Playing With Languages—Children and Change in a Caribbean Village

The use of Patwa (an Afro-French creole) in Dominica is in the midst of conflicting pressures. On the one hand, parents and schools prohibit the use of this natural language as it impairs children's ability to succeed in both school and work. The government, on the other hand is pushing its use in order to promote cultural heritage tourism. Within this context, Paugh (anthropology, James Madison U.), makes use here of ethnographic fieldwork and video-recorded social interactions to explore an entirely different facet: how the use of separate languages by children in play can be used to negotiate authority, autonomy and social identity. In addition to footnotes, a 19 page bibliography is included. Some of the material in this book makes use of a 2005 paper in Language in Society and a paper published in the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Amy L. Paugh is Associate Professor of Anthropology at James Madison University. Her research investigates language socialization, children’s cultures and language ideologies in the Caribbean and United States.