Interchange, Vol. 18, Nos. 1/2 (Spring/Summer 1987), 124-135

Literacy in Fiji: Its Origins and its Development Francis Mangubhai The University of the South Pacific and OISE Literacy was introduced into Fiji by Christian missionaries just over 150),ears ago, and for almost 100 years limited literacy practices were fostered by schools run mainly by the churches. With the rise of towns and of a bureaucracy, literacy in English as a second language was also introduced. But the levels of literacy in both vernacular and the second languages have been generally low, especially in the rural areas. A research project set up to improve literacy in educational contexts is described. Current problems related to literacy and future developments are discussed. Great was the astonishment and delight of the people as the)' saw the marvels of the Mission press. The Heathen at once declared it to be a god. And mightier far than their mightiest and most revered deities was that engine at which they wondered . . . . That Mission press began, with silent prayer, its great and infallible work, which was destined . . . to confer upon its [Fiji's] many homes the blessings of civilization, and enrich its many hands with the wealth of the Gospel of Jesus. Williams and Calvert (1859)

The development of literacy in Fiji is very closely linked to the advent of Christianity in the early part of the 19th century, more particularly, to the brand of Christianity which regarded the Bible and its regular reading--and the conducting of one's life according to the precepts contained in it--as necessary for salvation. In this, Fiji's experience is not unlike that of many countries in Africa (cf. Bokamba, 1984). There, Christianity as well as Islam, the two "excluding religions" as Goody (1968) has called them, both of which are based on the Book, introduced literacy; and in the case of Christianity, advanced literacy through basic literacy education. The development of literacy in Fiji has been affected by the policies of the colonial government, the rise of the bureaucracy, the development of a workforce, and the universalization of education. Literacy has remained largely a utilitarian tool, initially quite narrowly so. Later, it became associated with educational opportunities and prospects of employment. Attempts to improve literacy within educational contexts have been made and this paper examines one such project. The paper concludes with a brief section on the likely development of literacy in Fiji in the future.

The Development of Literacy in Fiji Literacy in Fiji shares a common historical origin with other countries in the South Pacific, particularly Polynesia. Literacy arrived with the missionaries, whose aim 124

Interchange 18/1-2© The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education 1987

LITERACY IN FIJI

125

was to convert Fijians to Christianity. One of their major weapons toward this end was literacy. Previous missionary experience in the Pacific had indicated that the work of conversion was best served if the missionaries adopted the indigenous language rather than attempting to impose their own language upon the people. In keeping with this policy, the missionaries were specifically charged to "draw up a comprehensive statement respecting the character of the language, and the difference between it and the other Polynesian dialects, the principles on which you have settled its grammatical form, and the rules by which you have been guided in translating into it the word of God" (Cargill letters, 18 June 1839, quoted in Schutz, 1972, p. 2). The first missionaries, in fact, arrived from the neighboring island kingdom of Tonga where Christianity and its concomitant literacy (in the Tongan language) had been introduced some few years earlier. Literacy practices of one type or another, therefore, have existed in Fiji, Tonga, and Western Samoa for over 150 years. With the arrival of missionaries in Fiji in 1835, formal schooling was introduced into a society in which learning had previously been integrated into the everyday life of the people and in which particular types of learning were the prerogative of particular groups within a tribe. One learned to become a fisherman by going fishing with other fishermen and learning from the actual practice of fishing. One learned to be a canoe builder by working with the canoe builders. In short, traditional education was "practical, vocational and was concerned largely in maintaining the status quo" (Bole, 1972, p. I). The initial educational emphasis given by the missionaries was on the teaching of reading in the Fijian language, for which a romanized alphabet had been devised. Some teaching of elementary numeracy was later added. The prime focus remained, however, on the teaching of reading in order to read the Bible and other religious writing (see Mangubhai, 1984, for further details). However, there was not just one variety of Fijian language throughout the group of islands, and as the missionaries moved to other major islands the economics of printing forced a choice of one of the Fijian languages (or communalects) as the main literary medium (Geraghty, 1984). The choice was most judicious on the part of the missionaries. The seat of the most powerful "state" at that time was the small island of Ban, so the Bauan dialect was chosen.1 Moreover, this language was similar to the "standard Fijian" which was the existing language of diplomacy. Hence the Bauan language was "objectified"; the written form became the standard against which language could be judged as correct or incorrect. It became an objective yardstick. However, this very process of objectifying one of the Fijian dialects is not without an irony that springs from the way the written word tends to be adopted as the "standard." The case is perhaps analogous to the attitude of educated English in the 19th century to the English used in the James II version of the Bible. This language, which subsequently appeared in books and became the literary standard for Fijian society, was, according to linguist Geraghty (1984), different in a number of ways from the actual language of Bau . . . . What had become the literary Fijian was, quite simply, Fijian as the missionaries spoke it; and they seem to have spoken it rather poorly for a number of reasons. Paramount among these is that they were under pressure, both from their supervisors and from Fijian converts, to learn the language and produce translations quickly. (p. 35) This particular codification of a spoken language into a written form still has a powerful influence over the Fijian people in regards to what is acceptable in print. 2 In

