Abstract

As of 2025, there is no national sign language in Vanuatu. Sign languages are natural languages that emerge in deaf communities. While studies in the United States have estimated that approximately 95% of deaf children are born into hearing families who do not sign (Mitchell & Karchmer, 2004), there is no equivalent demographic data available for Vanuatu. This highlights a critical evidence gap. Because most deaf children are born into hearing families without signing skills, language acquisition of a language of wider use typically occurs in schools or other gathering places of the deaf community. These settings are critical for the establishment of intergenerational transmission of a national sign language. Historically, such settings have not existed for the deaf community in Vanuatu.

This article reports on efforts by the Curriculum Development Unit through the Ministry of Education and Training and the Vanuatu Deaf Association to improve access to language for deaf people in Vanuatu. The project consists of multiple phases which broadly include building a corpus of recordings the signs for common objects and actions used by deaf people in all the provinces of Vanuatu, selecting signs from this corpus to be included in a dictionary, and finally dissemination of these signs to stakeholders. This last ongoing phase aims to equip educators around the country and disability associations so that teachers can use the signs with deaf children in public schools.

By providing access to sign language for all deaf children as well as gathering places for the deaf community, future generations of Vanuatu deaf people will have access to language which allows them to thrive in all areas of society.

Te Reo-Volume 68-Issue 3-pp. 5–19