Bencie Woll

{{Infobox academic

| honorific_prefix = Professor

| name = Bencie Woll

| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE|FBA}} FAAAS

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| birth_place = New York City, US

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| discipline = Linguistics and sign language

| sub_discipline = {{hlist|Linguistics of sign language|Sociolinguistics|British Sign Language|Sociolinguistics of Deaf communities|Cognitive linguistics and sign language|Children and sign language}}

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Bencie Woll {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE|FBA}} FAAAS (born 1950) is an American–British linguist and scholar of sign language. She became the first professor of sign language in the United Kingdom when she was appointed Professor of Sign Language and Deaf Studies at City University, London in 1995. In 2005, she moved to University College London where she became Professor of Sign Language and Deaf Studies and Director of the Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre (DCAL).

Early life and education

Woll was born in 1950 in New York City, United States. She studied at the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in linguistics and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1970. She then moved to the United Kingdom where she studied theoretical linguistics at the University of Essex, graduating with a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1971. During her time teaching at the University of Bristol, she studied for a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in sign language linguistics. She was awarded her doctorate in 1992.'WOLL, Prof. Bencie', Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U59625 accessed 15 June 2017]

Academic career

Woll's academic research is focused on the linguistics of sign language. She has researched the history and sociolinguistics of British Sign Language (BSL), sociolinguistics of Deaf communities, language development in deaf children, the neuroscience of sign language and developmental and acquired sign language impairments.{{cite web|title=Professor Bencie Woll|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/people/core-team/benciewoll|website=Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre|publisher=University College London|access-date=15 June 2017}}

From 1973 to 1995, Woll worked at the University of Bristol as a research associate, research fellow, lecturer, and then senior lecturer. In 1995, she was appointed to City University, London, as Professor of Sign Language and Deaf Studies. She thereby became the first person in the United Kingdom to hold a chair in sign language.{{cite web|url=http://deafsolutions3.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/All-in-one-PDF.pdf|title=A Brief History of British Sign Language|publisher=deafsolutions3.co.uk|access-date=28 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829085043/http://deafsolutions3.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/All-in-one-PDF.pdf|archive-date=29 August 2017|url-status=dead}} In August 2005, she moved to University College London (UCL) where she was appointed Professor of Sign Language and Deaf Studies.{{cite web|title=Prof Bencie Woll|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/pals/people/profiles/academic-staff/bencie-woll|website=Psychology and Language Sciences|publisher=University College London|access-date=15 June 2017}} In 2006, she founded the Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre at UCL: she served as its director from 2006 to 2016.

Woll offers her services as an expert witness in court cases involving deaf people and British Sign Language.{{cite web|title=Professor Bencie Woll|url=http://www.yourexpertwitness.co.uk/directory/medico-legal-experts/cognitive-behaviour-experts/professor-bencie-woll.html|website=Expert Witness Directory|access-date=15 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821191432/http://www.yourexpertwitness.co.uk/directory/medico-legal-experts/cognitive-behaviour-experts/professor-bencie-woll.html|archive-date=21 August 2019|url-status=dead}} She served as Vice Chair of the Royal Association for Deaf People between 2002 and 2008. Since 2011, she has been a trustee of the UK Council on Deafness.{{cite web|title=Meet the trustees|url=http://deafcouncil.org.uk/about-us/meet-the-trustees/|website=UK Council on Deafness|access-date=15 June 2017}}

Honours

Woll was awarded the 2000 BAAL Book Prize for The Linguistics of British Sign Language: An Introduction.{{cite web|title=BAAL Book Prize 2000|url=http://www.baal.org.uk/bkprize/bkprize_2000.pdf|website=British Association for Applied Linguistics|access-date=15 June 2017|date=2000|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905004812/http://www.baal.org.uk/bkprize/bkprize_2000.pdf|archive-date=5 September 2011}} In 2012, she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.{{cite web|title=Professor Bencie Woll|url=http://www.britac.ac.uk/users/professor-bencie-woll|website=The British Academy|access-date=15 June 2017}} In 2016, she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to higher education and deaf people.{{London Gazette|issue=64082|supp=y|page=B26|date=17 June 2023}}

Selected works

{{cite book |last1=Kyle |first1=Jim G. |last2=Woll |first2=Bencie |title=Sign language: the study of deaf people and their language |date=1988 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0521357173 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/signlanguagestud0000kyle }}
{{cite book |last1=Sutton-Spence |first1=Rachel |last2=Woll |first2=Bencie |title=The linguistics of British Sign Language: an introduction |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0521631426}}
{{cite book |editor1-last=Baker |editor1-first=Anne |editor2-last=Woll |editor2-first=Bencie |title=Sign language acquisition |date=2008 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-9027222442}}
{{cite book |editor1-last=Pfau |editor1-first=Roland |editor2-last=Steinbach |editor2-first=Markus |editor3-last=Woll |editor3-first=Bencie |title=Sign language: an international handbook|date=2012 |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3110204216}}
{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Neil |authorlink1= Neil Smith (linguist) |last2=Tsimpli |first2=Ianthi |last3=Morgan |first3=Gary |last4=Woll |first4=Bencie |title=The Signs of a Savant: Language Against the Odds |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0511780530}}
{{cite book |editor1-last=Orfanidou |editor1-first=Eleni |editor2-last=Woll |editor2-first=Bencie |editor3-last=Morgan |editor3-first=Gary |title=Research Methods in Sign Language Studies: A Practical Guide |date=2015 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1118271414}}