Description

Interested in the complexities and subtleties of sign language and how identity and language are linked?

Study the culture, history and language of deaf communities in the UK. Engage with deaf people and communities in a range of contexts, whilst gaining the highly-respected Signature qualifications in British Sign Language (BSL) – the preferred language of over 87,000 people in the UK.

At York St John University we have an active and welcoming community of BSL speakers. As your language skills improve you will also gain an increasingly deep understanding of the socio-linguistic context of BSL. You will consider how BSL has developed, its relationship to other world sign languages and investigate the translation process between BSL and English.

The place of deaf people in modern society is constantly changing. You will draw on current research to explore the experiences of deaf people and communities in both historical and contemporary contexts. We will consider the tensions between Deafhood philosophies and the perception of deafness as a disability and the changing foundations of UK deaf communities. In your second year you will have the opportunity to explore issues and challenges faced by BSL users in real workplaces through a work-based module.

While you specialise in the study of British Sign language and its use, you will also gain a broader understanding of how languages in general are structured, learnt and used. You will explore attitudes to language, learn about multilingualism and consider how language is related to identity, society and culture.

The School of Languages & Linguistics has an active research community, a regular guest lecture series and specialist spaces for you to study in, including The Languages Workshop and the Linguistics Lab which all our students are encouraged to make use of.