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Sign Media
Start date: Dec 1, 2010,

European deaf people like their hearing counterparts should have equal access to the medium of written English. In each EU country there is a clear deaf community, (Pellet Boodle & Ochre, 2008) with members using the specific Sign Language of that community as their first language. Sign Language in each country is linguistically distinct from the spoken and written language (Woll et al), but written English can be seen by deaf people as a common means of communication with deaf and hearing people across Europe. Research and practice has identified that deaf Europeans wish to learn written English in order to work and travel (Fleming in Kellet-Bidoli & Ochse, 2008) thus enhancing their lifelong chances.However, for decades educators have not been successful in making written English accessible as they have used methods created for those of us who hear. Fleming (1999 & 2008) re-examined the pedagogy and began to teach written English via Sign Language .Research has also shown that deaf people strongly identify with the media, especially digital media in film and broadcasting (Cybels, 2003). Recently UOWLV discovered that 70% of deaf graduates are working in arts and media-related industries (Fleming & Hay 2005). Therefore the project specifically targets deaf people working in this sector.The interactive learning tool on the web will provide self-access exercises on written English, taught through the sign language of each partner country, thus giving 3 versions of the course, all with the same end product.The final product will enhance the inclusion of deaf media specialists in the current European media industry and improve their career and mobility prospects by providing access and skills in the most used language. The consortium sees this innovative pedagogy as a model for other deaf learning packages and, with partners' extensive contacts with deaf organisations and policy-makers around Europe, it is well-placed to valorise the outcomes.

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