Template:Nhsc-v1-202 - Revision history

Jennifer Wada at 06:45, 10 April 2006

2006-04-10T06:45:34Z

Jennifer Wada at 06:44, 10 April 2006

2006-04-10T06:44:31Z

Jennifer Wada at 10:48, 8 March 2006

2006-03-08T10:48:57Z

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with Hawai'i and even emigration will
not change that. A consequence of
this obligatory local identification
that Hawaiians carry is a stronger
attachment to pidgin among Hawaiians
than among other ethnic groups. This
attachment has been observed by
linguists who have noticed an increase
rather than a decrease of pidgin
features in the speech of Hawaiians in
recent years.
One of the ironies of pidgin is
that the present pidgin-speaking
generation is often observed as
speaking poorer English than the
native Hawaiian speakers educated in
English at the turn of the century.
It has also been observed that with
all the exposure of modern-day
Hawaiians to Standard English on
television, newspapers, and in the
American school system, citizens of
small Pacific Island nations
preserving their indigenous languages
often speak better English than the
"civilized" Hawaiians. Something is
clearly wrong when the Hawaiian
language has been sacrificed in the
name of the English language and
instead of a great leap forward in
terms of benefits in English, there
appears to be a regression.
One explanation for this situation
is the fact that the Hawaiian-speaking
Hawaiians and indigenous languageconserving
Pacific Islanders look upon
learning English in a different way
than pidgin speakers do. For speakers
of full Polynesian languages, learning
English is simply a skill. For the
pidgin speaker, learning Standard
English represents a threat to his
identity and the identity of the
group, because that identity is
maintained by not using Standard
Enqlish pronunciation, vocabulary,
intonation, and SO' forth.
A second explanation for the
impressive English of Hawaiians of the
monarchy period and citizens of
several modern South Pacific nations
is that the British English favored b;
them for their schools has greater
status than the American English
taught in contemporary Hawai'i
schools. Although not generally
considered by educators in Hawai'i,
American English has less prestige
than British English internationally,
and although the difference in status
is not as great as between pidgin and
Standard English, the added status of
British English can make a South
Pacific Islander of equal intelligence
to an ordinary American appear more
intelligent, even to other Americans.
For the same reasons that pidgin
speakers feel attached to their
dialect of English, American speakers
are attached to their dialect of
English and have not adopted the
higher status British form of the
language. Speakers of Hawaiian during
the monarchy had no allegiance to any
dialect of English, be it American,
British, or Australian. It was only
natural for them to feel that if they
were going to learn the English
language, they should learn the
dialect that would give them the most
prestige, and therefore serve them the
best. From that point of view, their
choice of British English as their
dialect of English was a logical one.
Perhaps the strangest feature of
the replacement of Hawaiian with
pidgin is how it has been reflected in
Hawaiian behavior. This feature
really has nothing to do with pidgin
per se, but with the image of
Hawaiians as depicted through the
medium of English. In an attempt to
assert their distinct identity from
the English speakers, some Hawaiians
have consciously or subconsciously
tried to live up to what the
English-language literature describes
{{p|202}}

@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 maintained by <u>not</u> using Standard
 English pronunciation, vocabulary,
-intonation, and SO' forth.
+intonation, and so forth.
 A second explanation for the
@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 monarchy period and citizens of
 several modern South Pacific nations
-is that the British English favored b;
+is that the British English favored by
 them for their schools has greater
 status than the American English

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 features in the speech of Hawaiians in
 recent years.
 One of the ironies of pidgin is
 that the present pidgin-speaking
@@ Line 31: / Line 32: @@
 terms of benefits in English, there
 appears to be a regression.
 One explanation for this situation
 is the fact that the Hawaiian-speaking
-Hawaiians and indigenous languageconserving
+Hawaiians and indigenous language-conserving
 Pacific Islanders look upon
 learning English in a different way
@@ Line 43: / Line 45: @@
 identity and the identity of the
 group, because that identity is
-maintained by not using Standard
+maintained by <u>not</u> using Standard
-Enqlish pronunciation, vocabulary,
+English pronunciation, vocabulary,
 intonation, and SO' forth.
 A second explanation for the
 impressive English of Hawaiians of the
@@ Line 83: / Line 86: @@
 choice of British English as their
 dialect of English was a logical one.
 Perhaps the strangest feature of
 the replacement of Hawaiian with