New technologies and language shifting in Vanuatu

Leslie Vandeputte-Tavo
Abstract

During the last few years, mobile phones and social networks have deeply changed relationships and, insidiously, the use and representations of languages in Vanuatu. In spite of being very recent, it seems that new ways of communication imply changes regarding the various ways of using and adapting languages, amongst which are code-switching and language-shifting. Bislama, the national local lingua franca, is becoming more and more used in phone conversations. Internet and especially social networks (such as Facebook) are revealing new language strategies in social intercourses. This article examines interactions of languages that are mediated through social networks and mobile phone exchanges. More specifically, this paper discusses different language ideologies that are manifest in and deployed over forms of telecommunication.

Keywords:
Quick links
A browser-friendly version of this article is not yet available. View PDF
Bourdieu, P., and L. Boltanski
(1975) Le fétichisme de la langue. Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales 1.4: 2-32. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bourdieu, P
(1982) Ce que parler veut dire : l’Économie des échanges linguistiques. Paris: Fayard.Google Scholar
Crowley, T
(2000) The language situation in Vanuatu. Current issues in Language Planning 1.1: 47-132. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
(2004) Bislama reference grammar. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.Google Scholar
Goody, J
(2007) Pouvoirs et savoirs de l'écrit. Paris: La Dispute.Google Scholar
Kroskrity, P
(2005) Language ideologies. In A. Duranti (ed.), A companion to Linguistic Anthropology. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 496-517. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kulick, D
(1992) Language Shift and Cultural Reproduction : Socialization, Self and Syncretism in a Papua New Guinean Village. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Lindstorm, L
(2007) Bislama into Kwamera : Code-mixing and language change on Tanna (Vanuatu). Language Documentation and Conservation 1.2: 216-239.Google Scholar
O’Barr, W
(1982) Linguistic evidence: Language, power, and strategy in the courtroom. New-York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Sijapati-Basnett, B
(2009) Social and economic impact of introducing telecommunications throughout Vanuatu : Research findings. Port-Vila : Pacific Institute of Public Policy.Google Scholar
Silverstein, M
(1979) Language structure and linguistic ideology. In R. Clyne, W. Hanks, and C. Hofbauer (eds.), The Elements : A parasession on Linguistic Units and Levels. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society, pp. 193-247.Google Scholar
Siméoni, P
(ed.) (2009) Atlas du Vanouatou (Vanuatu). Port-Vila : Editions Géo-Consulte.Google Scholar
Spitulnik, D
(1998) Mediated modernities: Encounters with the electronic in Zambia. Visual Anthropology Review 14.2: 63-84. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Woolard, K
(1998) Introduction: Language ideology as a field of inquiry. In B. Schieffelin, K. Woolard, P. Kroskrity (eds.), Language Ideologies: Practice and Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 3-47.  BoPGoogle Scholar