Researching the world's most linguistically diverse nation - Vanuatu

Celebrating Vanuatu Bislama Language Week 26 July – Aug 1.

A quest for doctoral study brought Dr Guy Lavender Forsyth halfway around the world to Aotearoa New Zealand. It also introduced him to a Pacific nation that would capture his imagination and shape his career.

When Guy Lavender Forsyth left his hometown in southern England to pursue a PhD, he never expected Vanuatu would become such a significant part of his life.

Now a research fellow at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, he spends his days exploring one of the world's most remarkable linguistic landscapes: Vanuatu, a country of around 300,000 people where more than 130 Indigenous languages are spoken.

"I'd always wanted to travel and I'd always wanted to do research," says Lavender Forsyth.

While completing a master's degree at Durham University in the United Kingdom, he discovered a PhD opportunity connected to Vanuatu through academics with longstanding research relationships in the Pacific nation.

The opportunity was irresistible.

"I was itching to do it. It was a big decision because it meant leaving my family, but they were completely supportive."

Then Covid-19 arrived.

After arriving in New Zealand in 2019, international border restrictions meant Lavender Forsyth was unable to return home for several years. What was supposed to be a period of regular travel and fieldwork in Vanuatu became a lesson in resilience and adaptation.

"There was a period of where I couldn't leave New Zealand and be able to get back in,“ he says having submitted his doctoral thesis in 2022, he returned home in 2023.

Despite the disruption, his first visit to Vanuatu before the pandemic left a lasting impression.

"I just fell in love with the place. How can you not? It's the most amazing, diverse place, brimming with life. The people are so welcoming and they make it so easy to build connections."

Today, those connections continue to guide his research.

For Vanuatu Language Week, Forsyth is helping shine a spotlight on a country often described as the world's most linguistically diverse nation. Vanuatu has more than 130 Indigenous languages, giving it the highest language density per capita anywhere on Earth.

The diversity fascinates researchers around the world and local communities alike.

Most languages are spoken by relatively small communities, yet many ni-Vanuatu grow up speaking several languages, including their own Indigenous language, neighbouring languages, Bislama and often English or French.

Forsyth says language is much more than a way of communicating.

"The language group is one of the most important cultural identifiers people have. It's connected to land, identity, history and community."

His current research uses national census data to better understand how language use is changing and how Indigenous languages, Bislama and other social factors are interacting across generations.

The work combines his background in psychology, statistical analysis and anthropology with his growing appreciation for Vanuatu's culture, history and people. He hopes the findings will contribute to conversations already taking place among communities, cultural leaders and policymakers in Vanuatu.

"I want to do research that people care about and that people find useful."

Later this year, Forsyth plans to return to Vanuatu to share some of his findings with the Vanuatu National Statistics Office, the Vanuatu Cultural Centre and local researchers.

He says the exchange is one of the most rewarding parts of the work.

"So much effort goes into collecting this data. I think it's important that the research gets shared back with the people and organisations who made it possible."

What began as a search for a PhD has become something much larger: a commitment to understanding and celebrating one of the Pacific's richest cultural treasures.

Each visit, he says, continues to strengthen that commitment.

"The connections you make in Vanuatu are wholehearted. Every time I go, I make more friends, build more connections and feel like I'm contributing to something meaningful. It's a lovely place to do this kind of work."

As Vanuatu Language Week celebrates the country's extraordinary linguistic heritage, researchers like Forsyth are helping document and better understand the languages that continue to shape the identity, resilience and cultural life of the nation.

What began as a journey in search of a PhD has become something much more profound. Through years of research, friendship and collaboration, Dr Guy Lavender Forsyth has found a place that continues to inspire him.