• What proportion of the population are immigrants from another language area, and do the
immigrants and their children learn the local dialect? •
What languages do people want their children to speak, and do people think that their language will be spoken in the future?
•
Are any of the dialects continuing to become more like Dobu because of language borrowing? Reports were gathered in group interviews, following questionnaires. The groups were composed of
as many people as could come in the village being surveyed. The survey team aimed to gather the opinions of both men and women from a variety of age groups, although in a few villages no women
participated. Reports about schools were given by teachers as well as by the community in group interviews, and church leaders were interviewed regarding language use during church services.
Language attitudes were reported by groups in group interviews and by individuals as a part of the self- evaluation questionnaire evaluating proficiency in Dobu and English.
3.1 Language use
The survey team used group interviews guided by the SIL-PNG language use questionnaires to collect reported language use data. These reported data were collected in ten villages: Asagamwana, Bibio,
Dimwadimwa, Duduna, Mowai, Guletoto’unu, Kokauta, Pwepwe’ura, Yaya, and Yoridan. Throughout the survey the team members took note of the languages they heard spoken around them, although they
could not distinguish between vernacular dialects. Therefore, on many occasions team members also asked local people what language was being used at the time. Additionally, they also asked their guide,
who spoke both Dobu and Galeya, to give some overall impressions of how much Dobu he heard people speaking, and how well they spoke it. The survey team found that observed data coincided, for the most
part, with what people reported. Reported and observed language use data indicate that the Galeya, Basima, Ulua, and Gameta dialects are vital. The vernacular is the language used with family members in
the home and in the carrying out of traditional practices surrounding marriage, death, and resolution of disputes.
3.1.1 Children’s reported language use
Adults in all villages surveyed reported that children learn to speak the local dialect first, that they perceive the children as speaking it as well as adults do, and that children use it as their primary
language. Some children in Sebutuya, Lau’oya, and Basima wards learn to speak Dobu, but not proficiently. Children learn to speak English in school.
Adults in all villages surveyed reported that children speak in their dialect when they talk to their grandparents, parents, siblings, and playmates. One village reported that children also speak some
English to their playmates, although most often they use the vernacular. Children sometimes sing in English, Dobu, and Tok Pisin, in addition to the vernacular. People in one village said that children
sometimes sing in Motu, and another village said they sometimes sing in Iamalele.
Adults in four villages reported that children do not mix other languages with their local dialect. Adults in five villages reported that children mix Dobu with their local dialect, and two of those villages
reported that children also mix English with their local dialect. One village, Yoridan Ulua ward, reported that children mix English, but not Dobu, with the vernacular. Most adults feel that mixing with
other languages is not good, but a few, especially the young adults in Gameta, feel that mixing is not bad. Adults in Duduna village where they reported that their children do not mix languages said that
they think mixing Dobu and Galeya is acceptable because Dobu is popular.
3.1.2 Childrens observed language use
Children were observed speaking their local dialect almost all of the time. Occasionally, older children spoke to the survey team in English.
3.1.3 Adults’ reported language use
It was reported in all villages surveyed that adults of all ages and both genders use the vernacular when speaking to their family members—specifically to their parents, siblings, spouses, and children. In Mowai
the only exception noted was that if a man were married to a Dobu woman, then he would speak Dobu to his wife, and both Dobu and Galeya to their children. However, they said that most people are
married to people from their own language group, and they use the vernacular to speak to their family members.
Table 12 compiles the responses for ten villages—Asagamwana, Bibio, Dimwadimwa, Duduna, Mowai, Guletoto’unu, Kokauta, Pwepwe’ura, Yaya, and Yoridan—reporting language use in certain
domains. In the chart one can see, for example, that all ten of the ten villages surveyed reported that the local dialect is used when praying at home.
Table 12. Language use by domain
Domain Local
English Dobu
Tok Pisin Motu
Tawala Muyuw
Arguing with family 10
Praying at home 10
3 10
Organizing wedding or funeral feasts
10 1
At the local market 10
2 2
1 Joking
10 2
2 Playing sports
10 3
2 Outsiders who know
your language 9
1 2
In village court 9
a
1 1
In Alotau town 2
9 5
5 4
1 1
a
This question was not asked in one village. The local dialect is clearly the dominant language in the home and for interactions with other people
in the dialect area. People sometimes use English or Dobu in domains where they interact with local dialect speakers, such as joking, as well as in domains where they interact with outsiders, such as at the
market and playing sports. While in town, people commonly use English, Dobu, and Tok Pisin. Other languages may also be used occasionally in town, but only by a few individuals. As noted in section
3.1.7, Dobu, English, and the vernacular are frequently used during religious services.
If people in the six wards were shifting from the local dialects to another language as their primary language, one might expect to see a greater number of villages reporting use of a language other than
the local dialect, and a decrease from old age to middle age to youth in the number of people reporting local dialect use. Because every village reported that the local dialect is used by young people, and
because the local language is the most widely used language in all domains, except in town where people must speak a trade language, it does not seem that people in the area are shifting to another language.
3.1.4 Adults observed language use
