Cindy Schneider

Information Structure in Abma

This paper examines the information structure of Abma, an Oceanic language of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu. Abma has four main syntactic strategies for manipulating the referential status of NPs while at the same time maintaining textual continuity: these are (1) constituent order, (2) syntactic-pragmatic marking, (3) phrasal movement, and (4) tail-head linkage. These approaches are examined individually, but also from the perspective of the larger, integrated system within which they operate. Constituent order is fairly rigid, but speakers are able to get around this constraint by taking advantage of special marking and sentence constructions that affect NP referentiality and information flow.

Approaching micro-level planning from an intelligibility perspective : a case study from Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

ABSTRACT The Vanuatu government has recently implemented a policy of vernacular literacy. Children are now to receive the first three years of schooling in a vernacular language. Needless to say, in a country with less than 300,000 people [Vanuatu National Statistics Office 2016 Accessed January 4, 2016. http://vnso.gov.vu/] and more than 100 indigenous languages, some classrooms have more than one L1. In such cases, the language policy recommends that the variety with the most native speakers should be promoted. This is a good solution for those speakers of the larger language, but what impact does such a policy have on the children whose L1 is not included in the curriculum, and who are instructed in a vernacular language that is not their own? To answer this question, we conducted intelligibility tests across closely related varieties of northern and central Vanuatu. We conclude that in villages where children already receive a good deal of exposure to other language varieties in their daily lives, implementation of the government’s language policy is a viable option. However, we make this point with the caveat that what is practical and beneficial for literacy education is not necessarily optimal for the preservation of small endangered language varieties.

Na Passive and na- Associative in Abma: Shared Properties; Shared Origin?

The passive is not widely attested in Melanesian languages, but Abma, an Oceanic language of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, does have an impersonal passive that is flagged by deleting the subject NP, suffixing the verb with -an ‘passive’, and encoding definiteness (na) on the object NP. Na ‘definite’ is probably related to Proto-Oceanic *a/*na, an article that likely marked the common nonhuman NP as definite. Of course, nonhuman NPs tend to be semantic patients. Abma also has an “associative” construction that codes a special kind of nominal relationship—syntactically and semantically distinct from indirect possession—where the “possessor” NP has little or no control over the “possessed” NP. The “possessor” NP follows an associative marker (of the form na-), and shares semantic and referential properties with passive NPs. This paper examines the present-day instantiation of na as a marker on passive NPs and na- on noncontrolling associative “possessors.” It argues that the two forms have similar functionality, and considers a possible shared origin for the two morphemes.

Why Field Linguists Should Pay More Attention to Research in Applied Linguistics

Linguistic fieldworkers undertake the highly challenging task of entering a new community, often one with which they have no previous experience, and documenting the local language. While there is a good deal of discussion in the literature about the various issues related to fieldwork (methodology, technology, field site, ethics, etc.), much less attention is paid to two important aspects of applied linguistics that relate directly to fieldwork: language learning and community literacy. This article makes the argument that linguists who engage with language learning and literacy development in their own practice will enjoy improved outcomes for both themselves and their host community. The current literature on language learning theory is then reviewed, with a particular view to how this knowledge can be applied to the field. Recent publications on literacy theory and practice are also appraised in a similar fashion.

Ideologies, Practices, and Their Effect on Dialect Vitality: A Case Study from Vanuatu.

ABSTRACT Understanding dialect loss is informative for language loss, yet dialect attrition remains relatively understudied. Suru Kavian is an endangered dialect of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu. Drawing from language recordings, interviews, and observations, this paper explores the relationship between linguistic ideologies about Suru Kavian (what members of the community say about the dialect), people’s actual language practices (what they ‘do’ – how the dialect is used), and the potential effect that the interplay of these factors has on the vitality of this endangered variety. The methodology and analysis used here add to the sparse literature on the intersection between endangered languages and dialect studies, and contribute to the wider discussion on not only dialect loss, but also language loss.

Micro-level planning for a Papua New Guinean elementary school classroom: “copycat” planning and language ideologies

In the early 1990s, the government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) enacted educational reform. It officially abandoned its English-only policy at elementary school level, in favour of community languages. In response, the Kairak community of East New Britain Province developed a vernacular literacy programme. This paper, based on original fieldwork research in PNG, assesses the viability of Kairak vernacular literacy in the context of the communitys broader literacy practices. While mother tongue literacy is generally regarded by linguists and policy-makers as the best-case scenario, it can pose a variety of practical challenges in the classroom. This paper examines the communitys micro-planning processes and cautions that the agents of micro planning must be wary of applying, wholesale, the policies of neighbouring communities to their own situation (“copycat” language planning (LP)). It also discusses the influence that language ideologies (vis-à-vis the vernacular, Tok Pisin, and English) have on LP. The paper concludes by recommending that in rural elementary schools with mixed linguistic populations, PNGs (northern) lingua franca, Tok Pisin, may in fact be a more sensible choice for the teaching of initial literacy.