Vernacular literacy, English as a language of wider communication, and language shift in American Samoa

Abstract

The role of first language literacy for language minority students has undergone renewed scrutiny over the past few years. In places where the indigenous population does not speak a world language natively, the question facing educational policy makers is how best to maintain the vernacular while preparing its youth to function in the larger world community. In territories under colonial rule, the accommodation of a foreign national policy to the local situation complicates the issue.

The current paper represents an historical examination of language policy within the social, political and economic context of language use in American Samoa. It is argued that the success of vernacular literacy in the last century can be attributed at least in part to the compatibility of new literacy events with existing oral genres and to the maintenance of local control over the educational system which was the vehicle for the acquisition of literacy skills. This is in contrast to the introduction of English as a language of wider communication in the Twentieth Century, which has involved new sets of literacy events and political, economic and educational systems beyond the control of those affected by educational policy. Currently, evidence suggests that American Samoa is experiencing both language shift and native language skill attrition.