Academic literature on the topic 'Sociolinguistics Vanuatu'

This paper uses variationist methods to attack a descriptive problem: by looking at the distribution of a typologically unusual subject prefix (tem- in realis and t- in irrealis) in a set of narrative texts recorded in Nkep, the language of Hog Harbour (Vanuatu), it explores the extent to which the goals of language documentation and variationist sociolinguistics can be pursued simultaneously. It concludes that a dual focus can benefit both enterprises. We find out considerably more about the nature of subject-verb prefixes in Nkep and about the ways in which the Nkep language handles grammatical properties such as the realis/irrealis distinction. The paper also notes that studies of variation in endangered language contexts can provide a positive framework for the local community to evaluate synchronic variation and change.

Tweehonderd jaar na het ontstaan van het Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in 1815 bepaalt de communautaire breuklijn in sterke mate de politieke actualiteit in België. Vanuit een achterafperspectief lijkt de mislukte staat van Willem I vooral voor de positie van het Nederlands in het in 1830 afgescheurde België een mislukte kans. In deze review van de recente historiografie over het Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden wordt gefocust op de vraag naar de taalpolitiek als instrument van natiebouw en natievorming. Een eerste vaststelling is dat de taalpolitiek van Willem I meer belangstelling van taal- en letterkundigen krijgt dan van historici. Het accent ligt hierbij vooral op de taalpraktijken en de sociolinguïstische impact van het taalbeleid. Een tweede vaststelling is dat niettegenstaande de hoge vlucht van de transnationale geschiedenis een geïntegreerde historische kijk op Nederland én België in de recente historiografie veel minder nagestreefd wordt dan twee decennia geleden. Uit de vergelijking van recent biografisch onderzoek naar Willem I en Leopold kan ten derde worden afgeleid dat behalve hun persoonlijke geschiedenis ook het generatieverschil tussen beide vorsten een rol heeft gespeeld in de romantische gevoeligheid van de koning der Belgen, althans in zijn discours, voor het taalnationalisme van de Vlaamse beweging, terwijl bij Willem I het staatsnationalisme primeerde op elke consideratie voor culturele minderheden in de eenheidsstaat die hij trachtte te creëren. Het recente onderzoek bevestigt tenslotte dat Willems taalpolitiek in de Vlaamse noch in de Waalse provincies een centrale splijtzwam was in de desintegratie.________The language policy during the reign of William I and Leopold I: a review of recent historical research Two hundred years after the creation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815 the current political situation in Belgium is for a large part determined by the community fault line. With hindsight the failed state of William I appears to be in particular a missed opportunity for the position of the Dutch language in Belgium that was split off from the Netherlands in 1830. This review of the recent historiography about the United Kingdom of the Netherlands focuses on the question of language policy as an instrument in nation building and nation formation. The first conclusion is that the language policy of William I receives more attention from linguists and literary experts than from historians. The emphasis is mostly on the language practices and the sociolinguistic impact of the language policy. The second conclusion is that in spite of the rapid increase in transnational history far less of an effort is made in the recent historiography to achieve an integrated historical view of the Netherlands and Belgium than two decades ago. Thirdly, from the comparison of recent biographical research into William I and Leopold it may be deduced that in addition to their personal history the generational difference between both sovereigns has also played a role in the romantic sensitivity of the King of the Belgians, at least in his discourse, about the language nationalism of the Flemish movement, while in the case of William I state nationalism was given priority over any consideration for cultural minorities in the unitary state he was trying to create. Finally, recent research confirms that William’s language policy was not a divisive issue in the disintegration either in the Flemish or in the Walloon provinces.

