills in BSL, covering essential vocabulary and language functions.
• British Sign Language 150: This module builds upon BSL skills, focusing on more complex everyday situations and developing employability skills.
• British Sign Language 200: This module introduces a more academic viewpoint of BSL, exploring language structure, culture, and critical analysis.

---

Year 2:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Deaf World Debates: This module examines contemporary issues in the deaf world, including disability policies, minority groups, and deafness in the European Community.
• British Sign Language 200: This module develops BSL reception, comprehension, and production skills, focusing on employability.
• British Sign Language 250: This module develops BSL skills to a post-Intermediate level, enabling effective interaction with a wider range of BSL users.
• British Sign Language 300: This module advances BSL skills to an advanced level, enabling effective communication in most work and social environments.
• Optional Modules:
• Issues in Deaf Education: This module explores issues affecting the education of deaf children, including education policy and its historical context.
• Language, Mind and Brain: This module introduces psycholinguistics, research methods, and the cognitive foundations of language.
• Language and Power: This module explores the concept of power and its influence on human interaction, examining the relationship between power, language, and social institutions.
• Employability Skills Project: This module develops employability skills through practical project-based learning.
• Narrative Styles in British Sign Language: This module explores communication using multiple registers and levels of BSL, developing employability skills in discussion, debate, and critical analysis.
• Translation Theory: This module introduces concepts in translation theory and explores their effectiveness in producing accurate translations.

---

Year 3:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Double Dissertation: This module provides an opportunity for extended independent study in an area of the student's choosing, developing research skills and analytical abilities.
• Optional Modules:
• Insiders and Outsiders: Representations of Deafness: This module examines how deafness is portrayed in various media formats, fostering critical discussion and understanding of representation theory.
• Introduction to the Roles of Public Service Interpreters: This module examines the role of interpreters in various settings, including schools, tertiary education, and community settings.
• Work Placement: This module provides a practical placement experience alongside deaf people or within the Deaf community, focusing on observation, communication, and research.
• The Education of Vulnerable Young People: This module explores the education of vulnerable children and young people, including victims of abuse and children involved with crime.
• Clinical Linguistics and Language Pathology: This module examines language disorders and delays, covering various language-related pathologies and their causes.
• British Sign Language 300: This module advances BSL skills to an advanced level, enabling effective communication in most work and social environments.
• British Sign Language 375: This module develops BSL competence, cultural awareness, and self-reflective skills, focusing on grammar, jargon, vocabulary, and fluency suitable for professional or social situations.
• British Sign Language 400: This module extends BSL competence and insight, developing skills for effective communication in a wider range of linguistic environments.

---

Assessment:

The program utilizes a variety of assessment methods, including:

• Written and signed work (essays, reports, critical reviews, personal reflections)
• Presentations
• Posters
• Logbooks and journals
• Scrapbooks
• Deaf awareness training packs
• Timed BSL productive and receptive tasks

---

Teaching:

The program is taught by a mixed deaf and hearing team who are experts in various topics, including linguistics, translation studies, community, and history. The teaching methods include:

• Lectures
• Seminars
• Tutorials
• Practical sessions
• Independent study
• Visiting lecturers, practitioners, and professionals from the Deaf community and related organizations

---

Careers:

The program prepares students for a variety of careers in the Deaf community, including:

• Lecturers
• Teachers
• BSL/English interpreters
• Social workers
• Educational support workers
• Media professionals
• Police officers
Graduates may also pursue higher degrees and research or start their own businesses.

---

Other:

• The program is recognized for its world-leading research, top student satisfaction rates, and pioneering work on the development of employability skills.
• More than 60% of British Sign Language English interpreters working in the UK have been taught on the program's courses.
• The program has nearly 30 years of expertise in teaching BSL and Deaf Studies.
• The program offers opportunities for field trips to local and regional events where sign language users are gathering, as well as places of interest, such as the British Deaf History Museum.
• Students may be offered the opportunity to join an international trip to experience other sign languages and cultures.
• The program includes a work placement module as part of the overall program of study.
• Students have opportunities to study abroad in countries such as Finland, Germany, the USA, and Holland.

---

| Fees and funding | | :---: | :---: | | 2024/25 | | UK | | First year | £9,250 for the first year | | Full-time | £9,250 per year | | International | | First year | £16,400 for the first year | | Full-time | £16,500 per year |