British Sign Language (BSL): Guide

Dani Sive (Headteacher Frank Barnes School) and Catherine Drew (Key Stage 1/2 Team Leader Frank Barnes School) | View as single page | Feedback/Impact

BSL in guided reading

In bilingual schools for deaf children where BSL is the child’s first language, guided reading is an activity whereby the deaf child reads a story or text in English and uses BSL to understand the content and context of the English.  Most young deaf children will sign or fingerspell word-for-word, but the order of the English words is not always understood and the child needs support or guidance with understanding the content by translating the information into BSL.  Effectively, guided reading is supporting the deaf child to translate the English text into BSL to ensure that they understand the content in their first language.  This is achieved through discussion, questioning and summarising information in the text through BSL.