05–350Biesenbach-Lucas, Sigrun (American U; sblucas@american.edu), Communication topics and strategies in e-mail consultation: comparison between American and international university students. Language Learning & Technology (Hawaii, Manoa, USA) 9.2 (2005), 24–46.05–351Giles, Howard & Dorjee Dorjee (U of California, USA), Cultural identity in Tibetan diasporas. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Clevedon, UK) 26.2 (2005), 138–157.05–352Kheimets, Nina G. & Alek D. Epstein (Bar-Ilan U, Israel), Languages of science in the era of nation-state formation: the Israeli universities and their (non)participation in the revival of Hebrew. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Clevedon, UK) 26.1 (2005), 12–36.05–353Kitzinger, Celia. & Elizabeth Peel (U of York; celia_kitzinger@yahoo.com), The de-gaying and re-gaying of AIDS: contested homophobias in lesbian and gay awareness training. Discourse & Society (London, UK) 16.2 (2005), 173–197.05–354Lee, Seung-Hee (U of California, USA; shlee@humnet.ucla.edu), The scales of justice: balancing neutrality and efficiency in plea-bargaining encounters. Discourse & Society (London, UK) 16.1 (2005), 33–54.05–355Morales-López, Esperanza, Gabriela Prego-Vázquez & Luzia Domínguez-Seco (U of Coruña, Spain; lxmlopez@udc.es), Interviews between employees and customers during a company restructuring process. Discourse & Society (London, UK) 16.2 (2005), 225–268.05–356Nero, Shondel J. (St. John's U, USA; neros@stjohns.edu), Language, identities, and ESL pedagogy. Language and Education (Clevedon, UK) 19.3 (2005), 194–211.05–357Ryoo, Hye-Kyung (Seoul Women's U; hryoo2002@yahoo.com), Achieving friendly interactions: a study of service encounters between Korean shopkeepers and African-American customers. Discourse & Society (London, UK) 16.1 (2005), 79–105.05–358Schoonen, Rob & René Appel (U of Amsterdam, the Netherlands), The street language: a multilingual youth register in the Netherlands. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Clevedon, UK) 26.2 (2005), 85–117.05–359Vari-Bogiri, Harrah (U of the South Pacific, Port Vila, Vanuatu), A sociolinguistic survey of Araki: a dying language of Vanuatu. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Clevedon, UK) 26.1 (2005), 52–66.

Each of the 65 inhabited islands of Vanuatu hosts its own unique linguistic environment in which varying degrees of multilingualism are found. This paper defines various types of small-scale multilingual settings in Vanuatu and explores what sociohistorical factors have led to them. This paper is based on first-hand observations and primary data collected by the authors in four locations in the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu since 2016: two neighboring villages of Emae Island (Makatu and Tongamea), North Malekula, and on Maewo Island. The assessments of multilingualism in these examples from Vanuatu were qualitative, based on observations of sociolinguistic practices in each of these areas, as well as data from language history and language use surveys carried out in each place. Through defining and comparing the types of multilingualism present in the four case studies, we identify patterns in the social and historical processes that lead to various kinds of multilingualism: (a) interaction of linguistic and sociocultural identities and (b) mobility of both individuals and entire speech communities. The examples described in this paper are used to highlight the diversity of multilingualism found in Vanuatu and to explore how their differing linguistic environments and histories have contributed to their varying degrees of multilingualism. This paper makes an original contribution to knowledge about the small-scale multilingual situations in Vanuatu, offering descriptions of previously undocumented and endangered multilingual environments. Through an examination of the sociocultural motivations for multilingualism, alongside historical migrations of speaker groups and marked sociolinguistic identities, this paper contributes to research on why and how small-scale multilingualism can develop. Furthermore, this paper provides the foundation for future, more rigorous investigations into the small-scale multilingual situations of this highly understudied region.

Language landscape or linguistic landscape studies are a relatively new field of research within language sociology that has a specific interest in the public space (Shohamy, 2006:128). Linguistic landscape studies analyzes the use of language in the public and/or institutional sphere~ to determine the (instrumental or symbolical) value represented by the graphic representation of language, taking into account the relevant language policy (see also Gorter, 2007:5; Curtin, 2007:11). The goal of this research is to test and empirically apply the theory of the developing international and national linguistic landscape research paradigm on the multilingual South African higher education landscape. The design for this research consists of a theoretical and an empirical component. The aforementioned entails a thorough investigation of linguistic landscape studies and its development over the past couple of years. The empirical component is done in three phases. Phase 1 involves an in-depth investigation regarding nine of the 12 South African universities whose language policies are available in the public domain. During Phase 2, these universities are visited and structured interviews are held with the language committee/language manager to determine what the situation is regarding policy and practice in the language landscape domain. In Phase 3, the data from the previous two phases is assessed and interpreted to make recommendations to South African universities as to how to overcome the possible mismatch. This research found that the visibility of multilingualism in the South African higher education landscape is relatively low due to a mismatch between policy and practice. However, the mismatch is not caused by universities' lack of commitment to multilingualism. Deep-set causes, i.e. the processes involved with language planning, the lack of detailed language plans, and so forth, lead to this mismatch and the lack of visibility of multilingualism at South African universities.
Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This chapter deals with vocative and address terms of the several Melanesian languages and tries to investigate the grammatical and sociolinguistic characteristics of them. This study is a contrastive study of the six languages which are spoken in Papua New Guinea (Amele, Bel, and Tok Pisin) and Vanuatu (South Efate, Nguna, and Bislama). This study tries to clarify the characteristics of their lexicon (mainly kinship and address terms) and usages of personal pronouns and their verb inflections. Generally, the sample languages are rich in usages of these terms (kinship, personal pronouns, vocatives) whereas creole languages have limited usages and borrowed from English lexicon. Finally, this study claims that there are several rules of defining social relations and their grammatical forms.