Native languages dying out?

Preliminary findings of a survey conducted earlier in the year indicated that the use of indigenous languages—Chamorro and Carolinian—among elementary school students is “at a very minimal percentage,” according to the Chamorro and Carolinian Language Policy Commission.

In an interview Friday, Commission executive director Candido Taman said the preliminary findings have raised concerns. He said that among students, the two languages “are alarmingly in the threat of demise.”

Although he declined to discuss specifics as the results were still preliminary, Taman said the issue would be addressed through programs funded by the Administration for Native Americans Grant, which provides the Commonwealth about $226,000 for the preservation and promotion of indigenous languages and cultures.

“As a result of the survey, we will design programs, strategies, and approaches in order to promote, maintain, and preserve our indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian languages,” he said.

Taman said another survey would be conducted within the community three weeks from now, citing that results will determine the types of programs that will be created.

“We are asking the cooperation of the general public to welcome the survey staff and to provide them with adequate responses so we can gather accurate information to help us design effective programs in the hope of obtaining future funding from the ANA resource,” he said.

Taman said that, since the ANA Grant is a competitive grant extended to all U.S. territories, the types of programs and their effectiveness might play a big role in the approval of future Commonwealth grant applications.

Taman said that shortly after the completion of the community survey, the Commission would conduct various contests, including essay, jingles, and commercial community service advertisements within schools in the CNMI.

“This will provide children the opportunity to compose jingles, essays, and advertisements in Chamorro and Carolinian languages. There is an alarming need for us to start doing something,” he said.

Further, Taman cited that although many factors play in the deterioration of the two languages among the youth, the primary cause is the diversity of various ethnicities in the community.

“It’s very difficult to communicate without using the English language,” he said. “[But] by doing so, we still have to be mindful that our families at home must use [indigenous] languages in order to maintain and preserve them. Culture will be no culture without a language.”

Taman said one of the most critical need is “adequate support” from policy makers, as well as the private sectors and the church, “which plays an important role in shaping our community.”