This paper discusses the relationship between pidgins and creoles and indigenous language maintenance, explaining that the development of pidgin and creole languages always occurs in the context of language contact, often between a European colonial language and one or more indigenous languages. Pidgins are languages that are primarily used as a…

This paper examines factors impacting the acquisition and use of the standard dialect by Australia's Aboriginal youth. It explains that acquisition of a second dialect has implications for the learner's cognitive-affective and sociocultural life and argues that preservation of an "insider" perspective (related to identity) is a key…

A recently implemented program in a decentralized provincial district of Papua New Guinea delays the entry of children into English-medium primary school for two years, during which time the children are taught literacy in a village-based school in their indigenous language, a pidgin, with the local customs and culture as the basis of the…

Acute intercultural communication problems posed by multilingualism in Papua New Guinea are discussed, and ways in which they are being addressed are examined. An introductory section outlines the language situation in Melanesia. It is noted that the area's language diversity and colonization and missionary activity have resulted in the emergence…