Needs of deaf people given ‘low’ priority

New Zealand sign language must be given official recognition as a language or it will die, Association of the Deaf president Jennifer Brain says.

“We are bitterly disappointed that the needs of deaf people have not been seen as critical in the recently published Ministry of Education document on national languages policy,” she said.

New Zealand sign language (NZSL) is a distinct language with its own grammar and syntax, and work is under way at Victoria University to produce the first dictionary of NZSL.

However, there was a need for NZSL to be used in schools, and to have more interpreters available for deaf people to have access to services, Brain said.

The ministry’s policy discussion document, Aotearoa, extensively discusses the place of NZSL in the delivery of social services and in the education system.

It includes NZSL issues as a priority, but ranks them behind the revitalisation of the Maori language, second-language adult literacy, children’s ESL (English as a second language) and first language maintenance, adult ESL, and national capabilities in international languages.

Brain said the association was supportive of the renaissance of Maori language and culture, but wanted the same recognition for the language of deaf people.

“We understand the importance of cultural identity and how this is closely associated with language. But at least other cultures have some choice about the languages they speak,” Brain said.

“There are many people who have been deaf from a very young age who simply do not have access to any verbal language and can only communicate in sign language.

“And yet New Zealand sign language is not formally recognised by the government or in the police, justice or welfare systems.”

The country’s two deaf schools had accepted the idea of using NZSL to teach deaf pupils but had not introduced it yet. Currently they used a signed code for English, which was not a complete language and not as efficient for communication, she said.

There were also many deaf children in the mainstream who had insufficient access to NZSL, the language of the adult deaf community.

Using NZSL in schools was important for the survival of the language and the deaf community.

“We need our language recognised so that deaf children can be taught in a language they understand and so that deaf adults can practice their right to participate in the New Zealand community,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Auckland Institute of Technology is running New Zealand’s first sign language interpreters’ course.

Sixteen students will start the two-year programme tomorrow.

Course lecturer Rachel McKee said at present there were more than 24,000 deaf people and only four official interpreters servicing the entire country: two in Auckland, and one each in Wellington and Christchurch.