ABSLTA's very own Agony Aunt - Melinda Napier

 

Topics that our Agony Aunt has covered so far:-

If there are any question (regarding tutoring & assessing), please send them in & our Agony Aunt will then put her answers onto this page.

Question: My college has asked me to write a ‘Course Description’ for my Level 1 BSL Course for the new Prospectus. What is it? How do I write it?

Answer:
A ‘Course Description’ is simply brief details of the course for students to read to see if they would be interested in joining

The following hints will help you write a good course description:-

Hint 1. The description should tell readers how they should benefit from the course. Emphasise that the focus of the course is on enjoying learning.

Try to include:-

You want them to join the course, so promote it to them - use the above points to make it sound interesting as well as useful.

Hint 2. Keep it short, simple and to the point.

Compare the following examples:-

Example A.

“Sub Aqua Diving for Beginners”

“This course will cover the practical and theoretical elements of diving, from understanding the basic physiology and reading decompression tables to the mastery of diving equipment, including buoyancy aids. You will be expected to attend a try-dive session to assess your suitability”

Example B.

“Sub Aqua Diving for Beginners”

“Imagine yourself diving to a coral reef or a shipwreck. Come and find out if this is what you would like to do at a try-dive session. You may then want to move on to the above course and explore the basic practise and theory that will help you enjoy this great sport”

The first description gives too much information, makes the course sound difficult and might frighten people off by making them think they might not be able to cope. The second one is more encouraging, less threatening and sounds more interesting. If you saw these descriptions, which one would encourage you to join the course?

Another example.

[A] “BSL Level 1 for Beginners”

“This Introduction to BSL course is for people who want to learn about BSL, Deaf Culture, the principles and structure of BSL grammar, communication modes, etc. 10 weeks – two hours per week.

[B] “BSL Level 1 for Beginners”

“Want to learn basic BSL? Interested in Deaf Culture? Why not come and learn more on this 10 week, 2 hours per week course.

The first example would look difficult to someone who knows nothing about BSL, this, and the fact that the examination sounds threatening might frighten them off. The second one would be more encouraging to those with less confidence and would be more likely to arouse their curiosity and interest.

Hint 3. Make sure they see and read about the course.

You know how, when you are reading a newspaper or magazine, your eyes are drawn to something such as a photograph, cartoon, or interesting headline. YOU should do the same when writing a course description for a prospectus. Put something on the page to draw the readers ATTENTION to YOUR course, so they will actually read it, if they don’t read it in the first place you obviously won’t have the chance to get them interested.

Hint 4. Make sure you let them know that they will be the important people on the course.

Emphasise that it will be a partnership with tutor[s] and students working together. Use positive words such as ‘learn’, ‘discover’, ‘explore together’, ‘find’, ‘create’, ’develop’, gain confidence, etc, – students don’t want to think they will be just sat there, being bored, with the tutor doing all the teaching or telling them what to do.

To sum up

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Question: I usually teach new vocabulary of about 30 - 40 signs every week but my students can never remember the signs the following week. How can I help them to remember all the signs?

Answer:
You need to look at how you teach the vocabulary. Are you teaching from a list of words? Like below:

Teacher
Manager
Shop assistant
Bus driver
Hairdresser
Postman
Doctor
Nurse

-etc-

or
Manager Doctor
Secretary Teacher

If you go through the list of words, giving individual signs, without using language, your students will find it difficult to remember all the signs. If you go through the list of words, giving individual signs, without using
language, your students will find it difficult to remember all the signs. You must always introduce new vocabulary in the context of phrases then ask questions to reinforce the new signs.
Example:

‘Man name Ray. Live London. Work Manager Travel to work – bus’

‘Woman name Ann. Live Brighton. Work Doctor in hospital. Travel to work – car’

If you use language, using vocabulary you have taught in the previous weeks such as ‘name’, ‘live’, ‘travel’, ‘bus’ and ‘car’, it will help them remember what they have learned before, as well as the new signs.

Always ask questions such as:
“You work - doctor? Manager?”
“Ray work? Ann work?”
“Doctor name? Manager name?”
“Manager live where?”
“Doctor travel to work – how?”

The questions will reinforce what the students have learned and help them to remember the new signs. Teaching words only will lead to SSE but if you use questions, not only will
it lead to better BSL structure but it will also improve their receptive
skills.

Remember – always use language when introducing new vocabulary and never ever go through a list of words.

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Question: I teach Level 1 and 2 in BSL at two colleges and last week, my line manager came to see me to explain about DDA. I did not understand what she means about DDA. Can you explain?

Answer:
DDA is Disability Discrimination Act, which was introduced in 1995 but Part 4, which is about education was introduced recently. The Learning Skills Council welcomes this legislation which will broaden the rights of disabled people.

Under Part 4 of the Act, colleges and LEAs will have new legal responsibilities:

These apply not just to teaching and learning but to any service, which is provided specifically for students such as Library, Learning Centre, Drop-in Advice and Guidance, etc.

This Act makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled applicants or students. This Act covers a wide range of disabilities and includes people with physical or sensory impairments [e.g wheelchair users, deaf, blind, hard of hearing, etc], dyslexia, medical conditions, mental health difficulties and learning difficulties. Colleges must try to show they are taking reasonable steps to encourage students to tell the colleges they have a disability, although students have the right to confidentiality.

You need to think carefully about the following:

Find out from your colleges what adjustments they are making for disabled students.

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