Sign Language Week is organised by the British Deaf Association (BDA) as a flagship awareness week for British Sign Language (BSL) and Irish Sign Language (ISL), celebrated every year in March to commemorate the first time BSL was acknowledged as a language in its own right by the UK Government on 18 March 2003. The aim is to encourage more people to start learning and to protect and preserve for future generations to come.
This year’s Sign Language Week will run from 18 – 24 March 2024. The theme of this year’s campaign is ‘Promoting BSL and ISL as indigenous languages of the UK’, aiming to celebrate and educate.
BSL was legally recognised in law by the UK Government on 28th April 2022. This followed similarly ground-breaking legislation in Scotland - the BSL Act (Scotland) (2015). 28 April will now be known annually as ‘National BSL Day’.
This year's theme colour is turquoise, inspired by the Deaf flag.
This summer, members of the World Federation of the Deaf, including the BDA and other National Associations of the Deaf, approved the Deaf flag as a symbol for Deaf communities around the world.
Ways to get involved
What is BSL and ISL? Find out more and download a copy of their BSL and ISL fingerspelling cards.
To find out more and watch in sign language, please click here: https://signlanguageweek.org.uk/
Workshop - Are you interested in learning more about BSL and Deaf Culture?
The Department for Language Studies will be hosting an ‘Intro to BSL and Deaf Culture’ workshop as part of Sign Language Week. The session focus on Deaf awareness and will provide an introduction to British Sign Language. It will be delivered by BSL convenor Dr John Walker and is open to all – students and staff.
Date & time: Monday 18th March,12-3pm
Venue: Pevensey 1 2A3
Click here to sign up via Eventbrite to book your place.
The Department for Language Studies also offer BSL classes at lunch times and evenings. These are aimed at the general public, offering the opportunity to study a language alongside university students and staff. Further information about the courses available, including tuition and assessment fees are available through the webpage linked above.