Language Skills of Deaf Students for EU Mobility

About the project

  • Project of the Teiresias Centre at Masaryk University supported by a European Union grant
  • Programme: Key Action 2: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices / Strategic Partnerships in the field of education, training and youth
  • Project No: 2017-1-CZ01-KA203-035609
  • Start and end of activities: September 2017, August 2020
  • E-mail address: langskills@teiresias.muni.cz 

Summary

The main aim of the LangSkills project is to encourage the participation of Deaf, deaf, and hard of hearing higher education students in mobilities. The project focuses especially on increasing language skills of the students to enhance their readiness for academic mobility to foreign countries and competitiveness on the labour market. To achieve this aim, the project seeks to get a better insight into the foreign language needs of the target groups thanks to research findings, contribute to the existing language learning and teaching methodology, and produce suitable teaching and learning materials.

Project outputs

Realization team

Masaryk University

The Support Centre for Students with Special Needs is a central university body. Its mission is to guarantee accessibility of all study programmes at Masaryk University. It has its own student administration unit to support the study organization of students with special needs, it develops its own technological solutions, publishes in Braille, runs a national digital university library and an interpreting and speech-to-text reporting centre.

Eötvös Loránd University

Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), the longest continuously serving university of Hungary, with rich history and high quality research. The Department of English Applied Linguistics, which is involved in the LangSkills project, has been investigating the foreign language learning situation of Hungarian Deaf and severely hard of hearing persons since 2006.

Technische Universität Wien

The service center GESTU is part of the activities for „barrier-free studying“ at the Teaching Support Center of TU Wien. Since 2010, GESTU provides support for Deaf/deaf/HoH students at various tertiary education institutions in Vienna by providing them with sign language interpreters, speech-to-text reporters and tutors during their university courses. GESTU also develops and documents technical signs; their online dictionary of technical signs which mainly consists of newly created signs is constantly growing.

University of Central Lancashire

The University of Central Lancashire(UCLan) is one of the largest and best ranking universities today. BSL and Deaf Studies at UCLan is s acknowledged as a centre of excellence in this dynamic and expanding field of academic teaching and research and includes both Deaf and hearing staff members. The team has been involved in a number of collaborative research and development projects with a national and transnational impact.

The Deaf Studies Trust  

Deaf Studies Trust (DST) has worked closely with the deaf community members in the UK since its establishment in 1984. DST has been involved in project work and awareness raising activities, it offers courses of British Sign Language and provides summer schools for deaf students and their teachers from countries outside of the UK. DST employs Deaf people in all its projects and is governed by a Board of 50% Deaf.

Associated partners

Czech Deaf Youth (CDY) 

It is a non-profit organisation based in the Czech Republic which focuses on free time activities of children and your persons with hearing loss. The aim CDY  is to associate deaf children and young people with hearing loss and provide them with opportunities to engage in cultural, educational and sports events where they may meet their peers from different parts of the country and acquire new experiences. It is the only non-profit organisation with this profile and aims in the Czech Republic. CDY cooperates with European and non-European organizations for deaf youth such as WFDYS (World Federation of the Deaf Youth Section) and is a member of EUDY (European Union of the Deaf Youth).
 


The project was awarded the European Language Award in 2020.