| In the context of significant societal language contact and shift, members of the Kaugel language and cultural group in Papua New Guinea have operated a non-formal pre-primary mother tongue education program since 1986. The goals of the program are to prepare children for successful participation in the primary level of the English-language school system while, at the same time, promoting their appreciation of and attachment to the local language and culture. The generation just born when the Kaugel people first experienced contact with the Western culture in the early 1950s and now in a position of community leadership, consider themselves to be namel manmeri--the "in-between people"--who are best able to bridge the distance between past and present, old and new, for the children's benefit.;However, some concerned educators see the twin goals of the pre-primary program as mutually exclusive, claiming the achievement of one of the goals precludes attainment of the other, thus creating irreconcilable tensions in the lives of those who pursue them. This case study is an attempt to understand those tensions and how the parents, teachers, children, and administrators attempt to resolve them. The study focuses on the views and attitudes of participants in the program and relates them to actual language use in the classroom and community.;The findings of the study indicate a wide range of attitudes among Kaugel speakers toward the maintenance of their language and culture and their attitudes toward the effects of formal English education on their children and community. Participants express a view of themselves as actors in and shapers of the events around them, rather than passive victims of impersonal societal forces. Nevertheless, many adult community members express perplexity over what they consider the younger generation's disrespect for cultural values. In that context, the mother tongue pre-primary program provides a viable, though limited, venue for local language and culture maintenance.;Based on the understanding gained from the study, a community program of awareness of language shift focusing on strengthening the home and community as mother tongue domains is recommended along with the community's active involvement in developing curriculum for their children's pre-primary education. |
