On the remote and rather isolated Micronesian islands of Kiribati, English is an official language since independence was achieved in 1979. However, English in Kiribati has a peculiar history. My presentation is structured... [ view full abstract ]
On the remote and rather isolated Micronesian islands of Kiribati, English is an official language since independence was achieved in 1979. However, English in Kiribati has a peculiar history.
My presentation is structured into two parts. In a first part, I will present an overview of educational stances the missionaries, the colonial government and the islanders themselves have taken, from 1857 to the present. With reference to evidence from an extensive report by Pannu (1993) and from my own research and fieldwork, I aim to show how progress in this field has always been slow and that educational standards as well as English language proficiency levels are still rather low. With respect to status and attitudes, however, the English language is very prominent and its importance widely acknowledged.
In a second part, I address cultural and linguistic opportunities as well as challenges encountered in the creation process of a smartphone application, containing a Kiribati-English dictionary and a virtual flashcard learning tool. Among other things, I discuss:
- the inclusion of locals in the creation process, both at the backend and the frontend of the app;
- competing orthographies, what they reflect, and how they may be circumvented within the app;
- the necessity of descriptions and illustrative examples to complement otherwise insufficient flashcard-like translations.
According to the latest census – published in 2016 but conducted in 2015 –, only a third of all households had access to a mobile phone (not necessarily a smartphone) and only 15% of Kiribati islanders used the internet. Since 2015, however, smartphones have become widespread. A freely accessible smartphone app that is specifically geared towards Kiribati islanders and that can complement classroom English lessons is a very promising endeavour.
References
National Statistics Office; Ministry of Finance. (2016). 2015 population and housing census: Volume 1. Bairiki: National Statistics Office; Ministry of Finance.
Pannu, G. S. (1993). The development of English Language Teaching in Kiribati: A critical appraisal, with special reference to the primary level. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://ethos.bl.uk
