UCL boosts recognition of and access to sign language

UCL, the only UK university with a Modern Foreign Language (MFL) requirement for all UK undergraduates, has set a precedent by recognising British Sign Language (BSL) as a 'foreign' language option - a move it hopes will increase awareness of and access to BSL. The call for BSL to be recognised as a MFL was championed by the Deafness, Cognition and Language (DCAL) Research Centre, based at UCL. DCAL is the largest research centre in its field, bringing together leading Deaf and hearing researchers in the fields of sign linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience. BSL, which was recognised as a language in its own right by the UK government in 2003, is the first or preferred language of an estimated 70,000 Deaf people in the UK, and there are an estimated 150,000 people in the UK who use it. Although BSL is not a 'foreign' language, it is an indigenous minority language and its users share a strong cultural history and identity, which is centred on the language, not the deafness itself. It is hoped that by bringing BSL into the universities' foreign language requirement, it will lead to greater uptake of BSL and promote greater accessibility for Deaf people and understanding of Deaf communities internationally. In the United States, American Sign Language has been widely accepted as a MFL, and it is now the third most commonly taught language in US universities, while in the UK there has been a marked swell in support for BSL to be recognised as a MFL in recent years, including for BSL to be classed as a foreign language at GCSE to improve social understanding and break down barriers for Deaf and hearing impaired young people.