In Dominica, two languages are in tension: English is the official language of government,
schools, and urban settings, while a French-based creole commonly called Patwa1
has been the oral
language of the rural population for centuries. Over the past few decades, however, rural parents have
become concerned that Patwa hinders children’s acquisition of English and thus restricts social
mobility, and have instituted their own community-level policy prohibiting children from speaking
Patwa in most settings. This is contributing to a rapid language shift from Patwa to varieties of
English in most villages. Yet, adults simultaneously value Patwa for a range of expressive functions,
and frequently codeswitch in the presence of and to children. Children learn the complex associations
with both languages, and often acquire those aspects of Patwa that are affectively salient in their verbal
environments. Children also learn to monitor their language use around adults, and rarely speak Patwa
at home or at school. When they do, adults correct their most isolated uses, but in a way that often
highlights place- and age-related constraints.
This paper explores these complex language socialization practices and ideologies, which are a
driving force in the language shift but also may contribute to the maintenance of Patwa, at least for
particular functions.2
The paper suggests that in the process of language shift, Patwa and English have
become indexically linked to local notions of personhood, status, and authority within the context of
the adult-child relationship. Bilingual adults may use both languages, but children are socialized to be
English dominant and are monitored by adults for any Patwa usage. This division relates to more than
the future-oriented strategy of providing children with English so that they may succeed in school and
the job market, as adults claim. It is embedded within local theories of personhood and expectations of
children, who are considered “naturally” disobedient and in need of control. In this way, children’s
Patwa usage has become threatening not only to their English, as adults so often maintain, but also to
adult authority and control, particularly at home and at school. Thus, while Patwa has historically held
a relatively powerless position compared to English in the national linguistic economy (Bourdieu
1977, 1991; Gal 1988; Heller 1995; Jaffe 1999; Rampton 1995; Woolard 1985, 1989), it has come to
carry significant symbolic weight in rural villages as a powerful linguistic resource for adults to
control their children, and for children to structure and organize their own peer play (Paugh 2001). In
order to illustrate this, the paper examines several examples of children’s use of Patwa at home and at
school, and the responses of parents and teachers to these “transgressions.” The paper concludes with
a discussion of the implications of this ideological shift for recent urban-based language revitalization
efforts, which seek to introduce Patwa into schools – one of the most strictly English and adultcontrolled
domains in rural villages.