In preparation for the new BSL GCSE, the Deafness Cognition and
Language (DCAL) Research Centre is teaming up with the Institute of
Education at UCL to deliver a programme of Continuing Professional
Development (CPD) courses to upskill those interested in teaching
BSL in secondary schools. Courses are aimed at 1) deaf BSL
teachers who are currently or not yet working in schools, and/or 2)
deaf secondary school teachers who are fluent in BSL but have not
taught it before. Topics include:
• BSL GCSE Course Content for Teachers
• BSL Linguistics for Teachers
• Language Learning in Multilingual Context for Teachers
• Teaching in Secondary Schools
Courses are expected to begin in early 2026. To join mailing list for
updates or for queries, contact dcal@ucl.ac.uk with code
“GCSE_CPD”
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6/19/2025
AI is changing the face of language technology - from lookup tools to Siri/Alexa to Google Translate to ChatGPT. So far this has been focused on spoken languages. What about sign languages?
SignGPT is a 5-year EPSRC-funded research programme led by the University of Surrey, UCL DCAL and Oxford University - aiming to build a large-language model (LLM) and AI tools to meet the needs of the deaf community. We are a deaf/hearing team seeking more deaf BSL signers to work with us to develop this technology.
Get in touch if you have interests/background/skills in one or more of the following:
sign language
software engineering
data science
coding
deep learning
linguistics
Contact dcal@ucl.ac.uk or Richard Bowden r.bowden@surrey.ac.uk.
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6/16/2025
🏆 Have you published impactful research on British Sign Language in the past 2 years? Apply for the Bencie Woll Prize and stand out in the field of sign language linguistics. Winner receives £500 and the opportunity to present their work at DCAL.
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3/28/2025
Are you deaf and interested in language, psychology or neuroscience research? We offer paid Research Placement opportunities. Come and work with us!
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2/17/2025
Exciting updates from DCAL as we celebrate a year filled with achievements in research, events, and resources for the Deaf community and beyond! In this Christmas Newsletter 2024, we share highlights of our ongoing projects, including studies on language and reading development, neuroscience, and linguistics. We also reflect on our public engagement events, such as the BSL GCSE announcement and the upcoming DCALx event in 2025.
You’ll find information about our resources like the BSL Corpus, SignBank, and assessment tools, all designed to support researchers, educators, and the Deaf community. We’re also thrilled to share news about our postgraduate opportunities and the work of our dedicated Professional Services team.
Thank you for your support throughout 2024. From all of us at DCAL, we wish you a joyful Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year! For more information, visit our website or contact us directly.
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12/6/2024
DCAL is looking for outstanding early career researchers working in the research fields of linguistics, psychology and neuroscience with deaf people, who would like to apply for fellowships to be hosted at our research centre.
DCAL will provide tailored support to applicants, assisting in the preparation and submission of competitive applications for UK and international fellowship calls. Interested researchers should submit a one-page expression of interest and CV to dcal@ucl.ac.uk. Please note that expressions of interest should be submitted at least 3 months prior to the application scheme deadline. However, we encourage applicants to initiate contact with potential hosts as early as possible in the process.
We strongly encourage applications from deaf and hard-of-hearing researchers, as well as those from minority ethnic groups, who are currently under-represented at UCL and DCAL.
20
6/28/2024
We are delighted to announce that DCAL, University College London, has 4 new research posts available. Two positions focus on reading development in deaf children aged 4-7 and 8-11 years, exploring the relationship between BSL, English, and reading development. The application deadline for these posts is 29th May. The other two positions are for Post-Doctoral Research Fellows examining how BSL and English are processed in the brain of deaf children using OPMs and deaf adults using fMRI. The application deadline for these posts is 9th June. For more information, please visit the DCAL website. Please spread the word and get in touch if you have questions.
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5/15/2024