The role of social networks in the post-colonial multilingual island of Palau: Mechanisms of language maintenance and shift

Abstract

This paper aims to reveal mechanisms of language maintenance and shift in the rural post-colonial multilingual island community of Palau in the Western Pacific, using social networks as an explanatory framework. I explore the usefulness of social networks from three perspectives, investigating whether and how social networks can explain changes in the use of former colonial languages in a post-colonial community; the functions of strong and weak ties in a multilingual community; and the social characteristics of communities in which social network as an analytical tool may have an explanatory force. Methodological and theoretical issues involved with the concept of social network are also scrutinised. With some cautions about the limits to the explanations made possible by network analysis, I conclude that the social network is indeed a valuable and important social variable in sociolinguistic investigations, alongside other factors, such as sex and identity.