126

FRANCIS MANGUBHAI

the early 1970s, for example, a collection of short stories written in more colloquial Fijian was published, but it received a very cool reception from the leaders of opinion in Fijian society because, among other reasons, it did not use the "literary" Fijian, the language of the Fijian Bible. Literacy not only altered the language, it altered positions of authority at certain levels of the society. The Wesleyan Methodist Church, to which the first missionaries belonged, soon established village schools run by pastor-teachers who underwent a rudimentary form of teacher training. Thus into the Fijian society was injected a new elite, associated with the Christian Church, an elite who could read and write and who eventually supplanted the bete, the priest of the older order, whose communication with the spirits was through oral rituals and ceremonies. By the time Fiji was ceded to Great Britain in 1874 as a crown colony, reading was widespread enough for the first governor of Fiji to comment upon it. Over 50 years later, Mann (1935) was to say that due "almost entirely to the efforts of the missions, most adult Fijians can read and write their own language" (p. 13). Fifty years after Fiji had become a British crown colony, the churches, Methodist and Catholic (the latter having arrived in Fiji a decade later thanthe former), continued to play a leading role in the education of the Fijian people. The Methodists emphasized the use of the Fijian language in their schools although the Catholics had begun to teach some English during the 1890s. The introduction of English into the school curriculum and the colonial government's policies after 1916, when it established a Department of Education, were to change dramatically the emphasis on the language used in educational settings in the 1900s. After 1879, the racial composition of the country also underwent a dramatic change. The colonial government of Fiji brought people from the subcontinent of India to work on the sugar cane plantations. By the time this indentured labor system was abolished in 1920, over 60,000 indentured laborers had been brought to Fiji, many of whom elected not to return to India (Lal, 1983). With natural increase and some further migration from India, the country rapidly became multiethnic and multilingual, with the present composition being about half Indo-Fijians and just under half Fijians. By the mid-1930s, the Methodist Church had relinquished control of most of the elementary schools to the government. The use of Fijian as the medium of instruction thereafter became less widespread; a new policy was implemented whereby the medium of instruction for the first three years was to be the vernacular language, Fijian or Hindi, but was thereafter to be replaced by English) This ensured the predominance of English in the educational system right to the present time, even after political independence in 1970. Uses of Literacy

It is obvious from this very brief sketch of the development of the educational system in Fiji that the initial emphasis in education was on literacy in the vernacular language. However, the colonial government's increasing reliance on clerks who were literate in English put pressure on the educational system. The colonial government promulgated a policy from 1916 onward of providing financial aid to those schools that taught some English. Concurrently, the increasingly vocal demand by the Indian population after 1920 for more English--which was seen as the

