Hong Kong is increasingly aware of the social diversities and linguistic needs of different pockets of populations, and active measures have been taken up by sectors in society to identify ways to tackle this social phenomenon. The two-year top-up BA programme in Bimodal Bilingual Studies is designed to address some of the needs. It is another linguistics programme of the Department which combines both spoken language linguistics and sign language linguistics in the design of the curriculum, emphasizing the groundbreaking awareness that the visual modality is another medium for natural languages in human communication.  Students graduating from this programme are expected to achieve a high level of intellectual calibre with bilingual or multilingual proficiency part of which is sign language, for them to function competently in society. They should constitute a workforce that embraces diversity of ethnicity, language, culture and thought in professional, clinical and social practices.

What is Bimodal Bilingualism?
The term “Bimodal Bilingualism” is a recent coinage in the field of Sign Linguistics to refer to concepts surrounding the knowledge and use of spoken and sign languages bilingually by individuals in society. It reflects the burgeoning of research interest in the function of sign language in human cognition and communication in recent years, such as bilingual advantage, bimodal bilingual child development, code-mixing and code blending, concepts that echo and complement the ever-expanding research agendas of linguistics.

Our Programme
The BA in Bimodal Bilingual Studies is a two-year top-up degree programme having the goal of eventually creating a workforce in society that is competent in spoken and sign languages for professional support in education in different settings, information accessibility in social and professional contexts, social welfare of disadvantaged groups, and many other domains that call for such a unique combination of linguistic skills. The first of its kind in Hong Kong and Asia, this interdisciplinary programme focuses on the study of language science from the perspective of bimodality – auditory/oral and visual/spatial – and bilingualism/multilingualism, and examines how such language knowledge may function effectively in professional settings.

Students enrolled in this programme will be given foundational training in General Linguistics and Sign Linguistics for them to appreciate why both sign and spoken languages enjoy an equal linguistic status for human communication, how children acquire spoken and/or sign languages in a monolingual or bimodal bilingual fashion, how adults may become bimodal bilingual when they acquire a sign language as a second/third language, and how interactions between spoken and sign languages create intriguing benefits for humans in their language, cognitive, and socio-psychological development. Such a new understanding of language will be achieved by requiring students to engage in the learning of Hong Kong Sign Language at levels of linguistic capabilities prescribed by the Common European Framework of References for Languages – Sign Languages, as well as courses that apply knowledge of General Linguistics and Sign Linguistics to certain professional settings, to prepare them to enter the relevant workforce with social acumen and bimodal bilingual sensitivity.

Applicable to students admitted in 2024-25

Major Programme Requirement (for Associate Degree or Higher Diploma holders)

Students are required to complete a minimum of 57 units of courses as follows:

Explanatory Note:

1. BMBL, CHED, EDUC, HKSL, LING, SLPA, SOWK and TRAN courses at 2000 and above level as included in the Major Programme Requirement will be included in the calculation of Major GPA for honours classification.
2. For students whose native language is Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL) or who possess equivalent competence in HKSL, subject to the approval of the Major Department, they should take course(s) of a language other than English, Chinese and HKSL, and LING courses in place of the HKSL courses, as specified below:

BMBL1001 Introduction to Sign Language and Bimodal Bilingualism (Course Outline)
This course introduces the history of sign language research and how the findings gradually transform our understanding of sign language in human cognition, as well as human interaction in different sociolinguistic contexts. Key concepts to be introduced include sign language and gesture, natural sign language versus manually coded spoken language, sign language and spoken language grammars, deafness and sign language, sign language acquisition, unimodal bilingualism and bimodal bilingualism.

BMBL2001 Sign Linguistics I: Phonetics and Phonology
This course presents an overview of the major research findings related to phonetics and phonology in sign language in the past few decades. Topics to be covered include the transcription systems for the formational parameters of individual signs, perceptual and physiological systems underlying the production of signs, markedness in sign language phonology, phonological processes that result in historical changes and lexical variations, as well as different theoretical frameworks that have been put forward to account for the major parameters and syllable structures in sign language phonology.

Prerequisite: HKSL1000, 2000, 2001, 2050, 3000, 3001, 3002 or 3050.

BMBL2002 Sign Linguistics II: Morphology and Morpho-syntax (Course Outline)
This course provides an overview of the major linguistic issues related to morphology and morpho-syntax in sign linguistics, with particular focus on how sign languages resemble and differ from spoken languages in these grammatical aspects. Areas to be covered include different word classes, word formation strategies, agreement, tense, aspect and modality, classifier constructions, the use of non-manuals at the morphological levels, and lexicalization/grammaticalization of gestures in sign languages

Prerequisite: HKSL1000, 2000, 2001, 2050, 3000, 3001, 3002 or 3050.

BMBL 2003 Sign Linguistics III: Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics
This course provides an overview of the major linguistic issues related to syntax, semantics and pragmatics in sign linguistics, with particular focus on how sign languages resemble and differ from spoken languages in these grammatical aspects. Areas to be covered include word order of simple sentences, nominal structures and relative clauses, complex sentences involving coordination and subordination, interrogation, negation, constructed actions, metaphors, use of space, lexical semantics, information structure and communicative interactions.

Prerequisite: HKSL1000, 2000, 2001, 2050, 3000, 3001, 3002 or 3050.

BMBL3001 Sign Language in Education (Course Outline)
This course explores the impact of sign linguistics research on the shaping of new directions in education, in particular, the issue of language in education and the benefits of sign language in educating students with diverse abilities. Factors to be covered include society’s perception about minority languages in bilingual education, attitudes towards and use of oral, written as well as the various modes of signing in different educational settings, code choice, code switching and code blending in bimodal bilingual communication, as well as effects of sign language on children’s literacy, cognitive and sociopsychological development.

