This is where I am logging the steps of how I have put my final EPQ presentation together.
I am using the website Prezi for my visual presentation as it is more interactive than PowerPoint. It is also a completely new piece of technology for me and it is a good challenge to try something new.
I will not be putting loads of writing on each of the slides as I don't want myself to be tempted by just reading out my slides as I do not think that appears engaging or doesn't show the amount of time and effort I have put into this final piece.
I have decided to sign the introduction and the ending to my EPQ as I think this ties my signing in nicely into the presentation
After my research section where I talk about my artefact I'm going to insert a clip of me signing the introduction to me harry styles bedtime story.
OCR pointers on what the presentation should include:
- A reflection on their project and how they have managed it.
- What have they learnt about learning?
- What skills have they developed?
- How the project fits in with their future goals or aims
- What went well what didn’t
- What might they do differently next time
- The emphasis of the presentation should be on the process of managing the project and not solely about the final product.
My slides
Four main slides
Sub-slides
- My topic question
- Why I chose this topic
- Outcomes
- Vocabulary
- history of BSL
- levels of deafness
- deaf charities
- career paths
- media
- BSL in schools
- mental health
- safeguarding
- awareness
- My BSL journey
- Problems I faced
- My future
- Review
Presentation script
Hi, this is my EPQ presentation, my topic question is Can I teach myself to an interpreter level of British Sign Language, in order to help understand some of the challenges facing the deaf community?
So, my main research has concerned looking into the challenges of the deaf community, and how as a society we can help to alleviate some of these issues.
Ok, so why this topic, the first thing that drew me to this topic was that I wanted to learn a new skill. I easily get bored, but also take very stressful subjects and something I could occupy my mind with was very appealing. Learning sign language crossed my mind before when I overheard a conversation between two of my work colleagues. I work on checkouts at Sainsbury’s, and I have a colleague, Kieran, who is profoundly deaf. Kieran places a sign at the end of his till to inform customers when they speak to him, to speak clearly or he will not hear them. The conversation concerned how more than once customers had seen this sign and decided to go to another till. After hearing this conversation, it made me want to learn about deaf awareness and inclusivity.
While I was doing my research into what my EPQ project should be about, these statistics really stood out to me
- 151000 BSL users in the UK, 81000 are deaf
- More than 10% of the UK population has a hearing impairment
- 1 in 10 hearing parents to a deaf child do not learn BSL
- ToTs has decreased by 30% from 2011
My outcomes that I set myself at the beginning of this project are as follows:
Firstly, to learn a new skill. I am still learning the language and will continue with making progress and getting solid qualifications in the future.
Research into the deaf community. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of my project as it is much like learning any language, you become invested in the culture and history behind it. Having learnt about the stigmas around the deaf community, I want to continue spreading awareness about what people can do to make deaf people feel more included.
Improve my organization skills. I will go into this more later, as I found this rather challenging as with a job, a sport, school and learning this brand-new language off my own back required a lot of planning to make sure I chipped away at my research and progress learning BSL.
And lastly confidently perform a presentation. We will see how that goes.
Quickly before I go into how I conducted my research, here is some quick vocabulary I may be using that you may not know
- BSL- British Sign Language
- Deaf- little or no functioning hearing all or most of their whole lives
- deaf- anyone who cannot understand speech with sound alone – no hearing devices
- Hard of hearing- mild to moderate hearing loss
- Hearing impaired- any degree of hearing loss
My research
I’m going to start with the secondary research I have documented throughout my blog.
I started with looking at the history of BSL where I found out about the first school for deaf children, and I also researched the significance of it becoming a recognized language in UK.
I then looked into levels of deafness, why some might need hearing aids, cochlear implants, the importance of lip-reading for some deaf people and future technology and advancements.
There are a lot of deaf charities out there, especially in the UK and it is amazing the vast amount of support and campaigning these charities. I gained a chunk of my secondary research from these kinds of charities such as the British Deaf Association and National Deaf Children’s Society.