LITERACY IN FIJI

127

key to better and higher education and better employment opportunitieswgradually changed the emphasis and tilted it in favor of English (Mangubhai, 1984). By then, certain types of uses of literacy in the Fijian language had been established, including reading the Bible and other religious writing, reading the government monthly paper in Fijian, government notices, and such like, and the writing of some letters. 4 That letter writing for a variety of purposes had not replaced the traditional messengers in Fijian society in the 19th century is evidenced by the following: While he [a chief] might offend the qase [the older folks, those in traditional authority] in Natewa bay [sic] by sending for their youths to build houses for him at Somosomo by letter in the European fashion [italics added], not by word of the accredited matanivanua [diplomat] as etiquette dictated [italics added] . . . . (Blythe to Colonial Secretary, 23 September 1881, FCSO 81/1913, quoted in Scarr, 1980, p. 96) There is also some evidence that literacy was restricted to reading and that little writing ability was developed in the missionary schools. Clammer (1976, p. 164) cites from the report of a commission appointed to investigate certain alleged errors in an 1880 census of the native population: "We remember them [births and deaths], some of us by writing, but others do not write them down." And a quote from a scribe who kept returns of births and deaths in books: "There are some village teachers that cannot write. Those that cannot write use pieces of reed for the purpose of reckoning up the births and deaths that occur in their villages. They can read, although they cannot write [italics added]." It is obvious that in the 19th century, missionary education fostered and made socially acceptable only a narrow range of uses of literacy, primarily in the Fijian language. It was, in fact, a very subtle form of control since information was available to the Fijian public at large only through the Fijian language, the publication of which was in the hands of the mission and the colonial government. The English newspapers were devoted largely to advertisements and public and trade notices. There was little overseas news and the small amount of local news reported was discussed from the perspective of the colonial settlers (Clammer, 1976). It was therefore unlikely that English newspapers were read by even the small urban part of the Fijian population which had access to them. With increased emphasis on education since World War II, increased emphasis on the English language within the educational system, and increased urbanization, the range of uses of literacy also slowly increased to include some reading of fiction, magazines, and comics in English and political flyers and administrative notices in English, Fijian, and Hindi. s These developments have been uneven, resulting in marked differences between the urban and rural areas. The former are served by newspapers, two dallies in the English language, two weeklies in Fijian, and one Hindi weekly. The people on the smaller islands of the country do not have regular access to such media. In regards to the literacy practices and the languages involved, important differences between the two groups, the Fijians and the Indo-Fijians, have also become evident. For example, a study of newspaper circulation in 1984 showed that while the two English dailies published 25,000 and 22,000 copies every day, the two weekly papers in the Fijian language had a circulation of 17,000 and 8,000 compared to only 7,000 circulation for the Hindi paper (Geraghty, 1984). These differences are interesting when considered in light of the fact that the Indo-Fijian population is concentrated in or around the coastal towns and cities of the two larger islands of the country and therefore has greater access to the papers mentioned above. This

128

FRANCIS MANGUBHAI

suggests either that the practice of reading newspapers in the vernacular language is not as widespread as in the Fijian community or that a shift in language use toward English is occurring within the Indo-Fijian society. The latter is more likely to be the case (see Moag, 1982, pp. 281-282). While there has been no systematic study of the types of uses of literacy in Fiji or in any of the other island states in the South Pacific (the notable exception being Clammer's study), the amount of print available in the environment, the availability of electricity, the working patterns of farmers in the rural areas, the transportation facilities, social institutions, and values allow one to infer the range of literacy in these societies. People in Fiji's urban areas are surrounded by print, mostly in English: notices, signs, advertisements, newspapers, magazines, books, and suchlike. By contrast, the rural dwellers, particularly o n the smaller islands, are in a relatively print-flee environment, except for materials like posters, government notices, the occasional advertisement or two in the loca!store, and whatever books they may have at home. These are most likely to be religious and are generally written in the vernacular languages. Movement of the Fijian people from smaller to larger islands for job purposes has necessitated some letter writing, but this occurs when there is a very definite purpose and not just for the purpose of "keeping in touch' '--which is much more likely to occur through regular monthly money orders and special trips on the occasion of a birth, marriage, or death. However, a lively letters-to-the-editor column i n o n e of the Fijian newspapers and equally lively ones in the English newspapers suggest a definite change in one of the uses of literacy (Geraghty, 1984). Prior to independence, few non-Europeans (non-Anglos) wrote to the newspapers. This then is a new phenomenon and suggests that, over time, new uses of literacy may develop--writing short stories, 6 poems, plays, and more expository writing for polemical purposes. By contrast, the Indo-Fijian, with basic cultural and linguistic roots in India and Pakistan, has to a limited extent used the Hindi newspapers as an outlet for creative writing; but it has not been widespread nor has there been a reading public large enough to foster the establishment of a regular literary magazine (see Watts, 1957). In addition, one of the obstacles to the development of more creative writing in Hindi is that newspapers only accept writing in standard Hindi whereas the language commonly spoken by people, referred to as Fiji Baat, is different in many ways from the standard form. It is regarded as adequate for personal interaction but inadequate for formal occasions and for writing that is to be published.