Prerequisite: HKSL1000, 2000, 2001, 2050, 3000, 3001, 3002 or 3050.

BMBL3002 Introduction to Sign Language Interpreting
This course aims to provide a first introduction to sign interpreting to students with no prior training of the subject. Different modes of interpreting (e.g. sight translation, consecutive interpreting, simultaneous interpreting) and different models of sign language interpreting will be discussed. Discourses commonly found in local sign interpretation will be introduced (e.g. health, education, legal, social work, business and government, etc.). As an international development, the roles of Deaf interpreters to serve a broader purpose of communication are highlighted. Students are expected to be able to compare the development of local sign interpreting to that of Mainland China, Macau, and other countries.

Prerequisite: HKSL2000, 2001, 2050, 3000, 3001, 3002 or 3050.

BMBL4001 Language Acquisition of Deaf Children 
This course examines how deaf children acquire sign and spoken languages in either a monolingual or a bimodal bilingual fashion. In the Hong Kong context, emphasis is on how deaf children acquire the sound segments, tones, as well as grammar of Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese on the one hand, and the acquisition of Hong Kong Sign Language in the areas of sign phonology, morphology, word order, and classifier constructions on the other. Acquisition studies of other sign languages as reported in the literature will also be covered, to support the premise that the processes of language acquisition as revealed by deaf children are universal.

Prerequisite: HKSL1000, 2000, 2001, 2050, 3000, 3001, 3002 or 3050.

BMBL4101 Research Project I
Students prepare for a research project that tackles an issue in sign linguistics. Depending on the nature of research, the phenomenon can be investigated either individually or in pairs, and, in the latter situation, students need to seek permission from the research supervisor and generate their own report for assessment. Assessment of this course is based on a concrete research report, inclusive of identification of a topic, justifications for choosing the topic especially how it potentially addresses theoretical issues in sign linguistics, or resolves certain social problems and creates an impact in society, a detailed summary of previous literature, a list of research questions and hypotheses, research design and methodology, and, if possible, some preliminary data description.

BMBL4102 Research Project II
This course is a continuation of Research Project I. Students are expected to produce a detailed research report based on the topic identified for Research Project I. The research report should be a substantial expansion of the piece of work compiled for Research Project I, added to it at this stage of report writing are data presentation and description with sufficient details, a critical analysis and interpretation of data, insightful discussions with strong argumentation, as well as some suggested solutions to the problem. There should be a section detailing the social impact of the research especially how the findings can be translated into certain practices leading to advancement in the social conditions of sign language and the population of deaf people.

Prerequisite: BMBL4101.

BMBL4201 Service Learning I (Course Outline)
This course requires students to serve as a volunteer worker in an organization that involves use and promotion of sign language or bimodal bilingualism, and to gain the experiences and know-how they might need in their future career. Such an organization may be a social enterprise, a service provider, an NGO or any organization that supports sign language users as their service consumers or staff members. The organization must have a close relationship with the Deaf community. Students are required to justify why their professional interest can be further enlightened by the service-learning experiences. There will be a service-learning supervisor to guide students in the preparation of the service-learning programme.

Prerequisite: HKSL3000, 3001, 3002 or 3050.

BMBL4202 Service Learning II 
This course expects students to render at least 90 hours of voluntary service to an organization that uses and promotes sign language and bimodal bilingualism. Such an organization may be a social enterprise, a service provider, an NGO or any organization that supports sign language users as their service consumers or staff members. The organization must have a close relationship with the Deaf community. Students wishing to identify an organization on their own for their voluntary service must seek approval from the service learning supervisor beforehand. The programme may offer a certain number of service learning slots each year but interviews are necessary. There will be a service-learning supervisor to guide students in the preparation of the service-learning programme and a manager from the organization to support their involvement during the service learning period. Students are expected to share their experiences with their classmates at the end of the course.

Prerequisite: BMBL4201.

Upon completing the programme, students will:

1. Achieve a new understanding of how knowledge of language is organized and transmitted through the visual-spatial modality, as opposed to spoken languages, organized and transmitted in fundamentally different ways;
   
   
2. Appreciate how this new understanding can potentially transform the society’s perception about sign language, giving it a linguistic status that is equal to spoken languages;
   
   
3. Be able to evaluate critically the development of bimodal bilingualism in society from the perspective of information accessibility and effective communication in domains of education, social and public communication, child care, counselling and clinical services; and
   
   
4. Be proficient in spoken and sign languages in order to undertake responsibilities in professional settings which call for such linguistic skills.

With a solid understanding of the benefits of bimodal bilingual communication in social and cultural milieu involving users of signed and spoken languages, our graduates are ready to undertake responsibilities in professional settings to support the communication, education, welfare and social advancement of the under-privileged populations.

Those considering for furthering their education may apply for postgraduate programmes in education, linguistics, social work, speech-language pathology, translation and other related disciplines. With further training, they can become effective educators, sign interpreters, social welfare and counselling workers, psychologists, speech and language therapists, NGO administrators or social entrepreneurs.

Applicants shall be eligible to apply for admission if they

1. have successfully completed a local course of study leading to the qualification of associate degree / higher diploma, and
2. have attained an acceptable level of proficiency in English and Chinese languages.

Please visit the homepage of the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid for non-JUPAS senior year admission. (http://admission.cuhk.edu.hk/non-jupas-senior/requirements.html)