Sign Language Week is celebrated across the UK every year in March; to coincide with the anniversary of the recognition of British Sign Language (BSL) by the UK Government in 2003.
The initiative, organised by the British Deaf Association, will run from 14–20 March 2022. This year’s theme is “BSL Brings Us Together”. The campaign hashtags are #SignLanguageWeek, #SLWeek2022 and #BSLBringsUsTogether. SignLive, the Video Relay Service (VRS) and Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) provider, is the Headline Sponsor for Sign Language Week 2022.
BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE EXPLAINED
British Sign Language is a signed, visual language that uses hand and body movements as well as facial expressions and eye gaze to express meaning. It is a language in its own right with its own vocabulary and grammar. BSL is not dependent upon or related to English and is used mainly by people who are Deaf, their families and friends, and interpreters, teachers and other professionals who work with Deaf people.
Sign Language is not international – there are hundreds of different sign languages around the world. For example, the sign languages used in Ireland and the USA developed separately from BSL; while Australian, New Zealand and South African Sign Languages are historically related to BSL.
Just as with spoken languages, there are regional variations or “accents” of BSL, although these are mutually intelligible. For example, the sign for ‘holiday’ which has around 10 -12 sign variations depending upon the area of the UK that you are in. British Sign Language is a natural, living language that is part of a rich cultural heritage of the British Deaf community and one of the UK’s indigenous languages.
For more information, see: www.signlanguageweek.org.uk.
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