The Level of Literacy The question of the real extent of reading literacy in Fiji is a matter of some debate. The last census in 1976 did not ask any questions related to language use, but if the same criterion employed in the 1966 census was to be used on the 1976 figures, a rough indication of the number of literate people in the country could be derived. 7 The 1966 census considered a person literate if he or she had four years of formal education. Using this definition, the 1976 census indicated that over two-thirds of the population were literate in a mother tongue, Fijian or Hindi (Mangubhai, 1977). The question remains as to the nature and extent of this literacy, in either the vernacular languages or in English (reading in which is generally taught in grade 2). Just how literate was a person who had a grade 4 or 5 or 6 education? To answer this

LITERACY IN FIJI

129

question a group of educators set out in 1977 to determine the level of achievement in reading in English across the country. The results of this survey have been reported in Elley and Mangubhai (1979). The survey showed that the mea43comprehension score was 51 percent. 8 While just over 2 percent of the population scored 90 percent or more, over 25 percent of the grade 6 pupils in the sample had a score at chance level. One pupil out of every four was unable to read simple short stories in English of about 100 words with understanding by the time he or she had reached the end of elementary school, after six years of English. 9 In light of this finding it would seem that the use of education up to grade 4 as a benchmark for literacy is inappropriate or at best a very crude measure. As no equivalent testing has been done in the vernacular, it is difficult to make a more categorical statement on this matter.~° The survey also showed that urban pupils did better than rural children, a not too unusual finding (Ladefoged, Glick, & Criper, 1968; Williams, 1981). Children in urban areas tended to come from more advantaged family backgrounds, were more exposed to English and print, and were generally taught by better educated teachers. One of the interesting findings in this survey was that schools with libraries of over 400 books produced much better readers than schools with smaller libraries or schools with no libraries.ll Educationally this was an important indicator since, while little can be done directly and immediately to change the home factors, provision of a greater quantity of reading materials in schools can be effected in a relatively short time. The question would then be whether the provision of books by itself would make any difference in reading achievement in schools in which recreational reading was either limited or non-existent. The next section describes very briefly a project set up to evaluate the effects of regular reading in the school context upon children's achievements in listening and reading comprehension and in writing. Book Flood Project In order to evaluate the effects of putting high interest, well-illustrated fiction and non-fiction books into classrooms, a carefully controlled experiment, referred to as the "Book Flood Project," was set up in Fiji. In the choice of books, the emphasis was on interest and good illustrations in order to give maximum pleasure, analogous to that provided by bedtime storyreading in a literate society (Holdaway, 1979). The study included 600 students drawn from 12 predominantly rural schools, in which the pupils were exposed to English in the school environment only. The schools selected also had few children's storybooks and no practice of reading for pleasure. In tfiese respects, they were typical of most primary schools in the rural areas. Eight of the schools received books and did daily reading for 25 to 30 minutes. This was in lieu of some other activity carded out during the English lesson. The remaim'ng four schools received no books but were to carry on their normal English lessons. The time set apart for English lessons was constant across schools in keeping with the directives from the Ministry of Education. Thus there was no difference in the amount of time devoted to English by the experimental and control groups. The groups were similar in English reading ability and ethnic composition. The eight schools selected for the book flood were divided into two similar groups

