A shortage of sign language materials and books is contributing tocommunication problems among hearing impaired people, Hanoi DeafAssociation chairman Le Van Anh says.

It was causingdifficulties for deaf people who weren't able to even communicateproperly with their own parents, let alone relatives and teachers, Anhsaid.

"The lack of sign language books not onlycreates difficulties for deaf people, but their relatives and friendsalso meet obstacles," he said.

The association has 360 members, and most of them said they have difficulties communicating with their relatives.

Many parents and teachers wanted to study sign language to communicatewith them but they couldn't find sign language books anywhere, Anhsaid.

"My wife and I are both hearing impaired andwe had to ask my mother to take care of our little daughter who canhear. But my mother finds it hard to teach our daughter to talk with usin sign language because she can't find a book," said Anh.

The main reason for the shortage of sign language books was the smallprofit that can not be made from publishing books for deaf people.

At present there are two main sign language books: Sign for the Deaf,with three volumes, and the Vietnam Sign Language Dictionary, edited byHCM City Teacher's Training University .

But it was difficult to find a copy, Anh said.

"Investing in student text books brings great profits but enterpriseswill not profit from investing in sign language text books. So no-onespecialises in publishing such books."

Anotherproblem was the lack of a common sign language alphabet, Anh said.Vietnam has about 2 million deaf people using different signs indifferent provinces.

There are different dialects in Hanoi , HCM City and Hai Phong.

For instance, to say "pink", deaf people in Hanoi rub their cheekbut those in HCM City point to their lips, Anh said.

To help improve the situation, a Sign Language Club was set up inOctober 2006 in Hanoi 's Cau Giay district with the aim of spreadingsign language in the community and helping deaf people communicate.

After four years, the club opened more than 30 training courses withmore than 500 trainees. It organised a number of sign languagecompetitions and exchanges between deaf people and the community.

With help from the Swedish National Association of the Deaf, the HanoiDeaf Association completed a set of books and a DVD of sign languagedictionaries. When printed, it will be distributed to hearing impairedpeople, their teachers and parents.

Meanwhile, LeVan Tac, director of the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences'Research Centre of Special Education under the Ministry of Education andTraining, said the institute was planning a uniform sign languagesystem for the whole country.

"It will take a longtime to complete procedures for a permit to publish a book so we expectthat it will take about three years," he said. /.