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Recently a member of ABSLTA (Association of British Sign Language Teachers and Assessors) contacted ABSLTA to raise concerns about a new paid-for BSL Level 1 on-line course.
Unfortunately, it turns out that all was not as it seemed on this course.
To watch this post in BSL, click play below or scroll down the page to carry on in English.
After further investigation, it appeared that the course provider has been set up by an unregistered lady without any recognised BSL training, qualification or accreditation. Nor has she/he worked with deaf people in the past.
These are dark times for genuine BSL Teachers and their students too.
So, what is going on here?
Genuinely qualified and Registered BSL Teachers have so much to offer. They are able to:
• Enable hearing people to engage deaf people
• Teach British Sign Language, as a language
• Share the richness of deaf culture and history
• Create an understanding of how deaf people live
• Work effectively with deaf people, and develop friendships
Yet speaking from experience as a BSL Teacher at three colleges, I was always the last to know what was happening at the college, as I cannot hear. I had to be assertive to get the facts.
Now many of our courses have have been cut – without consultation – by local authorities to save money. Teachers forced out of jobs. A few are lucky to hold onto possibly only job they have for life. This is part of the government’s austerity cuts.
This has created a vacuum that is leading to an increase of unqualified spammers who see an opportunity to sell BSL courses using word-of-mouth among people, friends and families.
These people tell people that they are helping deaf people. It is a very easy thing to do. They may befriend one or two deaf people and then claim that these deaf ‘friends’ are supportive of their business. Really?
How can we move forwards from here? We need:
• Funding to protect BSL Teachers and courses
• A national accreditation and registration scheme for BSL tutors
• Only qualified BSL Teachers to deliver online learning courses and apps with approved resources
• Raise awareness among potential future BSL students to check if a course is genuine.
There are BSL resources available waiting to be further developed and provided for all. We just need funding to make all this happen.
By Caroline Hurley
Executive support member of ABSLTA
If you would like to know more about the Association of British Sign Language Teachers and Assessors (ABSLTA) please visit www.abslta.org.uk
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MR STEPHEN HURLEY
February 25, 2018
Do you know the name of that BSL Online provider which is a total scam?
Sister Marika Rebicsek
February 25, 2018
I agree with all this, best place for learning is with a good BSL teacher, as part of a structured accredited course. There are some good online firms out there, signworldlearn, but personally feel face to face is 3D, internet is 2D, lesson situations face to face is best with a Deaf teacher who is immersed in the Deaf workd, community and culture. I don’t recommend hearing people should teach BSL either because no amount of experience either as CODA or having a deaf person in the family can replace the actual experience of being Deaf. It’s the reason I set up my own teaching business. I am Deaf, big D and proud of it, it’s my identity and who I am.
iseewhatyousay
February 25, 2018
Have you considered there are millions of people who fall between the Deaf and Hearing communities. Most hard of hearing people I know may not know the full sign language of their country, but they do know some sign to aid in communication. In the U.S., Hard of Hearing people sometimes aren’t as welcome in the Deaf Community as they should be. Also some Hard of Hearing don’t have access to an accredited course. It’s through well-meaning others that they might learn some basic sign to aid in communication. In my book, it’s all good, we should have as many communication tools as we can to understand a world we can’t hear.
Yes, if this online instructor is touting her self as certified and is claiming to teach an accredited course, then that is wrong. However, if she’s only trying to those who have no other exposure to sign language, then I would have to applaud her efforts as long as she is not charging for her instruction.
iseewhatyousay
February 25, 2018
Sorry for not proofing my previous comment, I see a few errors. I also should have added that of the over 360 million people with significant deafness, those who know and use sign language as their first language is a small percentage of the total, most do not know and use sign language. It would be great if more did, but as I said, as a person who has lived with deafness all my life I’ve not found much welcome in the Deaf Community, and that also rang true for the four years I lived in Germany, so I’m going to say it’s that way everywhere.
Also, I clicked the vimeo to see the original and I see it’s a video you posted, not the orignal owner.i It’s not a good thing that you did not include the link to the original source, the instructor’s name, or any other information about this video so that those of us who would like to know more can investigate for ourselves. I tend to not take stock in someone else’s opinion and want to gather my own facts. I even wonder if you had permission to share the video? If not, and I was the owner, I’d be livid.
Editor
February 25, 2018
The person who wrote the article also appears in the video. Thanks, Ed
iseewhatyousay
February 26, 2018
Thank you for that clarification, Ed. My apologies. The video is not captioned and I don’t know BSL, so it seemed to me that the person in the video was who the complaint was about. Many of us who have been deaf all of our lives were mainstreamed and need captioning. It would have been great if someone would have taught me sign language when I was diagnosed as a child, but it didn’t happen, and I grew up a lipreader. It would be wonderful if all of the video content on Limping Chicken was captioned for those of us who need captions. As you can see, when they are not, it can be confusing. Thank you.
Editor
February 26, 2018
The BSL video is to give BSL users access to the English article. It says quite clearly on the page that people can either watch the video in BSL or scroll down to continue reading in English, they are the same information. If you can read English well, then you can read the article. If we subtitled the video then we’d be doubling up on the access. Thanks Charlie
iseewhatyousay
February 27, 2018
Thanks for the explanation. Is there such a thing as too much access?
Editor
February 27, 2018
It’s worth bearing in mind the cost and time of providing access. If an article is written in English and there’s a BSL video, you’re then covering those who prefer either written English or BSL. If you’re demanding access on top of access, I’d ask you to bear in mind that bloggers and those who run blogs have a lot of other demands to handle – there isn’t an unlimited supply of time, willpower and finances.