Some more secondary research I conducted was different carrier paths for deaf people and the challenges that come with a job and stable future.
The importance of deaf representation in the media is so important for young, old, deaf and hearing people as it normalizes the disability and encourages inclusivity. Whilst doing my EPQ Rose-Ayling-Ellis strictly which increased BSL course enrolment by 2000%.
I also investigated BSL in schools and if it could be a potential GCSE but also the support schools provide for deaf children.
Something I hadn’t even considered before starting this project was the correlation between the deaf community and mental health. Many deaf people, especially at a younger age, feel constant pressure and low level of anxiety when communicating with many hearing people. This can be due to a constant fear of mispronouncing or misunderstanding strangers.
Deaf people can be more vulnerable to abuse, especially if they are isolated due to going to schools with few students or home-schooled, rely on an interpreter in public, have a small circle of friends. Sex education is not as easily accessible to deaf people as in schools they may not accommodate effective communication for a deaf person, or they did receive any home-schooling.
These challenges I have researched facing the deaf community lead to further research into how awareness of the deaf community can be shared and spread.
My sign language journey
One of the reasons I started learning sign language was to help draw some conclusions about my topic question. These were how long it took to learn, how easy the language was to learn, will I use it in everyday life and has learning it helped me to understand some of the issues facing the deaf community.
I started learning it by watching YouTube videos which were only getting me so far in terms of I was building my vocabulary, but I couldn’t string a functioning sentence. Then after looking into many different courses, I found the website British Sign which teaches you the vocabulary but also the unique grammar of BSL. It goes up to Level 6 and there are assessments throughout. I logged my progress by uploading the certificates it gave me after every lesson onto my blog.
For my final project I decided to do an artefact opposed to a dissertation. I have decided to film myself signing like a BSL interpreter to two children’s TV programs. Alongside my videos I’m producing a log of the process of learning the videos, how interpretation works and some of my research into the challenges of the deaf community. Here is a little clip of me learning the introduction to my first program.
The problems I faced
Teaching myself sign language from scratch was a challenge given that didn’t really have anyone if what I was learning was accurate and if my sentences were in the right order for example. The way I faced this was my watching sign language interpreters sign over TV and watch how they signed conversations. Another issue I found was my speed. I would say I’m pretty good at singing, just quite slow. Practicing my artefact has helped with this, as I am signing at a quick speed to keep up with the programs.
The motivation to continue learning sign language and keep up with my secondary research did get tough, especially throughout mocks, applying to university and admissions tests and so on.
I had to become very organized in order to make sure I balanced my time well and keep my project going. I used the app Monday to set myself deadlines and keep on track with regular blog posts.
How I will use what I have learned.
Hopefully, I will be going to university, where I will need these organization skills I have learnt and know how to stay on top of independent research.
I want to go into a healthcare profession and for some early experience I have been volunteering on a Monday afternoon at the Emergency Management Unit in Chesterfield Royal Hospital. On the ward there are a lot of elderly patients, many with hearing loss and I would say I have used my research on how to best communicate with deaf people: speaking clearly, being patient, repeating or rephrasing if I need to. I would also love the opportunity if I was in a ward where there was a deaf patient who mainly relied on BSL. I communicate with them a little in their first language to make them feel more comfortable in a very stressful and worrying environment. Sign language also makes you better at reading body language and facial expressions and overall communication so I do believe these skills will improve my patient relationships in the future.
In Chesterfield there is a charity called Hear Me Out which offers activities for deaf children and family to make friends, feel comfortable and feel included. I went rock-climbing on a day out with the charity and hope to go on another day out next month. This experience helped me to understand and learn about what opportunities there are for young deaf children.
Overall, I would say these are some things that have become my strengths throughout my EPQ.
