British Sign Language
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The study of British Sign Language (BSL) can inform the field of applied linguistics by providing an insight into a native British minority language with a language community unlike any other. Close and culturally informed study of this often misunderstood language can provide insight into issues of language planning, with its related topics of acquisition, second language learning and testing, language teacher education, language attrition and maintenance, and lexicography. When studying the implications of minority status on any language it is useful to consider the reality facing users of a language whom the majority society frequently sees as disabled English users. The threats facing BSL have important implications for social, regional, and situational variation in a language where native speakers are greatly outnumbered by non-native speakers.