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Rules of Chamorro writing up for review
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Posted on May 27 2009
There is a general assumption among parents that if their children are taught English at home, they will do better in school, but the head of the Chamorro-Carolinian Language Policy Commission says this is wrong.
Dave Omar said this misguided notion is the main cause of the massive decline in the number of children speaking the local dialects.
“We believe that parents should make the right adjustment,” Omar said.
He said there is still hope for local dialects—Chamorro and Carolinian—to flourish just like in the old days.
“There are still some parents who maintain that they will teach their children the local language at home then let them learn English in school,” said Omar.
As pat of efforts to reverse this declining trend, the CCLP will be holding a five-day seminar/workshop to review the rules of the Chammorro Orthography or the writing system of the local language.
“This is to see whether it is still applicable or it needs to be changed,” said Omar.
The workshop has been set for July 7-11 but CCLPC is still making arrangements with some hotels for the venue.
CCLPC is currently preparing a grant assistance proposal from the Humanities Council for this project.
The project is in collaboration with Dr. Rita Inos, Dr. Liz Rechebei and Dr. Sandra Chang.
Invited participants will be the staff of CCLPC and members of the committee that is currently reviewing the Chamorro Dictionary.
Inos, Rechebei and Chang are coordinating that dictionary review committee.
It would be the first time that a review of the rules is made.
The Chammorro Orthography was established in 1973.
