A Case Study from Micronesia the Following: David A
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In this issue – Grass Roots Language Preservation – Bilingual Living in a ‘Monolingual’ Country – Multicultural Adoption News and Views for Intercultural People – Too Much of a Good Thing? Editors: Sami Grover & Marjukka Grover 2003, Vol 20 No.3 – News from the USA EDITORIAL PRESERVING LANGUAGE FROM THE BOTTOM UP: All too often bi/multilinguals are asked A Case Study From Micronesia the following: David A. Hough and Alister Tolenoa ‘What exactly is the point of preserving your Spanish/ German/ Arabic/ Urdu ?’ Pohnpeian, with Kiribati, Nauruan and (delete as appropriate) Chuukese also related. In a world where English predominates, Much of Kosrae’s early history has been monolinguals can find it hard to lost because of colonisation and understand that language can mean so depopulation. From 1840–1880 the much more than just being a tool for population decreased from about 7000 to communication. For many of us, our 300 due to diseases brought by Western multiple languages are important links to whaling ships. Direct colonial rule our heritage and our cultural identities. followed, first under Spain until 1898, They are part of who we are. then Germany until 1914, Japan from 1914 until 1945, and following that the In this issue we hear from David Hough Official efforts to preserve a language, and Alister Tolenoa on a language United States. The legacy of this or anything else for that matter, are colonialism is still very much alive. program in Micronesia that is often led from the top down by empowering the inhabitants of a tiny government and experts who may not Today, the island is part of the Federated island to preserve their own language. be aware of the needs and wishes of States of Micronesia, a nation that is This article is a shining example of how local populations. Here David Hough nominally independent from the US. language can be a ‘carrier’ of so much and Alister Tolenoa describe a project Kosrae is made up of four municipalities cultural heritage and indigenous that aims to do the reverse, engaging and six villages. Each village has an knowledge. the local population of a small island in elementary school. In addition, there is On page two, Leena Huss also discusses the preservation of their own language. one high school on the island. The College of Micronesia also has a small the importance of language to an This is a story about a small Micronesian individual’s sense of identity: campus on Kosrae for students who are island and how islanders, along with unable to attend the main campus on ‘Without Finnish and my Finnish history, Japanese college students, are working Pohnpei. With such a small population I was a pale shadow of myself...’ together to help preserve both the local and a limited educational budget, it is language and culture. It is part of a difficult to produce sufficient teaching She argues clearly and effectively why three-year project funded by a grant from materials in Kosraean. At present, most it was so important for her to speak the Japan Ministry of Education and materials are in English. Given this with her children in her mother tongue, Science, entitled The Kosrae Dictionary problem, in 1995, Alister Tolenoa, something that many readers will no and Curriculum Development Project. Director for Instructional Services at the doubt identify with. Kosrae is a small island in Micronesia Kosrae State Department of Education, Whilst it would be too much to hope with a population of just under 9000. It is requested assistance in developing that the contents of this issue could help the easternmost state in the Federated Kosraean language materials for use in put an end to the ever present ‘why States of Micronesia. With a landmass of grades K–12. Of particular concern was bother?’ argument, we hope that it will approximately 107 sq. kilometres, it is a that despite a bilingual education policy, at least provide some encouragement to tall volcanic island that receives ample the preponderance of English–language those multilingual families struggling rain from the trade winds and, as a result, materials in the schools is helping to against the indifference, and sometimes is extremely green and fertile. make Kosraean an endangered language. open hostility, of their neighbours, Linguistically, the Kosraean language is Likewise, there is concern about the colleagues, relatives, teachers or probably closest to Marshallese, although culture. Traditional subsistence activities, healthcare professionals. the two languages are not mutually intelligible. The next closest language is Continued on page 2 Sami Grover 2 The Bilingual Family Newsletter 2003 Preserving a Language... Continued from page 1 for example, are giving way to increased proletarianisation, stratification and out-migration to Guam, Hawaii and the US mainland. In 2001, David Hough of the Shonan Institute of Technology in Fujisawa, Japan, began working with Mr Tolenoa and the Kosrae Department of Education Multicultural Adoption (DOE) to revise an out-of-print dictionary Reading the letter re: bilingualism and of Kosraean and put it on computer adoption in Vol 20. No.1 made me database. The purpose of the database think that our own experience might be was threefold: useful. • to allow for ongoing input and revision My husband, myself and my adopted • to facilitate small print runs as needed and being given candies – students were son, Ben, lived in Thailand. I and Ben • to make it available via the internet to also allowed to keep their pencils and were based mainly in Bangkok and my some 2000 Kosraeans living off-island. boxes of crayons – there was a group husband in the south, travelling up to photo session so that class pictures could stay with us regularly. Ben spoke In addition, the DOE set up a working also be included in the dictionary. English with me and Thai with Boonya, group of educators and community my husband. I spoke reasonable Thai leaders who met to plan what materials In some cases, the pictures the children having lived in the country for many they needed. Their first priority was for wrote didn’t fit with the sentences. Here, years. We fostered Bin, who was Thai. I grade-appropriate dictionaries for the Mr Toneloa’s children offered to help. wanted him to learn English so he could schools. In addition to the out-of-print The pictures and sentences were then feel fully part of this bilingual family dictionary, which is being put on brought back to Japan where 11 Shonan but I also wanted him to feel at home database, these included a children’s Institute of Technology (SIT) students and understand what was going on. I picture dictionary, a wordbook and a began work on producing the actual therefore adopted the strategy of saying junior dictionary. Members of the dictionary. Drawings which were not things to him in English and then working group also felt that it was selected for the inside pages were repeating them in Thai and vice versa. extremely important to involve Kosraean included on the front and back covers so that all of the students would have their When he had been with us for a month students in all of the projects as much as pictures included somewhere in the book. or so he started to attend an possible – in essence, to make them the For the SIT students, the project offered international summer school where authors. In this sense, the project is a them the opportunity to combine English was the medium of instruction. bottom-up approach to language hands-on use of computers with We continued the used of both Thai and preservation and enrichment. real-world experience in helping to English at home until he felt preserve indigenous language and culture. comfortable with me just speaking It also gave them the opportunity to get a English. “... it was extremely important feel for the culture both through the I was amazed by how painless and to involve Kosraean students in pictures that the elementary school quick this transition was. I think two all of the projects as much as students had drawn, and through things played a part. One was the possible – in essence, to make subsequent email correspondence summer school but the other was between Japan and Kosrae. undoubtedly Bin’s determination to be them the authors.” The student pictures were very reflective part of the family. He observed that Ben of the culture and the everyday life on always spoke to me in English and that Kosrae. They ranged from pictures of this was part of family life. He was special hand-made sticks used to pluck determined to do the same thing so the Mr Tolenoa and Dr Hough decided to fruit from trees, to local foods such as motivation to learn was high. begin with the children’s picture dictionary. Mr Tolenoa arranged for a breadfruit and taro. The Kosrae DOE felt Now we live in The Gambia and Bin special assembly of first and second that this type of cultural input was has a smattering of Wollof as well as graders from two elementary schools for extremely valuable. As noted earlier, English and Thai. He goes to an English this. First, he reviewed the Kosraean most textbooks used in Kosrae schools are language school but, interestingly, Ben alphabet. Following this, he had pieces of commercially published materials from and Bin still speak to each other paper and boxes of crayons passed out to the US. As a result, students are primarily in Thai! each student. He then assigned different presented with an idealised version of life letters of the alphabet to each student and in America.