SCOTLAND is setting the agenda for sign language provision internationally thanks to new graduates from the country’s first degree course on the subject.

More than a dozen new sign language interpreters have become the first to qualify after completing an MA in British Sign Language (BSL) at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.

The 14 graduates will go towards stemming the extreme shortage of BSL interpreters across Scotland, which currently has only 70 interpreters for a community of 6000 people.

A Masters degree in European sign language and a PhD on the subject have attracted both deaf and hearing students from across Europe, America and South Africa.

Graham Turner, chairman of Interpreting and Translation Studies, said: “We are very proud of our MA course, which attracted a full quota of 14 students in 2013, its first year. More.

See: Herald Scotland

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