Togolese Republic
Total Population
8 million
Deaf Population
425,000
Nation's Official Language
French
Other Languages
The number of established languages listed in Ethnologue is 44. Some of these are:
- Adele
- Aguna
- Akan
- Akebu
- Anufo
- Éwé
- Fon
- Freench
- Fulfulde
- Ga
- Gen
- Gourmanchéma
- Ifé
- Kabiyé
- Lama
- Moba
- Nawdm
- Ngangam
- Ntcham
- Tem
Name of Sign Language
Langue des Signes de l’Afrique Francophone (LSAF), Langue des Signes Française
Overview Of Deaf Community And Education
Togo has seven deaf schools (WFD 2008:68). According to Kpemissi (1995), Togo had only one deaf school ‘L’école Ephphata’, created in 1976 by “an American”. This is likely to be the school established by the Christian Mission for the Deaf. Between 1976 and 1995, the school had educated 152 pupils (104 boys and 48 girls). Only the director of the school had had formal training in special education; the other teachers were trained by the director on the job (Kpemissi, 1995). Kpemissi states that the deaf pupils start their education very late. The youngest pupils enter school at the age of twelve, an age at which other Togolese pupils are expected to start secondary school.
The Ecole Nationale des Auxiliaires Médicaux (ENAM) of Lomé offers training with an academic degree and clinical certification in Speech and Language Pathology. Since 2006, 66 Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) coming from nine African countries have been educated in Togo. There are no special provisions made for deaf people wanting to receive a university education.
Sign Language Overview
In deaf education, a local variety of the Langue des Signes de l’Afrique Francophone is used (WFD 2008:65). There does not seem to be any dictionary that is specific for Togo.
According to Ethnologue, deaf Togolese refer to their sign language as ASL, but it is not mutually intelligible with ASL from the USA. Ethnologue rates the vitality of the sign language used in Togo as vigorous on the vitality scale of Bickford et al., (2014).
There is no information on variation in this sign language. There is no sign language research at any of the universities in Togo.
Deaf Organizations In Country
- Association des Sourds de Togo, founded in 1992
Overview of Interpreting Services
Deaf school teachers voluntarily act as interpreters (WFD 2008:73, 76). There are no TV programs regularly interpreted or presented in a sign language (WFD 2008:62). There are no national health campaigns made accessible for sign language users (WFD 2008:51).
Resources
Christian Mission of the Deaf, www.cmdeaf.org
Kpemissi, Eyawelohn (1995). L’éducation des enfants sourds-muets au Togo. Forum mondial de la Santé 16:291- 293.
Simons, Gary F. and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2018. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Twenty-first edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.
World Federation of the Deaf and Swedish National Association of the Deaf. 2008. Global Survey Report. WFD Regional Secretariat for Western and Central Africa Region (WFD WCAR). Global Education Pre-Planning Project on the Human Rights of Deaf People. World Federation of the Deaf. Finland.
World Bank, 2017. https://data.worldbank.org , https://data.worldbank.org/country/togo
http://aasl.aacore.jp/wiki/Togo
www.orthophonistesdumonde.org, http://orthophonistesdumonde.fr/IMG/pdf/poster_cplol_180415-2.pdf
List of Contributors
Victoria Nyst
