From despised jargon to language of education
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Peter Mühlhäusler
Abstract
This paper describes the changing views and practices of the school vis-à-vis the Norf’k language, the mixed Tahitian, English, St Kitts Creole language spoken by the descendants of the Bounty mutineers, who brought the language from Pitcairn to Norfolk Island in 1856. For more than a century, education was the principal instrument of assimilating Norfolk Islanders to mainstream Australian norms. Once a means of eradicating the Norf’k language, Norfolk Island’s Central School has become central in the revival of the language. This paper examines the constraints and opportunities of using public education in this process. Integrating formal teaching with activities such as language camps is seen as the best way of making limited financial and human resources deliver optimum outcomes.
Abstract
This paper describes the changing views and practices of the school vis-à-vis the Norf’k language, the mixed Tahitian, English, St Kitts Creole language spoken by the descendants of the Bounty mutineers, who brought the language from Pitcairn to Norfolk Island in 1856. For more than a century, education was the principal instrument of assimilating Norfolk Islanders to mainstream Australian norms. Once a means of eradicating the Norf’k language, Norfolk Island’s Central School has become central in the revival of the language. This paper examines the constraints and opportunities of using public education in this process. Integrating formal teaching with activities such as language camps is seen as the best way of making limited financial and human resources deliver optimum outcomes.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Dedication v
- Table of contents vii
- Preface xi
- Foreword xiii
-
Introduction
- The diversity of Asia-Pacific language ecologies 1
- Education, power and sociolinguistic mobility 13
-
East Asia
- A Yami language teacher’s journey in Taiwan 33
- Power and other issues in minority language education in China 49
- Forming a Korean identity in Japan 65
-
Southeast Asia
- Patani Malay in Thai education 91
- Language in schooling in Timor-Leste 111
- Bidayuh as a subject at pre-school and primary levels 131
- Sustaining and maintaining a minority language 153
-
Oceania
- UNESCO’s action in culture and the importance of language maintenance in the Pacific 175
- State versus community approaches to language revival 185
- Vernacular education in Papua New Guinea 205
- From despised jargon to language of education 223
- Te Reo Māori – He Reo Kura? (Māori Language – A School Language?) 243
- A study of bilingual education using Samoan language in New Zealand 261
- Index 293
- Authors 289
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Dedication v
- Table of contents vii
- Preface xi
- Foreword xiii
-
Introduction
- The diversity of Asia-Pacific language ecologies 1
- Education, power and sociolinguistic mobility 13
-
East Asia
- A Yami language teacher’s journey in Taiwan 33
- Power and other issues in minority language education in China 49
- Forming a Korean identity in Japan 65
-
Southeast Asia
- Patani Malay in Thai education 91
- Language in schooling in Timor-Leste 111
- Bidayuh as a subject at pre-school and primary levels 131
- Sustaining and maintaining a minority language 153
-
Oceania
- UNESCO’s action in culture and the importance of language maintenance in the Pacific 175
- State versus community approaches to language revival 185
- Vernacular education in Papua New Guinea 205
- From despised jargon to language of education 223
- Te Reo Māori – He Reo Kura? (Māori Language – A School Language?) 243
- A study of bilingual education using Samoan language in New Zealand 261
- Index 293
- Authors 289
