SOAS Research Online

Abstract

From colonisation by France in 1853 until the Accords of 1989 and 1998, the indigenous Kanak people of New Caledonia, and their culture and languages, were marginalised and children were forbidden from speaking their home languages at school. Education still follows the French curriculum, although gradual devolution of powers is under way. Little sociolinguistic research has been carried out in Kanaky/New Caledonia, especially into the processes of language shift and change, language attitudes and ideologies in relation to language policy; the only readily available study is Schooling ( 1990 ), which focuses on the role of social networks in language maintenance. The small-scale study described in this chapter investigates attitudes towards language and language practices in Pweevo, Northern Province, and then goes on to examine the responses of both individuals and government agencies.