speak the vernacular, the children start using other languages to fill the gaps in domain use left by the vernacular. When they are grown, those children will obviously not pass on what they do not know to
their own children; they will pass on the languages they have been using to replace the vernacular. In this way, generations slowly stop using the vernacular until the community moves to Level 7 where no
children speak it.
In many parts of Madang Province people groups are shifting from their vernacular to Tok Pisin, a creole language that is one of the official languages of Papua New Guinea. Tok Pisin is the language of
town, education, and business, especially in Madang town. English [eng] is also a language that puts pressure on the vernaculars of Madang province. Though it is not spoken by many people, it is the
language of higher education and more influential business. Many people hope their children will learn English so that they will have more opportunities.
The following analysis will deal with the research questions and related indicators for each language individually. Please see section 2.1 for a list of research questions and indicators for Goal 1.
3.1 Awar
The Awar language is spoken in three villages: Nubia, Sisimagum, and Awar. The three villages are situated close to each other; they are connected by the beach and the north coast road. There is a lot of
foot traffic between the villages, especially to Sisimagum where the local primary school is located. The sociolinguistic situation is similar in the three villages.
3.1.1 Language use patterns
The three Awar communities reported that all their children learn Tok Pisin before their vernacular. They also reported that only a few children go on to learn Awar. One man even called Tok Pisin “the
new vernacular.”
9
For this reason all interactions the people have with their children are exclusively in Tok Pisin. As one woman in Sisimagum put it, “if you want to teach them [our children] something, you
have to use Tok Pisin.”
10
I was able to confirm this through observation. In my time visiting these communities I never heard someone younger than middle age use Awar and only the grandparent generation used Awar more than
Tok Pisin in a conversation. An older man in Nubia reported that he is able to use Awar with members of the parent generation, but they all respond with Tok Pisin.
11
In one instance, the council member for Awar was walking up and down the street announcing that the meeting in which I would give the main questionnaire was about to begin. I heard him using Tok
Pisin and asked his assistant why he didn’t use Awar. He responded, “He wants everyone to understand what he is saying and come. If he used Awar many people would not understand and would not come.”
12
In all three Awar communities none of the three indicators for this research question were found. None of the children are fluent in Awar. Parents primarily use Tok Pisin when communicating with their
children. Finally, the community at large rarely uses Awar in any domain. The ability to hear and speak the language still resides in most of the grandparent generation and some of the parent generation, but
regular use of the language has died out.
9
“Em i nupela tok ples.” Most of the interviews and questionnaires were conducted in Tok Pisin. For the sake of English readers, I will provide the English translations in the text and the actual response in Tok Pisin in a footnote.
10
“Sapos yu laik lainim ol sampela samting, yu mas yusim Tok Pisin tasol.”
11
“Mi ken yusim tok ples long ol, tasol ol i bekim long Tok Pisin.”
12
“Em i laik olgeta harim em na kam. Sapos em i yusim tok ples planti manmeri i no harim na ol i no kam.”
3.1.2 Internal and external community attitudes
