Case study III: Hidden voices? “One of my children must school French in case a visitor comes to our house”: Language-in-education policy in Vanuatu through the eyes of a well-meaning mother Fiona Willans, King’s College London

Choosing a primary school: The Vanuatu education system in context French-mediumEnglish-medium OR

Language(s) within official education policy English or French as medium of instruction; the other language is taught as a subject School rules that ban the use of Bislama (the co- official language) and the remaining 106 languages of Vanuatu Sporadic efforts to implement mother tongue education (Year 1 only) Official policy of “bilingualism” (English/French)

Martha’s argument (1) We need both English and French, in order to communicate with tourists “Mi mi talem se wan pikinini blong mi mas skul French. Sapos yumi gat wan visita we i kam long haos we i toktok French? At least mi gat somebody we i andastanem.” [I’ve said that one of my children must school French. Suppose we have a visitor who comes to the house who speaks French? At least I’ll have somebody who understands.]

Martha’s argument (2) We need to be “bilingual” to get jobs “Sapos yumi talem se wan bilingual uh (.) person? Bae hem nao bae hem i karem mo janis blong karem wan job? Compared to wan we hem i either Anglophone nomo o Francophone nomo.” [If we talk about a bilingual uh (.) person? He now has more chances to get a job? Compared to someone who is either just an Anglophone or just a Francophone.]

Martha’s argument (3) We need both English and French, because they are used all around us “Mi lukum long (.) tudei like you go anywhere? French mo Inglis nao hem i surround long ol eria/s o iven raon long ples ia yu luk.” [I see that (.) today like you go anywhere? French and English surround us everywhere or even around here you look.]

Tourist numbers on the island of Ambae  80-90% tourists remain in capital city  99% to three islands only ( )  Ambae tourism advisor without tourists Sources of Vanuatu visitors (June 2012) (Vanuatu National Statistics Office, 2012) The language(s) of tourism Australia New Zealand New Caledonia Other Pacific Europe North America Other 63%17%7%3%5%2%3%

Stated language requirements within job advertisements (2 month sample of all daily and weekly newspapers, 2011) The language(s) of employment

36 public notices displayed around local commercial centre TypedHandwritten Bislama919 English71 French00 Other languages00 The linguistic landscape

Looking elsewhere for language

Questions 1.To what extent can Martha’s account be considered a ‘counter narrative’? 2.To which (or whose) accounts does her story run counter?