Practical matters Make sure you are well prepared before the start of your studies at the

University of Amsterdam. If possible visit an Open Day, schedule a Campus

CROHO-code:56803 Visit, and ensure you are well-informed about the programme. See:
CROHO-name: Taalwetenschap www.uva.nl/international
Faculty of Humanities
Mode and duration:full time 3 years / 180 EC
Deadline for application: 1 May 2017
Start:1 September 2017
Diploma:Bachelor ofArts (BA)
Admission requirement:vwo-diploma
UvA Matching:30 May - 13 June 2017

Student Service Desk

www.uva.nl/ssd

More information
www.uva.nl/ba-sign-language
'Teaching has always been high up on my list,
but for a while, I also considered a manual
profession by becoming a shoemaker (I have a
bit of a shoe fetish). In the end, I chose linguistics
a decision I have never regretted. I now teach
most of the theory courses in the Sign Linguistics
programme. Comparing different languages be
they signed or spoken fascinates me. Where do
they show structural similarities, and where do
they differ? Im also interested in language
change: changes in the grammar and the lexicon
of a language. For sign languages, this is not
easily investigated, as there are no historical
sources. Sign languages are not written down, University of Amsterdam
and therefore everything we know about them Faculty of Humanities
is fairly recent.
To study Sign Linguistics, you should have an Admissions and
BACHELOR
interest in language and be a communicative International Office 2017-2018
person. Analytical skills are important, too,
because linguists sometimes take a rather
theoretical approach to studying language. In
Spuistraat 134, room 011
1012 VB Amsterdam
T: +31 (0)20 525 3094
Colophon

Design: Lava grafisch ontwerpers

Cover: Sake Rijpkema,

Sign Language
principle, it may well be possible to learn and
analyse a language on your own. Sign
languages, however, are very interactive. Eye
Email: admissionsba-fgw@uva.nl

More information
Universiteit van Amsterdam, september 2016

No rights can be derived from the content of

Linguistics
contact and facial expressions are important, so uva.nl/ba-sign-language this brochure.

you shouldnt be shy. I guess, I ended up working

WWW.UVA.NL/BA-SIGN-LANGUAGE
with my hands after all!' - Dr. Roland Pfau, Sign
Language Linguist

The programme Sign Language Linguistics teaches you to
investigate sign languages their structure, their acquisition, and
their use from the perspective of a linguist. In order to be able
to do this, it is crucial that you also acquire at least one sign
language yourself.
Top 5 reasons to study Sign Language
Linguistics at the UvA
The University of Amsterdam is one of very few
universities in the world that offers a
full-fledged track in Sign Language Linguistics
with a focus on the structure, acquisition, and
use of visual-gestural languages.
As a student of Sign Language Linguistics at
the University of Amsterdam, you have the
opportunity to learn and study Sign Language of
the Netherlands (NGT). If you have acquired
another sign language elsewhere, you can bring
your knowledge of this language in to the
programme.
The Sign Language Linguistics programme is a
track of the Linguistics programme, which is a
very broad programme that familiarises you with
all of the subfields of linguistics, allowing you to
make your own choices regarding your future
trajectory.
The programme is also a very liberal one: it
offers you the opportunity to familiarise yourself
with various theoretical frameworks, and you are
explicitly encouraged to choose the one with
which you feel most comfortable.
According to the QS World University Rankings
by Subject, the Linguistics programme at the
University of Amsterdam is the best programme
in Continental Europe and has been since this
ranking was initiated some five years ago. The
University of Amsterdam steadily occupies the
20th position worldwide.
Study programme
The first year
The first year consists of several components. On
the one hand, you follow theoretical courses
which introduce you to basic linguistic concepts,
and how these can be applied to sign languages.
Simultaneously, you acquire Sign Language of
the Netherlands (NGT). The experience of
acquiring this language is used in the theoretical
courses, as you will frequently be asked to come
up with NGT examples to further illustrate
phenomena that are discussed in class. And you
of course also have to acquire certain practical
skills that are important for a sign language
linguist.
Second and third year
In the second and third year, your programme
further contains two types of courses, that fit
into two research traditions in (sign language)
linguistics. On the one hand, linguists find
evidence for certain analyses by generalising
about the structure of languages. On the other
hand, linguists observe linguistic behaviour and
elicit it in experiments. Accordingly, you take
courses on linguistic structure, courses on
linguistic behaviour, and a number of courses
that integrate the two traditions.
Courses on linguistic structure (of both spoken
and signed languages) in the second and third
year are Phonology and Morphology of Sign
Languages, Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics,
Lexicon and Syntax of Sign Languages, and
Linguistic Theories. Courses in linguistic
behaviour are Psycholinguistics and
Psycholinguistics of Sign Languages. There are
two courses that bring together structural and
experimental facts and are thus integrative in
nature: Philosophy of Science and Second
Language Acquisition.
Master's programmes
The Bachelor's degree certificate Sign Language
Linguisticsallows you to enrol in the following
Master's programmes:
General Linguistics (track: Sign Linguistics)
Nederlands als tweede taal en meertaligheid
Redacteur/editor
Journalistiek en media
Linguistics
Brain and cognitive sciences
Teacher/Interpreter
www.uva.nl/master
Career prospects
A completed BA programme in Sign Language
Linguistics offers a wide range of career
possibilities. You may apply for jobs in the
narrower field of sign language linguistics and
deaf education, but also for other positions that
require a critical, independent, and analytical
mind in combination with good language skills.
Jobs that our alumni have found their way to
include positions such as:
Scientific research into the structure or
acquisition of sign languages
Advisory services in deaf education
Developing course materials on sign language
Deaf schools and hospitals
Institutions that supply support for deaf clients
with psychological or social problems
Anique:
'I was doing another degree programme when I
suddenly went deaf. Fortunately, I realised that I
could learn sign language in combination with
studying linguistics. Thanks to my thesis group
and my thesis supervisor, I have great memories
of working on my thesis. This period was very
positive for my personal development. I was
working with data from the corpus of Sign
Language of the Netherlands, and after finishing
my thesis, I was offered a job as Research
Assistant in the corpus project. I first joined a
project that was done in collaboration with the
University of London (my first business trip!).
Later I participated in an EEG project that
studied the cognitive skills of deaf native sign
language users.'- Anique Schller, Alumna
Student experience
Livia:
'In secondary school, I chose the nature &
technology and nature & health subject clusters.
I actually planned to become an orthodontist. I
studied dentistry for a year, but after doing a
shadowing day in Sign Linguistics, I decided to
switch. Science is actually more my thing. My
plan now is to combine the two: Oral Hygiene
and Sign Language. I hope to open a practice in
which both communication modes sign
language and spoken language are combined.
Deaf patients wont have to claim
reimbursement for interpreters because Ill speak
their language.' Livia Faverey, Student
Door:
'The group of Sign Linguistics students is rather
small, and therefore you work a lot with the
general linguistics students, which is really nice. I
really enjoyed the courses on language structure:
Morphology and Syntax, which are about word
structure and sentence structure, respectively. In
these courses, every student works with a
different, rather exotic, language, and the
patterns found in different languages are
compared to each other.' - DoorSpruijt, Student