Are you interested in postgraduate study at DCAL?
26 February 2012
DCAL is an outstanding place for postgraduate studies
in deafness, cognition and language. All students are integrated into
the DCAL community in a personal and academic capacity, and in a
practical capacity.
In addition to supervision from one or
more DCAL staff, students benefit from seminars and centre meetings,
and have full access to DCAL resources such as the specialist DCAL
library, laboratories, studio space and video editing suite.
There
is a research student room on the 4th floor in DCAL itself. Some
students also have workspace elsewhere in University College London
(UCL), depending on where their supervisor is based. But students are
also always on the move, attending meetings and training courses, not
only within DCAL but also around UCL. They travel regularly outside of
London for conferences and meetings, and often travel to collect data
for their research projects.
Applications are invited for
students wishing to study for an MPhil/PhD degree at DCAL. This
includes students who have an undergraduate degree (UK 2:1 or better,
or top 40% in the class) and who have research interests that fit in
with DCAL staff expertise and interests. Inquiries and applications
from deaf students are particularly welcome.
- For more information about postgraduate study at DCAL and possible funding sources.
Postgraduate conference showcases international sign language research
Postgraduate
students from DCAL organised a unique conference on 16 September 2011
to showcase sign language research at an international level - the
first postgraduate Current Issues in Sign Language, Deafness and
Cognition Conference (CISLDC).
The conference organising
committee, made up of 5 postgraduate students from UCL and 1
postgraduate student from City University London, won a grant to fund
the event from the Linguistics Association of Great Britain, which is
the leading professional association for academic linguists in Great
Britain.
The one day conference, held at University College
London (UCL), brought together 80 speakers and delegates from as far
afield as Turkey, Iceland, China and Brazil. It was a unique event,
enabling young academics from a variety of disciplines related to sign
language linguistics to come together to disseminate their findings and
share insights into sign language research from across the world.
Presentations
included the documentation of endangered sign languages such as Inuit
Sign Language, and number and negation in Ugandan Sign Language,
semantic organisation in the deaf mind, and assessment of deaf children
with language impairment and/or autism. The official languages of the
conference were English and British Sign Language (BSL).
The two
invited plenary speakers were Dr Pamela Perniss from Radboud University
Nijmegen/Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and Patrick
Matthews from the Centre for Deaf Studies at Trinity College, Dublin.
Dr
Perniss talked on current issues regarding language embodiment and
iconicity, and Patrick Matthews on changes in handshape in Irish Sign
Language under the influence of English.
Other presentations
included "Conversational Repair in Argentinean Sign Language", "The
Expression of Spatial Relations in Turkish Sign Language", and "Similar
and Unique Prosodic Marking in Israeli (ISL) and American (ASL) Sign
Languages."
Researchers came from numerous universities
overseas, while the British institutions represented were Leeds
University, Cambridge University, University of Central Lancashire,
Bristol University, Heriot-Watt University, University of London
(including UCL, Institute of Education, and SOAS), University of
Birmingham, and City University London.
DCAL Director, Professor
Bencie Woll said of the conference: "This was a seminal and exciting
event for all working with sign language, deafness and cognition,
showcasing the work of new young researchers joining the field.
Research areas included linguistics, psycholinguistics, neuroscience,
language documentation, interpreting, typology, literacy, bilingualism,
atypical language development and language assessment.
"Although
aimed at postgraduate students it attracted well-known senior research
colleagues including Dr Onno Crasborn and Dr Ellen Ormel. Importantly
it was also well attended by language professionals who work with deaf
people. The rich mix of participants provided an energetic and
supportive environment in which junior researchers could get feedback
on their work, as well as comments on how to present to an academic
audience."
Members of the CISLDC organising committee
reflecting on the conference agreed that it had been an exceptional day
for all involved. Many people expressed an interest for the conference
to become an annual event, and discussions about a 2012 CISLC event are
underway.
- The full programme and abstracts from all presentations can be found on the CISLDC 2011 website.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Discussions
continue through coffee break at the first postgraduate conference on
Current Issues in Sign Language Deafness and Cognition - CISLDC 2011.
Photo: Zed Sevcikova/DCAL
PHOTO CAPTION:
International
postgraduate researchers and senior academic speakers get together for
a group photo in front of the DCAL building at UCL to celebrate the
success of CISLDC - 2011. Photo: Zed Sevcikova/DCAL