The sociolinguistics of the rise and fall of postcolonial languages: The case of Micronesia

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This research project aims to explore mechanisms of language change in the postcolonial multilingual Republic of Palau from both macro and micro perspectives. We investigated (a) to what extent and (b) in what way the two former colonial languages, Japanese and English, are used alongside indigenous language Palauan as well as (c) what linguistic and extra-linguistic factors are likely to affect speakers' language use.Our findings have made theoretical contributions to the field of contact sociolinguistics; in particular, leading to a better understanding of (a) the effects of so-called "strong and weak ties" upon language maintenance and shift, (b) the applicability of the Concentration Model to the obsolescence of Palauan Japanese as well as (c) the applicability of the Dynamic Model to American postcolonial Palauan English.