Centre for Access and Communication Studies

Deaf Programmes

Unit Handbook

2003 / 2004

CONTENTS

1 How to use this book

2 How to get help

2.1 Illness

2.2 Useful telephone numbers and addresses

3 Unit regulations

3.1 Attendance at classes

3.2 Marks

3.3 Plagiarism

4 Unit information

4.1 Aims of the Unit

4.2 Marking System

4.3 Examinations

4.4 Mechanisms of Feedback

4.5 Sources of information

4.6 Staff

5 Timetables

1 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book is divided into 3 main sections containing information about How to get Help, Unit Regulations and Unit Information.

Section 2, How to get Help, gives the Centre policy for dealing with problems and illness. The best way to minimise the effects of a problem is to deal with it as soon as possible. If you follow the advice in this section we will be in the best position to be able to help you.

It is essential that you read section 3, Unit Regulations, very carefully as they contain information about the assessment for your course.

Section 4 contains general Unit Information concerning the timetable, examinations and safety, etc. This information will help you to get the most from the British Sign Language Unit.

2 HOW TO GET HELP

Most students have difficulties at some stage of their course. We can help prevent yours from becoming major problems if you let us know as soon as possible.

1. ILLNESS

http://www.bris.ac.uk/Publications/Handbook/Student/illness.

If you cannot attend an assessment or examination, or feel your performance will be affected by illness you must obtain a medical certificate BEFORE the assessment / examination.

2.2 USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS AND ADDRESSES

Centre for Access and Communication Studies

4^th Floor Union Building

Queen’s Road

Bristol

BS8 1LN

Deaf Programmes Secretary

3 UNIT REGULATIONS

3.1 ATTENDANCE AT CLASSES

You must attend 75% of classes otherwise you may be awarded a lower mark. If you are absent from classes with no reason we will write to you asking for good reasons why you were unable to come. As BSL classes are practical, if you do miss many sessions you will undoubtedly be learning less.

2. MARKING

You will be assessed as follows:

End of Term 1 (December 2003): Tutor assessment of skills and short practical exercise. The practical exercise will consist of a test of your productive sign skills and of your receptive skills (understanding). This will be conducted by your tutor.

January 2004: Mock exam for CACDP Level 1 and tutor assessment of skills

Finally, in small groups you will have to complete an assignment:

For this assignment you need to work in a group of 3 or 4 students. You task is to design a leaflet and to briefly document how you have made the leaflet accessible to Deaf people and why you made certain design decisions.

Deaf people, that is, people who are born deaf, who use BSL as their preferred language and who usually are members of the Deaf Community, often have difficulties accessing written English. For example, profoundly deaf adults, on average, have a Reading Age of 7.9 years.

Bearing this is mind, design a leaflet for Deaf people explaining some simple Dental Procedures OR a leaflet designed to promote good Dental Hygiene. You are not expected to be a brilliant artist to tackle this assignment: marks will be given for the use of text and for suggestions for pictures. Marks will be allocated for general layout. The leaflets should be around 400-500 words in length.

Leaflets should be submitted to Lindsey Drage, Sign Language Secretary, either by giving her the assignment or e-mailing it (l.drage@bristol.ac.uk). Leaflets should be handed in by Jan 23rd 2004.

Each group will have to give a 10-15 minute presentation on January 23^rd/29^th/30^th (exact date to be decided later in the term.) Your presentation should focus on how you designed the leaflet and ensured it was accessible to Deaf people. The presentation and leaflet will be marked by at least 2 members of the CACS team.

3.3 PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is a serious offence carrying a heavy penalty. The essential element of plagiarism is putting forward the work of another as one’s own, although there is no reason why you should not quote others directly as long as this is made clear to the reader (usually by "enclosing in quotation marks"). All copied or closely paraphrased passages should be referenced. All figures and diagrams (whether slightly modified or not) must have their source quoted in the legend. All input from others must be acknowledged, including personal communications from lecturers and fellow students.

It will help you to avoid omitting these acknowledgements if you are careful to write down lists of all the material consulted during preparation of a piece of work. Further, when you are taking notes from that material, it is best to indicate copied items in quotation marks, or with a symbol in the margin as you write. This will distinguish it from your own summaries of other information read at the same time.

3. UNIT INFORMATION

Aims of the Unit

General Description:

British Sign Language is a language involving the hands, the face and the whole body that is used as their first or preferred language by over 55,000 Deaf people in the UK. It is now accepted as a minority language and there is increasing realization of its existence and value. While the language itself is fascinating to learn and provides a new learning experience, an introductory course in BSL is of additional value as it provides students with an insight into the position of Deaf people in society and develops a general awareness of communication skills.

Aims of Element:

The aims of this element are to develop (i) awareness of the access requirements of D/deaf people and (ii) basic communication skills in British Sign Language that will enable students to be able to hold a simple conversation with a sign language user in a variety of situations

By the end of the course students will:

• Have an understanding of the ways in which deaf people may be divided or classify themselves.
• Be able to hold a basic conversation in BSL with a profoundly deaf person.
• Have achieved a skill level in BSL such that they are ready to take the CACDP (Council for the Advancement of Communication Skills with Deaf People) Level 1 examination in BSL.
• Have acquired a vocabulary in BSL for basic dental terminology.
• Have some understanding of the cultural and social aspects of BSL and its importance within the Deaf community.

