Joanne Woodhouse-Roberts: Native BSL user on a BSL Level 6 course!

I joined Stage 1 and Stage 2 courses in BSL – I didn’t complete either of my courses, as both my tutors advised me to do the exams and leave the course. On both courses, I was the only Deaf candidate, everyone else was hearing. Only the tutor and I were Deaf.

I did both my exams about 8 weeks after starting the courses. I passed both exams first time and left. I went on to teach BSL for many years!

I haven’t taught formally for quite some time due to being a stay at home Mum but have been thinking of returning. In 2021, I stumbled across Signworld on social media in Bristol who were offering a BSL Level 6 course to Deaf candidates via Zoom.

Coupled with my inquisitive mind, thinking of returning to teaching and finally having the time to expand on my knowledge of BSL I contacted Linda Day to see if I would be eligible to join BSL Level 6.

Fast forward some 7/8 months later I am now in the middle of doing my Level 6 assessments, along with 7 others who are on the course, we are all Deaf and in varying occupations from mental health, to teaching and acting (I’m still waiting for an autograph!)

We’ve had sessions via Zoom every Wednesday which has been a real success! Yes, we have had the odd technical glitch but that has outweighed the benefits! The benefit is we don’t have to travel and we span across various counties from Wales, Midlands to London therefore we have brought a wealth of knowledge, experience, sign language styles and of course regional variations to Zoom.

We have slowly got to know each other, our sign names and personalities. We know who is shy, sensitive or confident, which one has the witty (naughty) sense of humour and the one that loves a debate, we know who to go to for IT stuff, we have worked out who is the eldest in the group and who is the youngest and I am neither! We have also called ourselves ‘Class of 22’.

Quite a few of us are native signers, as every single one of us are Deaf, the course has been accessible to us and been a real learning curve. Being a Deaf only course has made a huge difference; it’s been relaxing, resourceful and unique.

There is no doubt I have learnt so much in such a small space of time, not only have I confirmed that BSL is a very rich expressive language and something I love using but also what makes BSL so special is, the Linguistics, double rhythm signs, eye gaze, topographical space, classifiers, multi channel signs, regional variations for example. I have also learned that there is a ‘correct’ sign for the correct context and the importance of using this.

For example, if I was to sign ‘COVID positive’. The sign ‘ positive’ often used is to create a ‘cross/positive sign’, using two fingers, 1 finger from each hand. However, that sign is for ‘positive’ meaning something happy, encouraging or ‘add’ in terms of doing some maths.

When one is ‘COVID positive’ is it a positive thing?!!! Truth to be known, I don’t think anyone really wants to be COVID positive! So, it’s a matter of choosing signs for the appropriate context and in this situation this sign isn’t correct.

This course has certainly stretched my mind, and shows with the right tutor, right environment and set up, it can be enjoyable, rewarding and enriches our lives. This has inspired me and given me a taste to do more in the future, ‘what next? I often ask myself’.

I have learned how to sign things accurately, I guess the equivalent would be someone from London using the local dialect ‘cockney’ for instance, in a restrictive code (Basil Bernstein) but then deciding to do A levels and a degree in English!

So I would ‘sign’, if you have an inquisitive mind, you’re never too old to join a course and learn something new, ‘Should Deaf people learn BSL formally? I still find that question tricky to answer but it certainly has enriched my life so far and given me more confidence to sign with the knowledge I have acquired.

As for our ‘Class of 22′ – good luck with the rest of your assessments, what is it we sign before an assessment?

‘We’ve got this!’

Joanne Woodhouse-Roberts.