Bilingual confab pushes for expanded program

The 24th Annual Pacific Islands Bilingual Bicultural Association Conference for 2005 ended last Friday with participants from several Pacific countries outlining strategies for the expanded promotion of bilingual and bicultural policies in their respective jurisdictions.

More than 70 public school teachers from Guam, Marshall Islands, Pohnpei, American Samoa, Chuuk, Kosrae, Rota, Tinian and Saipan attended the five-day conference, which had the theme “Language and Culture: To Survive or Not To Survive?”

Cecilia Wase, a teacher from the Majuro Elementary School in Marshall Islands, said the republic sent a total of 15 delegates to the conference.

Taien Joseph, a teacher from Ebeye Public Elementary School, which is also in the Marshall Islands, said they learned several things during the conference, including the fact that the standards being implemented to maintain the bilingual capability of students on each island are the same.

The conference, held in Kagman High School, was supposed to be conducted in American Samoa but then got pushed to Tinian; however, according to PIBBA officer Frances Sablan, the group was not able to get the full support of the local government, hence the decision to move it to Saipan.

“Overall it has been great. The community support is there,” said Sablan. She said that, had there been more time, more community members and leaders would have helped them.

During the weeklong conference, there were keynote speakers representing the local government, religious groups and the media. Department of Community and Cultural Affairs Secretary Juan L. Babauta himself spoke for about two hours on his views and observations on the conditions and status of the bilingual program in the CNMI.

John Gonzales, a TV host and an officer with the Marianas Public Lands Authority, made a presentation on the third day of the conference; Bishop Tomas A. Camacho from the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa visited the conference on Thursday. A parade of cultures was also held Thursday on the grounds of Kagman High School.

The mission of the association is to promote bilingualism and biculturalism in the Pacific to establish channels of communication for disseminating information relevant to bilingual/bicultural activities in Pacific.

The association also aims to foster community involvement in the development and implementation of bilingual/bicultural policies in the Pacific and to serve as a forum for the development of the bilingual/bicultural philosophy in the Pacific.

PIBBA also aims to encourage the implementation of quality programs of bilingual/bicultural instruction in Pacific islands’ schools and communities.

A proclamation signed by Gov. Juan N. Babauta two weeks ago said that the languages and cultures of the Pacific Islands Bilingual Bicultural Association represent American Samoans, Chamorros of Guahan and the CNMI, Carolinians of the CNMI, Belauans, Chuukese, Hawaiians, Kosraeans, Marshallese, Pohnpeians, and Yapese.