The native language of any deaf community is their signed language. In Pakistan, that is Pakistan Sign Language (PSL).

The problem exists whereby this language has not been enriched nor sufficiently developed, therefore educational achievement, particularly as deaf students progress to new grade levels, is hampered due to lack of a strong language base. So deaf people are hindered not only by their hearing loss, but also by the fact that many in the deaf community are not aware of or fluent in their own native language. Additionally, PSL is fragmented and spoken in a variety of dialects around the country, differing from city to city and province to province.

We have started work on the creation of a Pakistan Sign Language (PSL) digital lexicon that will improve the communication and academic skills of the deaf in Pakistan, as well as improve the situation for all those who interact with the deaf community.  

There are currently 5 branches of Deaf Reach Schools operational in the country, in both urban and rural areas, with over 650 deaf students. We have found a lack of resource material in PSL to be a hindrance in the educational process, both for the students and the teachers.

The result is that deaf children and their teachers often resort to utilizing home-made signs, and/or importing signs from other more developed sign languages, particularly American Sign Language (ASL).This further exacerbates the problem, and ultimately dilutes the native PSL language base.

So our project goal is to develop a digital PSL lexicon that can be distributed at very low cost to be made available to the deaf community nationwide, and to all schools and institutions working with the deaf. This digital lexicon will also be accessible via an online PSL website available to any with computer access, thus providing a global reach outside of the boundaries of Pakistan. It will also lend itself to being made available in print form – whether in whole or in part.

The PSL project will directly impact the more than 2 million profoundly deaf population of Pakistan, over 1 million of whom are children of school age, as follows:

• Improve the quality of language for future generations of deaf children and deaf young adults.
• Provide a language resource for teachers of the deaf, and all those involved in Deaf Education.
• Greatly aid in the training of teachers and interpreters for the deaf, of which there is a critical shortage in Pakistan.
• Make PSL more readily available to the deaf, their family members, and society at large, bridging the communication gaps that currently exist and helping to further integrate both the Deaf and hearing cultures of Pakistan. This will ultimately result in improved communication skills for both sectors, and facilitate greater employment opportunities and advancement for deaf persons.
• Assist those who want to learn PSL to improve their communication with deaf people – particularly those working directly with the deaf such as parents, teachers, administrators, employers, etc.