USP 2017 – 1019 B.Ed and 2020-2022 PGD Arts (Linguistics)
A love of language as well as a teaching vocation, were what led Ms Leisale Roberts to chase her dreams, apply for a Vanuatu Government Scholarship and enroll at The University of the South Pacific. The year was 2017 and Leisale was a long way from her roots in Epi, a beautiful volcanic island in the Shefa Province of Vanuatu.
Prior to becoming a full student at Laucala Campus in 2027, Leisale was an English and Social Science teacher of Classes 7-10. Upon returning to teaching after graduating with a Bachelor of Education in 2019, Leisale taught English as a Second Language (ESL) for grades 11-12 at Epi High School, later, transferring to Central School in Port Vila in 2021, where she taught ESL for years 11-13 and English for year 8 students.
As teaching was her vocation, Leisale felt she needed to extend her knowledge and skills to become a better teacher. The decision to pursue a bachelor’s in education was therefore a given. She was to call Laucala Campus, home for 3yrs (2017 – 2019) while she pursued her Bachelor’s in Education program.
USP’s interesting course offerings opened Leisale’s eyes to new opportunities in language studies and she discovered her passion for linguistics. The satisfaction of being able to broaden her skills and knowledge was an important motivator for Leisale, yet it became clearer over time that USP’s course offerings, also provided the fertile ground and a foundation that allowed her to pursue an array of courses and the in-depth study of languages.
A pivotal moment for Leisale was when she enrolled in Language Documentation (LN319) in her final year at USP. This was a group assignment, and they were tasked to capture conversations of a speaker of the Tamil language, using various media tools and recording equipment and then to describe the language aspects of their recordings.
The outcome of this group project was a “Talking Book” and under the tutelage of Dr Candide Simard from the School of Pacific Arts, Communication and Education (SPACE), Leisale realized the importance of saving indigenous languages. Her passion to do the same for her native language of Lewo, spoken by the people of Epi in Vanuatu, became more significant and she was determined to strengthen her skills in this area and do so upon her return home. Lewo is one of many Vanuatu languages and is spoken on the eastern part of Epi Island in Shefa Province, where Leisale is from.
While teaching at Central School in Port Vila in 2021, Leisale was already enrolled as a part-time, privately funded post graduate student at USP, where she undertook a Post Graduate Diploma in Arts (PGD), majoring in Linguistics. The key difference this time was she studied online, and this was possible due to USP’s robust online study program available across the Pacific.
Leisale graduated with her Post Graduate Diploma in Arts, majoring in linguistics, in 2022 and this a huge achievement, as her studies were undertaken during some challenging personal times. There were occasions when she came close to giving up on her dreams to become a linguist, but fortune favors the bold and Leisale’s hard work paid off. Out of this season, there emerged a clearer view and her chosen pathway as a linguist was sealed. She was also fortunate to receive an Australia Awards Scholarship in 2022 and in 2023, left for Australia to again pursue further studies.
Today Leisale is halfway through her Master of Philosophy in Linguistics (MPhil), at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. She will graduate in February 2025. Her thesis centers on Child Language Acquisition in Lewo, Vanuatu and through this study, she wants to record, identify and analyze the basic lexicon of Lewo speaking children. The outcome of Leisale’s studies will have far reaching effects in Vanuatu as it can potentially be replicated for other Vanuatu languages.
Leisale’s journey into the world of academia and linguistics but more importantly, the study of Vanuatu languages, is groundbreaking in many ways and she acknowledges this would not be possible without the strong support of her loving partner Anthony and their two children, Kataleya, 10 and Joshua 2yrs.
The future looks bright and paves the way for Leisale to continue research work, which she loves and contributes to new knowledge in the field of linguistics. She is also fortunate in that there will be the opportunity to pursue a PhD, as a next step in her academic journey.
Leisale has fond memories of studying at Laucala Campus and one endearing recollection is participating in the USP Open Day as a student tour guide. She says that this opportunity not only gave her a chance to get to know her campus better, but she also met with many high school students, sharpening her marketing and communication skills while promoting the University. Another fond memory Leisale has, is being chosen to model for a couple of USP marketing billboards and print materials, promoting the racial diversity of USP but also the linguistic courses on offer at the School of School of Pacific Arts, Communication and Education (SPACE). For it was here that Leisale discovered her passion for language studies that led to where she is today.
