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English and Chamorro on Guam
Author(s) -
UNDERWOOD ROBERT
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
world englishes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.6
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-971X
pISSN - 0883-2919
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-971x.1989.tb00436.x
Subject(s) - indigenous , ideology , government (linguistics) , identity (music) , linguistics , english language , sociology , political science , law , ecology , philosophy , physics , politics , acoustics , biology
Chamorro, the indigenous language of Guam, has declined over the past several decades under the pressure of English, the language of government, education, business, and the media. Attempts to cultivate and revive Chamorro have relied on the emotional connection between Chamorro and ethnic identity. This paper argues that attempts to revive the language need to be based on an examination of the English language aspirations and behavior of the Chamorro people, and on the ideology of English as it has developed in the past several decades in Guam.