Level 1

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. 

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’s 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). 

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. 

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 

Useful websites

A selection of authentic material will also be used e.g. 

• BSL Corpus Project: http://www.bslcorpusproject.org).  
• BSLZone: https://www.bslzone.co.uk 
• SignBank: http://bslsignbank.ucl.ac.uk 
• Sign Dictionary: https://signd.co.uk 
• Spread the Sign: https://www.spreadthesign.com/en.gb/search