This project is our response to sign language learning and communication difficulties among persons from different parts of Europe. The main aim is to create international methodology of learning sign language. According to it we will also start widely available courses of sign language. These courses are going to be based on the experience of organisations from our partner countries. That will allow us to extract the best solutions from those applied in every country. Within this project special meetings are going to be organised so our partners will have the opportunity to discuss the methodology and the proceedings of the course. The educational materials which we are going to prepare would be available in national language of every partner country as well as in English. Also, we will run a website of the project. Moreover, we will organise conferences devoted to sign languages of partner countries and special one which will publicize the results of the project. The summary of our project will consist of courses realised according to newest methodology of learning sign language compiled during the project. The deaf who will participate in these courses will be later asked to express their opinion on the efficiency of our methods. The final result of whole project should be facilitation and popularisation of learning sign language amongst the deaf and people without hearing impairment from all over the Europe.
The project "Effective Methodology – Teaching of the Sign Language" was implemented for a period of 36 months in cooperation with three organizations working for people with disabilities - Deaf people who use sign language. The partnership was undertaken with three organizations from the following countries: Romania, Germany and Poland, with the latter being the leading organization. Partner countries engage in education in the use of sign language to facilitate communication with deaf people in various social and professional situations. Participating organizations see significant limitations in access to materials that facilitate learning of this language, and the lack of appropriate methods to facilitate this process. For this reason, the aim of the project was to develop a common methodology for sign language teaching, dedicated to students and sign language teachers. The partnership prepared a methodology based on their national experience in sign language teaching, which allowed the selection of the best methods for joint implementation under the project. Project activities included first learning the strengths and weaknesses of the methods previously used in sign language courses in each country. As part of learning-related activities, project participants learned about the specificity of sign language in each country and took part in organized sign language courses. Based on this experience, the project's result is the development of one common teaching methodology that takes into account the specificities of each national sign language. Expert meetings were organized in each country, a number of consultations with sign language educators were carried out, course scenarios were developed, pilot courses were conducted and materials for teachers and course participants in national languages were prepared. As part of the methodology, a course program covering 180-200 teaching hours was prepared, which includes classes via the created Internet platform: https://tsl-migowy.online and face-to-face classes with a sign language instructor. A handbook for learning sign language was prepared in versions for the student and the teacher, in both printed and electronic versions. Registered participants of the course were given access to photos and videos covered by the curriculum in three language versions: https://tsl-migowy.online/pl/slownik/, https://tsl-migowy.online/ro/dictionar/, https://tsl-migowy.online/de/woerterbuch/. The platform and textbooks have been made available to students of all partner organizations free of charge for the usage in educational work related to the sign language. As a result of the dissemination activities carried out, we reached several hundred teachers and people interested in learning sign language. The resulting tool is a great help in learning sign language, because it allows you to combine online learning with the traditional way of teaching. This tool, at the will of the partners, will continue to be used and developed for learning sign language. The beneficiary will expand the database by adding new vocabulary of Polish Sign Language, creating a database of words to learn at subsequent levels of sign language courses. It is planned to expand its functionality with the possibility of individual consultations with the teacher and conducting online classes.