Society discuss on languages

THIS year has been declared by the United Nations as the “International year of indigenous languages” and in September, the Port Moresby Linguistic Society of PNG (LSPNG) attended a conference to discuss the languages of Papua New Guinea.
The conference was organised by the Linguistic department of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of PNG.
At least 60 people gathered there from around PNG, and from overseas including the US, Australia, New Zealand and even Russia.
Those that attended were teachers, university lecturers and students, missionaries, community leaders, and government stakeholders.
At the meeting, researchers reported on special features of the different indigenous languages they have been studying on, the effect of language and language policies on education, on dictionary work being carried out for various indigenous languages and for Tok Pisin, and on survey work, to find out how many languages are spoken in PNG, and how many languages are being lost.
Of particular interest, the SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistic) language survey team reported that the latest language count for PNG is 851 languages.
But 11 of these have already disappeared.
The speakers have all died out, and their children are speaking Tok Pisin or another language instead.
They also reported that 211 of the remaining 840 languages are in danger of disappearing in this lifetime, as parents speak to their children only in Tok Pisin, failing to pass on their language heritage to the next generation.
LSPNG 2019, themed “Unity in diversity”, addressed the conflicting interests of promoting linguistic and cultural preservation, while also ensuring that Vision 2050 becomes reality.
Researchers emphasised the crucial role of education, and particularly early childhood language education, in achieving both these goals.
A detailed report on the findings of current research into the use of language in education, including evidence-based recommendations (particularly regarding the urgent need for massive investment in teacher training), will be released shortly.
This year’s conference was sponsored by Kumul Petroleum Holdings, the PNG Science and Technology Secretariat, the Ministry of National Planning and Monitoring, the Oil Palm Industry Corporation, the National Literacy and Awareness Secretariat of the Department of Education, and the Conservation and Environmental Protection Authority.
Next year’s Linguistic Society conference will be organised by SIL at Ukarumpa in the Eastern Highlands.