P-Ng Schools
p. 30 · Read in the full issue
Oxford English For
The Universal Language Headache in the Territory
A SEVEN-YEAR Oxford English Course is shortly to be intro duced to Papua-New Guinea na tive schools. Some of the first year books, readers and wall-pic tures are already in Port Moresby and others are due next year.
The Course was prepared by the Oxford University Press at the re quest of the Director of Education in P-NG. and is an adaptation of material already prepared for Mal aya but with complete redrawing of all illustrations to suit local con ditions. The whole course covers ; a seven years’ instruction in English.
The course consists of pupils’! books, carefully graded for each j year, and teachers’ notes to cover • the same periods and prepared with j the knowledge that they will be< used to a great extent by natives teachers. For class work there arej also wall pictures.
Whether or not this is the solu tion to finding a universal lan guage for Papua-New Guinea re mains to be seen. But it is a stepc towards the solution of the Terri tory’s greatest educational problem- According to the notes supplied toe us on the subject, the course is*; however, designed as a second lan guage—which immediately raisess the question, what is to be the first! language?
In Papua the problem might be 9 overcome by using Motu for ver nacular teaching, but in New/ Guinea where local dialects changes almost from village to village the same old problem confronts educa tionalists. The Oxford English!
Course is obviously not designed to be a second-string to Pidgin. Whatr. then is to be the primary mediuim of instruction?
Most of the missions, who are still responsible for the greater part’ of the teaching in the Territory v have solved the difficulty as far as; their particular mission is con-i cerned. That is, some teach in Pid-i gin; others in the local vernacular?
However, Papua-New Guinea can-r not be said to have a real education system until there is a genera.* system covering all native schools, In other Pacific territories which; are not plagued by New Guinea’: babel of tongues, it is usual to teach; in the vernacular in the loweis schools, teaching English as a sub-c ject. and in the higher schools tod give all instruction in English.
As far as New Guinea is con-r cerned it might be a better solution to reverse the process and, if Ox * ford English is to be. the answen; make that the medium of instruct tion throughout.