Crocombe, Marjorie and Dixon, Roderick and Early, Robert and Fimone, Wilfred and Fiu, Rachel and Gragg, Joan and Ioane, Tifaole and Jione, Mojito and Fua, Seu'ula J. and Togahai, Birtha L. and Lolohea, Anoano and Naisau, Semi A and Nicholas, Sally A and Papatua, Vae and Rafai, Rosarine and Taleo, Hendricks and Taumoefolau, Melenaite and Thompson, Tricia and Veikune, Ana H. and Willans, Fiona (2022) New degree programmes in Pacific languages at the University of the South Pacific: Stories of success and determination. [Book, Journal, Proceedings Edited]
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
At the University of the South Pacific’s 50th anniversary, we celebrated the introduction of degree programmes in Cook Islands Māori, Rotuman, Tongan and Niuafo’ou, Vagahau Niue, and Vanuatu Language Studies, alongside Fijian, the only language Indigenous to the region that had previously featured in our curriculum. For the first time, English is being challenged as the only language through which high-level concepts can be discussed, and through which academic research can be conducted. Pacific languages will now be taught in schools by teachers who are qualified to do so, rather than by fluent speakers trained to teach other subjects. Students can now submit assignments in their dominant language. The possibility of studying a Pacific language is becoming normalised. Our coming together here is to share the complexity of this story. We need to engage with this complexity and keep talking about why all of this matters. We need our institutional and political leaders and allies to understand that the actions we take at our university will impact the way the languages and cultures of this region are valued, used and transmitted to the next generations.
| Item Type: | Book, Journal, Proceedings Edited |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | n/a |
| Subjects: | P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics |
| Divisions: | School of Pacific Arts, Communication and Education (SPACE) |
| Depositing User: | Fiona Willans |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Jul 2025 00:28 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Jul 2025 00:28 |
| URI: | https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/13211 |
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