Universities and Online Degrees Guide

University of the Witwatersrand

Bachelor of Arts in South African Sign Language

The Bachelor of Arts in South African Sign Language in Arts is offered by University of the Witwatersrand.

Program Length: 3 YEARS.

Bachelor of Arts in South African Sign Language offered by the University of the Witwatersrand

South African Sign Language (SASL) is becoming increasingly important in a society that values communication with all people. Students who major in SASL will also study SASL linguistics, poetry and sociolinguistics for sign languages.

South African Sign Language (SASL) is a fully- edged language. The 1994 mid-year estimates of the Central Statistics Service indicate a total number of 1 609 386 signing Deaf South Africans who use SASL as a first language. The universal criteria applying to all natural human languages also apply to SASL. It is a visual-gestural language that uses the modality of space.

Courses introduce the receptive and productive skills of South African Sign Language (SASL); vocabulary in context as well as basic social functions and basic grammatical structures of SASL; and the origins of signed language and the concepts underlying Deaf Culture and the Deaf Community.

Studying South African Sign Language is recommended for students who have an interest in Education, Drama, Language and Psychology.

Students will acquire the ability and confidence to communicate fluently in a marginalised, yet high profile language, and an informed appreciation of the culture, literature and history of the South African Deaf community.