- Referencing every piece of research as part of my secondary research
- Signing
- Deaf awareness
- Time management
- Independent research
To answer my question, learning BSL has provided me with opportunities I would never have experienced if I hadn’t begun this journey learning the language. It takes years of experience to live interpret for somebody, but I have learnt enough to understand sign language to basic level and originally set myself the target of getting to level 1 never mind level 3. For everyone I do not think it is necessary to learn BSL given that deaf people are amazing at understanding facial expressions and lip-reading, also technology such as cochlear implants and hearing aids have definitely made a difference in terms of improving communication. However, I do think if more people were to learn some simple signs it can make someone who is deaf feel a lot more understood in a conversation and relaxed. I would say learning BSL for me has made me want to be more aware of the challenges of the deaf community as I've loved learning about the people who use it.
Thank you for listening, Any questions?
Presentation script
Hi, this is my EPQ presentation, my topic question is Can I teach myself to an interpreter level of British Sign Language, in order to help understand some of the challenges facing the deaf community?
So, my main research has concerned looking into the challenges of the deaf community, and how as a society we can help to alleviate some of these issues.
Ok, so why this topic, the first thing that drew me to this topic was that I wanted to learn a new skill. I easily get bored, but also take very stressful subjects and something I could occupy my mind with was very appealing. Learning sign language crossed my mind before when I overheard a conversation between two of my work colleagues. I work on checkouts at Sainsbury’s, and I have a colleague, Kieran, who is profoundly deaf. Kieran places a sign at the end of his till to inform customers when they speak to him, to speak clearly or he will not hear them. The conversation concerned how more than once customers had seen this sign and decided to go to another till. After hearing this conversation, it made me want to learn about deaf awareness and inclusivity.
While I was doing my research into what my EPQ project should be about, these statistics really stood out to me
- 151000 BSL users in the UK, 81000 are deaf
- More than 10% of the UK population has a hearing impairment
- 1 in 10 hearing parents to a deaf child do not learn BSL
- ToTs has decreased by 30% from 2011
My outcomes that I set myself at the beginning of this project are as follows:
Firstly, to learn a new skill. I am still learning the language and will continue with making progress and getting solid qualifications in the future.
Research into the deaf community. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of my project as it is much like learning any language, you become invested in the culture and history behind it. Having learnt about the stigmas around the deaf community, I want to continue spreading awareness about what people can do to make deaf people feel more included.
Improve my organization skills. I will go into this more later, as I found this rather challenging as with a job, a sport, school and learning this brand-new language off my own back required a lot of planning to make sure I chipped away at my research and progress learning BSL.
And lastly confidently perform a presentation. We will see how that goes.
Quickly before I go into how I conducted my research, here is some quick vocabulary I may be using that you may not know
- BSL- British Sign Language
- Deaf- little or no functioning hearing all or most of their whole lives
- deaf- anyone who cannot understand speech with sound alone – no hearing devices
- Hard of hearing- mild to moderate hearing loss
- Hearing impaired- any degree of hearing loss
My research
I’m going to start with the secondary research I have documented throughout my blog.
I started with looking at the history of BSL where I found out about the first school for deaf children, and I also researched the significance of it becoming a recognized language in UK.
I then looked into levels of deafness, why some might need hearing aids, cochlear implants, the importance of lip-reading for some deaf people and future technology and advancements.
There are a lot of deaf charities out there, especially in the UK and it is amazing the vast amount of support and campaigning these charities. I gained a chunk of my secondary research from these kinds of charities such as the British Deaf Association and National Deaf Children’s Society.
Some more secondary research I conducted was different carrier paths for deaf people and the challenges that come with a job and stable future.
The importance of deaf representation in the media is so important for young, old, deaf and hearing people as it normalizes the disability and encourages inclusivity. Whilst doing my EPQ Rose-Ayling-Ellis strictly which increased BSL course enrolment by 2000%.
I also investigated BSL in schools and if it could be a potential GCSE but also the support schools provide for deaf children.
Something I hadn’t even considered before starting this project was the correlation between the deaf community and mental health. Many deaf people, especially at a younger age, feel constant pressure and low level of anxiety when communicating with many hearing people. This can be due to a constant fear of mispronouncing or misunderstanding strangers.