Skills:

Students will:

• Acquire a basic receptive and expressive vocabulary in British Sign Language
• Be able to use BSL in simple language structures and understand these structures when used by a native signer.

Experience communication though a Sign Language Interpreter.

Students are assessed in the following ways:

• Continuous assessment by the main course tutor, with termly written feedback being issued to the students. Equal weight is given to receptive and productive skills.
• A mock exam (CACDP Stage 1 level).
• A written assignment/project.
• An endpoint external exam. This consists of a 10-15 minute live assessment conducted by a deaf assessor from CACDP. It will test both productive and receptive skills.

4.2 MARKING SYSTEM

1. Student has reached a very good level; can communicate well in BSL across a range of situations

B+ BSL skills of a high standard but with a few small weaknesses in production and/or reception e.g. a few grammatical errors made, use of BSL sometimes lacks clarity

B good skills but with some significant weaknesses (shown, perhaps, by use of English, some gaps in vocabulary, weak use of facial expression)

2. Satisfactory skills with the strengths clearly outweighing the weaknesses

C+ fair skills where student can understand the major concepts but not details and productive skills containing a number of weaknesses (possibly omissions or lack of clarity in placement, handshape etc.)

C moderate skills indicating that the major areas have been understood and are used but with some gaps in skills, e.g. significant gaps in vocabulary, failure to understand parts of a simple story

3. scarcely satisfactory skills with the strengths only just outweighing the weaknesses

D+ weak skills generally with significant gaps in both production and receptive skills and with indications that even the main points of the grammar of BSL are not fully understood.

D poor skills; students very reliant on English, communication contains many major errors or omissions

4. unsatisfactory skills; little evidence of knowledge of vocabulary or grammar of BSL

Grades A+ to B+ Students could progress straight onto a CACDP Level 2 course

4.3 EXAMINATIONS

CACDP Level 1 – You will be examined on:

1. Conversational skills through role play
2. Comprehension skills by watching a story and answering questions
3. Ability to describe a picture sequence

4.4 MECHANISMS OF FEEDBACK

The best way we have to improve the quality of the Unit is by student feedback. We are interested in what you think about the content, structure, teaching and general learning environment. We would like you to give us feedback in the form of constructive criticism and even praise. If you can think of a way around a problem tell us. There will be an opportunity a the end of each term to fill in an evaluation form. If you want to make a comment at any time contact Liz Potter who is the BSL Development Officer in the CACS by email in the first instance – Elizabeth.C.A.Potter@bristol.ac.uk

4.5 SOURCES OF INFORMATION

• David Brien (ed) Dictionary of British Sign Language/English, BDA 1992

• Susan Gregory and Gillian Hartley Constructing Deafness, Pinter Publishers in assoc with the Open University 1991
• N Groce Everybody Here Spoke Sign Language, Cambridge Massachusetts, Harvard University Press 1985
• Lesley Jones, Jim Kyle & Peter Wood Words Apart – Losing Your Hearing as an Adult, Tavistock Publications 1982
• Jim Kyle & Bencie Woll Sign Language: The Study of Deaf People and their Language, Cambridge University Press 1985
• Rosemary McCall Hearing Loss? A Guide to Self Help, Robert Hale Ltd 1991
• Dorothy Miles British Sign Language: A Beginners’ Guide, BBC Books
• Cath Smith Sign in Sight – A Step into the Deaf World, Souvenir Press 1992
• Cath Smith Signs Make Sense – A Guide to BSL, Souvenir Press 1993
• Sutton-Spence R and Woll B The Linguistics of British Sign Language – An Introduction, Cambridge University Press 1999
• George Taylor and Juliet Bishop Being Deaf: The Experience of Deafness, The Open University 1991

• British Sign Language – A Beginners’ Guide. A BBC video based on the TV series. Presented by Lorna Allsop and Clive Mason. Length 2 hours. (A BBC book is available to accompany this video).

• The BSL Video Phrase Book. Presented by Clive Mason. Two one-hour tapes with over 200 commonly used BSL phrases:- Tape 1: £26 ; Tape 2: £26 ; Tape Set: £41.90. Tape 1 includes greetings, family, at the Deaf Club, time and numbers, health and common expressions. Tape 2 includes money, leisure and sport, work, relationships, food, colour, travel and holidays.

• Sign Now! The British Sign Language CD-ROM £59.00
  This is a dictionary with over 3,700 signs and a quiz.

• Sign Away
  This is a phrase book with over 1,600 common phrases. For most learners, this is the one we would recommend as the signs are produced in context rather than as individual items.

The University central library contains most of these books and can be found on their computerised catalogue.

4.6 STAFF

The structure of the CACS and Deaf Programmes is set out below. If you need to speak directly to any of our Deaf staff it is better to contact the secretary by phone or email to arrange for the in-house interpreter to be present when you meet before you come.

Staff Structure

Director

Claire Wickham

PA to Director

Anna Wheeler

Deaf Awareness Development Officer:

Sara Hetherington

Sign Language Development Officer:

Elizabeth Potter

Sign Language Tutor:

Philip Ashford

Secretary:

Lindsey Drage

In house Interpreter:

Heather Gibson

5 TIMETABLE

BSL Level 1 - Dentists

Thursdays and Fridays 1.30 – 4.00

Tutor: Philip Ashford