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<div align="left"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:10pt">The following is a statement issued
by the British government on 18
March - an important first step!</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:10pt">You may also find the attached transcript
of a Parliamentary debate on
BSL earlier this week of interest.</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:10pt">Bencie Woll</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:10pt">-----------------------------</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:10pt">Reference CSD1803-Sign
Date 18 March 2003 Government
recognition and £1 million boost for British Sign Language The
Government has today taken the formal step of recognising British Sign
Language (BSL) as a language in its own right. It has also allocated £1
million funding for initiatives to support the move. Following
publication of the Government’s Position Statement on British Sign
Language, Secretary of State Andrew Smith told a gathering of
representatives from Deaf organisations: “What we are saying today is
important for the 70,000 or so Deaf people for whom British Sign
Language is their first or preferred language for participating in
everyday life, and for their families. But it is also important for the rest
of society to understand that BSL is a language and what this means.
“Symbolism is very important of course but the statement is about
more than that. Across Government we have taken a number of steps
to increase access to BSL and we are today announcing a £1 million
programme of initiatives to support the statement.” Maria Eagle,
Minister for Disabled People, explained how the funding will be spent:
“Among our priorities are raising awareness of the communication
needs of Deaf people who use BSL and increasing opportunities for
people to study BSL at a professional level.” The British Deaf
Association welcomed the move: </span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:10pt">"The British Deaf Association,
the lead organisation of Deaf sign
language users, has been campaigning for over 20 years for this
decision and we are delighted to receive the news. We are grateful to
the UK Council on Deafness for the important contribution they have
made in bringing together their member organisations to support the
BDA's campaign. There is still a long way to go before equality is
achieved, but this is a milestone achievement for the Deaf community.
The BDA looks forward to working closely with the Government on this
issue." </span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:10pt">Notes for Editors Full text of Position
Statement on British Sign
Language issued today: </span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Antique Olive"><span style="font-size:10pt"><i>The Government recognises
that British Sign Language (BSL) is
a language in its own right regularly used by a significant
number of people. For an estimated 70,000 Deaf people it is
their preferred language for participation in everyday life. BSL is
a visual-gestural language with its own vocabulary, grammar
and syntax. </i></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Antique Olive"><span style="font-size:10pt"><i>The Government understands
that people who use BSL want
their language to be protected and promoted in the same way
some minority languages are by the Council of Europe’s
Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The Council is
considering how that might be achieved for indigenous sign
languages. The Government will give careful consideration to
any proposals which the Council might make. </i></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Antique Olive"><span style="font-size:10pt"><i>The Government has already
taken action to improve access to
BSL, for example by identifying situations where it might be
reasonable for employers and service providers to engage the
services of a BSL/English interpreter. </i></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Antique Olive"><span style="font-size:10pt"><i>The Government will be
funding a discrete programme of
initiatives to support this statement. </i></span></font></div>
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<ol>
<li style="margin-left=1mm; margin-right=0mm; padding-left=0mm; color= #010101; ">
<div align="left"><font face="Antique Olive"><span style="font-size:10pt">The Council of Europe’s
Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages aims to protect and promote regional and
minority languages used in Europe. It was not intended to
cover indigenous sign languages.</span></font></div>
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<li style="margin-left=1mm; margin-right=0mm; padding-left=0mm; color= #010101; ">
<div align="left"><font face="Antique Olive"><span style="font-size:10pt">The £1 million programme
of initiatives announced today
will include projects to raise awareness of BSL particularly
among employers and service providers, to increase
opportunities to study BSL to a professional level, and to
research Deaf people’s take-up and experiences of
accessing services. </span></font></div>
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<ol>
<li style="margin-left=1mm; margin-right=0mm; padding-left=0mm; color= #010101; ">
<div align="left"><font face="Antique Olive"><span style="font-size:10pt">Digital pictures from this
morning’s reception for
representatives of Deaf organisations will be available on
request.</span></font></div>
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</ol>
<br/>
<p><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9pt"><b>Press office 020
7238 0866</b></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9pt"><b>Out of hours 07659
108883</b></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9pt"><b>Public enquiries 020
7712 2171</b></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9pt"><b>Website </b></span></font><a
href=http://www.dwp.gov.uk><font face="Arial" size="1">
<b><u>www.dwp.gov.uk</u></b></font></a></p>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">-- </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">Professor Bencie Woll</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">Chair of Sign Language & Deaf
Studies, Department of Language and
Communication Science</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">City University, Northampton Square,
London EC1V 0HB </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">+44 (0)20 7040 8354 (tel.) +44 (0)20
7040 8314 (minicom) +44 (0)20
7040 8577 (fax)</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">b.woll@city.ac.uk www.city.ac.uk/lcs</span></font></div>
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