Deaf people can be more vulnerable to abuse, especially if they are isolated due to going to schools with few students or home-schooled, rely on an interpreter in public, have a small circle of friends. Sex education is not as easily accessible to deaf people as in schools they may not accommodate effective communication for a deaf person, or they did receive any home-schooling.
These challenges I have researched facing the deaf community lead to further research into how awareness of the deaf community can be shared and spread.
My sign language journey
One of the reasons I started learning sign language was to help draw some conclusions about my topic question. These were how long it took to learn, how easy the language was to learn, will I use it in everyday life and has learning it helped me to understand some of the issues facing the deaf community.
I started learning it by watching YouTube videos which were only getting me so far in terms of I was building my vocabulary, but I couldn’t string a functioning sentence. Then after looking into many different courses, I found the website British Sign which teaches you the vocabulary but also the unique grammar of BSL. It goes up to Level 6 and there are assessments throughout. I logged my progress by uploading the certificates it gave me after every lesson onto my blog.
For my final project I decided to do an artefact opposed to a dissertation. I have decided to film myself signing like a BSL interpreter to two children’s TV programs. Alongside my videos I’m producing a log of the process of learning the videos, how interpretation works and some of my research into the challenges of the deaf community. Here is a little clip of me learning the introduction to my first program.
The problems I faced
Teaching myself sign language from scratch was a challenge given that didn’t really have anyone if what I was learning was accurate and if my sentences were in the right order for example. The way I faced this was my watching sign language interpreters sign over TV and watch how they signed conversations. Another issue I found was my speed. I would say I’m pretty good at singing, just quite slow. Practicing my artefact has helped with this, as I am signing at a quick speed to keep up with the programs.
The motivation to continue learning sign language and keep up with my secondary research did get tough, especially throughout mocks, applying to university and admissions tests and so on.
I had to become very organized in order to make sure I balanced my time well and keep my project going. I used the app Monday to set myself deadlines and keep on track with regular blog posts.
How I will use what I have learned.
Hopefully, I will be going to university, where I will need these organization skills I have learnt and know how to stay on top of independent research.
I want to go into a healthcare profession and for some early experience I have been volunteering on a Monday afternoon at the Emergency Management Unit in Chesterfield Royal Hospital. On the ward there are a lot of elderly patients, many with hearing loss and I would say I have used my research on how to best communicate with deaf people: speaking clearly, being patient, repeating or rephrasing if I need to. I would also love the opportunity if I was in a ward where there was a deaf patient who mainly relied on BSL. I communicate with them a little in their first language to make them feel more comfortable in a very stressful and worrying environment. Sign language also makes you better at reading body language and facial expressions and overall communication so I do believe these skills will improve my patient relationships in the future.
In Chesterfield there is a charity called Hear Me Out which offers activities for deaf children and family to make friends, feel comfortable and feel included. I went rock-climbing on a day out with the charity and hope to go on another day out next month. This experience helped me to understand and learn about what opportunities there are for young deaf children.
Overall, I would say these are some things that have become my strengths throughout my EPQ.
- Referencing every piece of research as part of my secondary research
- Signing
- Deaf awareness
- Time management
- Independent research
To answer my question, learning BSL has provided me with opportunities I would never have experienced if I hadn’t begun this journey learning the language. It takes years of experience to live interpret for somebody, but I have learnt enough to understand sign language to basic level and originally set myself the target of getting to level 1 never mind level 3. For everyone I do not think it is necessary to learn BSL given that deaf people are amazing at understanding facial expressions and lip-reading, also technology such as cochlear implants and hearing aids have definitely made a difference in terms of improving communication. However, I do think if more people were to learn some simple signs it can make someone who is deaf feel a lot more understood in a conversation and relaxed. I would say learning BSL for me has made me want to be more aware of the challenges of the deaf community as I've loved learning about the people who use it.
Thank you for listening, Any questions?
Peer Review Sheet for Presentation
Name of student giving presentation | Name of reviewer |
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Please comment on the following aspects of the presentation
Clarity of communication
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Content of presentation
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Style of presentation
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Visual Aids
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Response to questions
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