Grade "C"
Essay
Student
Instructor Gourlay
Expository writing 2
May 2, 2003
Pohnpeian language
Language is a source of power that enables people to communicate. Without
language, it would be impossible for our people to get to know each other.
In Micronesia, people have different languages depending on what island
they are from. And since people have been, interacting between states
and making a living on another island, some languages have begin to die
out. The Pohnpeian language will not die out for sure, but it may get
mixed with an intruding language, which is English.
The people of Pohnpei seem to know their language pretty well. Everyone
knows what and how the language works in regards to their cultural understandings.
The only hard part of this language is the “high language”.
I mean you will not be able to speak the high language if you do not know
the common one. The only way to learn the high language is by knowing
the vernacular. They are connected with two different levels. About 99
percent of the people on Pohnpei speak the language and know it pretty
well at this present time. If you go around the Island meeting different
groups of family members, you would find out how strong the language is
spoken. The schools are teaching them around the island, especially the
public schools. It’s true that the teachers often take their eye
away from teaching the language. Meaning that they do not really bother
teaching their L1 to the children because they are very fluent in their
L1. And there is a reason for that. Since English is the language of success
almost everywhere on earth and on Pohnpei, the teachers found it better
to teach the English language to the children. If you go to Kolonia and
look for a job in the private areas, they even interview you in English.
The second reason why they are not strongly teaching the language is that
the children are always breaking the English speaking policy, which, on
the other hand, means that their language is more comfortable to them.
And this automatically triggers the brains of the teachers giving them
a thought that the children do not need to learn their own language at
school, and its better back home. The teachers believe that teaching the
language would be a waste of time. Not learning how to write it but talk
it.
To teach them how to write is enough for them. Once you learn how to write
in English you automatically can write in Pohnpeian.
The Pohnpeian language would hardly die because the people do not really
migrate to other places to make a living. It is true that there are Pohnpeians
who live in the United States or in other places but they write their
letters in both English and Pohnpeian as they send them. They still know
the language even though they’re about 30 years in a foreign place.
A couple has been living in Hawaii quiet long, but their everyday home
language is Pohnpeian. And their kids, one a third grader, and the other
a second grader. They even speak the language pretty well. But some words
are mixed with both English and Pohnpeian. And as the children grew older,
they still spoke the language and mix it with English because they do
not know some of their parents L1 (Broekhuizen).
This showed that the language would not die out but it would be mixed
with the English language for sure. If the language survives out there
in a different culture then why die on its own land. It will survive and
never die the old people say. The language only goes out if the culture
goes out completely. Alternatively, if all the Pohnpeians die out, that
is the only way the language would not survive. But as of now, it is very
true that the English language is getting stronger, but the people are
very fluent in their language.
About 98 Percent of the people on the Island are speaking the language.
Even new comers on the Island love and like to learn the language. The
reason why that is, is that the language is very fun to learn. The English
language would only have an effect on the language if everybody decides
to speak only English rather than their own. And that would never happen.
It would not be like during the Japanese time. They forced people to learn
their language and if they back away they beat them up my grandfather
told me. But English, we have the right to learning it and the right to
not want to learn it. So the language of Pohnpei would stay strong according
to how I view the times of the Japanese and this present time.
Some words from the English language have already been mixed with the
native language. For example, the Ponapean word “doadoahngki”
is not common to say anymore. People substitute it with the word “use”
most of the time. Even when we say on the lights, we don’t use the
Ponapean word for “on”. And there is a reason for that. It
is because it shortens what you have to say. And that would not kill the
language at all. It would just get mixed with the language and become
a part of it in the future. It is as if we are boring some words.
I remember back during elementary school times. Man, we would be punished
if we do not obey the English speaking policy. I mean we were supposed
to speak English in the school campus 8 hours a day. But we always break
the rule. I mean, even though we get punished, we would come back the
next day and still break the policy. We are used to our own language,
and it would never leave our minds into the dark forgotten region where
some languages have already been disposed of.
In the municipalities, our traditional leaders say, is very hard to loose
the language. Because every year celebrations of cultural activities would
happen and without the language, the ceremonies will not be able to progress.
It’s like if the culture dies, than the language dies. And if the
language dies, then the culture dies.
Many young people of Pohnpei are not attending school and some are drop
outs from the schools. And majority of them do not even understand the
English language. But they do speak some of the English words like “use”,
“0n” and so forth. It has become part of how they speak and
how they learn how to use it. It’s already a part of the Ponapean
language. The language would not die but it would surely be mixed with
the English language, which is somewhat cool. We may come up with new
slang’s and other new words.
Andreas stated that the language would die out within two generations
if, we do not strongly use it. That indicates that linguist is not sure
because they do not know exactly. Nevertheless, as a Pohnpeian speaking
person, I know that the language is very strong and would stay firm as
long as the culture is alive. Plus everybody is free in whether he or
she wants to learn the language. Language shift is possible to happen
to the language through mixing of both English and Pohnpeian. Dying out
is not possible.
Work Cited
Domingo, Neth. The people know their language pretty well…. May
2003
Broekhuizen Van, Ludy. PARENTS AND BILINGUAL LEARNERS: The Importance
of Fostering First Language Development at Home. 2003. http://www.prel.org/products/paced/nov02/re_bilingual.htm
Fredrick, Emper. Home chat with grandpa. 5 May 2003
Andreas, Robert. Class Lecture. Expository writing 2. 24 April 2003.
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