Table 14. Language use observed in religious services
a
C h
u rc
h S
er v
ic e At
te nd
ed
P ra
y er
s Hy
m n
s S
o n
gs
W el
co m
e
S cr
ip tu
re S
er m
on L
it u
rg y
A n
no u
n ce
m en
ts
Gameta United
Sunday School
Dobu English
Dobu Dobu
Dobu Gameta
United Main
Sunday Morning
Service Dobu
Dobu English
Dobu Gameta
Gameta
Lau’oya RC
b
Main Sunday
Morning Service
English Dobu
Basima
Lau’oya United
Main Sunday
Morning Service
Dobu Dobu
Dobu Explanation
in Dobu Dobu
Basima two
women Dobu
man
Sebutuya SDA
Midweek Meeting
Dobu English
English English
English with
translation to Dobu
English Dobu
Taigwana’o ya Catholic
Main Sunday
Morning Service
Dobu English
English Dobu
Galeya, English
for the survey
team
c
English Dobu
Summary in Galeya
Dobu
Ulua United
Youth Meeting
Ulua English
Tok Pisin
Dobu Ulua
Ulua and English
for survey team
Dobu Ulua
and English
Ulua, except for
pastor Dobu
a
Where more than one language is listed, the primary language used is listed first.
b
Only part of the service was attended by a member of the survey team.
c
An explanantion of the theme for the service was given in Galeya for about ten minutes.
3.2 Emigration and immigration
In nine villages with a total population of around 272, twenty-five people have immigrated to the dialect chain area Gameta to Sebutuya wards, mostly for marriage, and thirty-four people have emigrated out
of the area, mostly for marriage and work.
About one-third of the immigrants learn the local dialect and speak it well, while about one-sixth do not speak the local dialect at all even after a few years in the area. People who do not speak the local
dialect use Dobu. For the most part, children of immigrants do learn the local dialect. Emigrants from the dialect chain area return about once per year on average and speak the
vernacular when they return, although their children generally do not speak the vernacular.
3.3 Language attitudes
The people in Sebutuya, Momo’awa, Duduna, Lau’oya, Ulua, and Gameta wards identify primarily with their own dialect group—Galeya, Basima, Lau’oya, Ulua, Gameta—rather than with the larger dialect
chain. In Alotau, the provincial capital, people might identify themselves as Fergusson Islanders. Regarding cultural practices, three out of five villages surveyed reported that there is nothing that
they do or make that is unique and sets them apart from neighbouring groups. Toipwara villagers reported that other people do not know how to make arm bands the way they do, and Kokauta villagers
reported that they have a different way of gardening and marking ground boundaries. On Fergusson Island, Dobu is the most prestigious language, but people in the Galeya wards do not
see their own language as inferior. Generally, people are proud of their language and culture. Adults in all ten of the villages where language use interviews were conducted said they think their
children will speak their dialect when they grow up, and that their children will speak it to their future children. Residents of one village said that, in addition to the local dialect, their children will speak
Dobu, English, and Tok Pisin to the next generation. People in eight of the ten villages reported that they think their dialect will still be spoken in twenty
years, although there is some concern in the area that borrowing from or mixing with Dobu might cause the Galeya language to disappear before that time. In Mowai people said they were not sure whether
their language will still be spoken in twenty years because of the mixing of Dobu and Galeya. They said that mixing might eventually cause their children to forget Galeya and speak only Dobu. In Guletoto’unu
there was disagreement over the future of Basima, with some people saying that it will still be spoken in twenty years, and others saying that it will not be. Some people feel that Tok Pisin, Motu, Dobu, and
English will take over and Basima will disappear in the future.
As a part of the questionnaires used for self-evaluation of proficiency in Dobu and English, 295 individuals were asked to answer the following questions. Responses are shown below the questions.
1 How would you feel if your sister
47
married someone who only spoke English? Positive – 20 percent
Neutral – 6 percent Negative – 74 percent
2 How would you feel if she married someone who only spoke Dobu? Positive – 47 percent
Neutral – 18 percent Negative – 35 percent
3 How would you feel if your children stopped speaking your dialect and only spoke English? Positive – 13 percent
Neutral – 5 percent Negative – 82 percent
4 How would you feel if your children stopped speaking your dialect and only spoke Dobu? Positive – 32 percent
Neutral – 15 percent Negative – 53 percent
In general, responses indicate that the attitude people have towards Dobu is more positive than their attitude towards English. Individuals’ answers to questions 3 and 4 give a different impression than
group interview responses, because group responses in every village indicated that children must learn the local dialect before any other language, while the responses of some individuals seemed to show
indifference to the importance of their dialect. However, although individual reports were not as strongly in favor of the local dialect as group reports, the majority of individuals still feel that it would
be bad for children to not use their dialect.
When asked to list the languages that they want their children to learn, respondents in every village listed the local dialect, Dobu, and English. Generally, the local dialect is considered the most important
language for their children to learn, followed by Dobu as a second priority and English as third.
47
Sometimes this question was asked about another female relative e.g. daughter.
However, two villages placed English second and Dobu third. Some people in Kokauta also said they want their children to speak Tok Pisin.
Table 15 summarizes the responses to questions about people’s preferences regarding the language used for books and story telling.
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The responses are displayed as the number of villages reporting a preference out of the number of villages where the question was asked. For example, eight of nine
villages reported that they would like to read books in their own dialect. Table 15. Reported language preference for books and stories
Language preferences Local Dobu English
In what languages would you like to read books?
a
89 99
59 In what languages would you like to hear stories?
88 18
08
a
It seemed that the hypothetical nature of the first question led some people to not mention interest in having written materials in their own language, until it was clarified that the
question meant whether they would want to read such things if they existed. Overall, the responses summarized in table 15 indicate positive attitudes towards both local dialects and
Dobu. It appears that there is, however, a preference for the local dialects over Dobu, as only one village wanted to hear stories in Dobu.
In summary, current language attitudes of Galeya speakers indicate strong language vitality. They hold positive attitudes towards both Galeya and Dobu, although they seem to value the local dialect
more highly than Dobu. These attitudes suggest that they will keep speaking both languages in the future, likely maintaining the local dialect as their first language and continuing to use Dobu in the
church and for communication with outsiders.
3.4 Language change
