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Abstract
The Indo‐Fijian community is a relatively recent immigrant group, settling in New Zealand in the years following the 1987 Fiji military coups. The Indo‐Fijians speak Fiji Hindi, a pre‐literate language that originated from plantation language contact in Fiji, during the indenture period 1879–1916. Immigration to New Zealand has put increasing pressure on Indo‐Fijians to acquire ‘native quality’ English speaking skills, in order to fit into the new environment. Teenage and younger Indo‐Fijians feel this pressure particularly strongly because of parental attitudes towards academic and social success in New Zealand being linked to competence in the English language. This paper looks at the maintenance of Fiji Hindi among teenage Indo‐Fijian immigrants in Wellington, New Zealand and the factors which may have contributed to language shift from the use of Fiji Hindi to English in all domains, including the home.