Roots of Bilingual/bicultural Education in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

Trifonovitch, Gregory J (August 1975). "Roots of Bilingual/bicultural Education in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands". Topics in Culture Learning. 3: 2–13.

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Abstract: This article reviews the history of bilingual-bicultural education in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The U.S. government has administered the area since 1945. The original educational policy called for bilingual education with use of the local languages at the elementary level, but implementation was hampered by budget limitations. Native Micronesians also felt they were being discriminated against by not receiving sufficient English instruction. Other problems included the choice of an orthography for the native languages (each of which is briefly described), development of extension materials, the fact that not all native languages belonged to the same language families, and resistance on the part of the American staff to learning the local languages. Despite arguments in favor of native language literacy, English was eventually introduced in the first grade. The local languages were reintroduced into elementary education in 1967, and the arrival of the Peace Corps volunteers in 1968 markedly affected both attitudes toward local languages and implementation of the policy. The 1968 Pacific Language Development Project helped develop dictionaries, orthographies, and grammars. Increased Trust Territory administration budgets and federal legislation in support of bilingual-bicultural education finally led to the implementation of policies that had existed since 1945.

Extra details:

MAG: 77698758
OpenAlex: W77698758
CorpusID: 151029489