130

FRANCIS M A N G U B H A I

of four, so that an additional comparison could be made between two methods of using the books with the pupils: shared book reading and uninterrupted, sustained silent reading. In each school a class of grade 4 and grade 5 students was chosen since (1) it was expected that pupils in grade 4 would be reading in English and (2) it was thought that books in English at that level (grades 4 and 5) might be easier to obtain. English books were chosen both because Fijian and Indo-Fijian pupils were to be tested and because there were so few books in the vernacular languages suitable for that level. In the Shared Book Group, the teacher introduced the whole class to a highinterest, well-illustrated story in a "sharing experience," similar to that of a bedtime story for a child. Emphasis was placed upon producing a non-threatening atmosphere within which children participated in the reading of the story, discussing the pictures and likely outcomes. Prediction and confirmation of events in the story were emphasized. The children were encouraged to read often in groups, in pairs, or singlymthe stories they liked. Follow-up activities included role playing, word study, artwork, and writing activities. The teachers involved in the Silent Reading Group were asked to display the books attractively in class, to read them or portions of them aloud occasionally, but primarily to let their pupils spend 20 to 30 minutes each day in sustained silent reading. It was emphasized that they should not create a threatening atmosphere by asking "school type" comprehension questions on books pupils were reading; the emphasis was on reading for pleasure. The Control Group teachers continued with their normal ESL course which involved oral drills and reading and writing activities based on the oral structures. In this course pupils are exposed to the English language in a carefully graded sequence. The primary aim of reading activities is to practise and consolidate structures introduced in oral drills. All three groups continued their normal English program of oral drills, reading, and writing, except that the experimental groups replaced approximately 30 minutes of the program with shared book reading (and activities) and silent reading. The post-tests eight months later showed significant differences in reading and listening comprehension between the experimental and control groups. No differences in writing were found between the two groups. In fact, the writing abilities of both groups were found to be totally inadequate (for details, see Elley & Mangubhai, 1981a). To determine whether further practice in regular reading would have some effect on the writing abilities of the experimental group, the project was continued for another year. Post-tests at the end of the second year showed significant differences between the two groups in all tests, including writing (for further details, see Elley & Mangubhai, 1981b, 1983). The modal score given for writing in the Shared Book Group, for example, was 9 out of 10. By contrast, the modal mark in the Control Group was 2. Sample openings of stories which were given these marks indicate the difference in the quality of the writing of the two groups. From the Shared Book Group: One morning when Luke's mother was washing, and the men were drinking yaqona, Luke was boiling the water. One day, Tomasi's mother was washing clothes beside the river, Tomasi's father was drinking yaqona under a shady tree, Tomasi was cooking the food beside their house, and his brother was carrying buckets of water.

L I T E R A C Y IN FIJ1

131

The next three are examples from the Control Group: Is there was the women in the tree. mothe sitg in the tree there was a looking at hes mother... One day there boy Seru is making the tea to drinking his morth was the colth... One day morning their were a house any village by the sea ... TheProject also set out to test the hypothesis that greater gains would be made by the group using the Shared Book approach to reading than by the group which only read silently; however, the data supported this hypothesis only in the first year analysis at the grade 5 level on the two receptive skill tests. It would seem that the Shared Book approach to reading would suit the Fijian children better as it reflects the social ethos of that culture in which co-operative behavior is the norm. By contrast, reading silently by oneself is a form of behavior which, aside from Bible reading, is unusual (Heath, 1980). Yet it was obvious in the study that children, Fijian and Indo-Fijian, did sit down quietly and read books. It is plainly an acceptable behavior within the "school culture" even if it might not be completely accepted, or actively fostered, outside the confines of the school. In both Fijian and Indo-Fijian communities, the practice of reading for recreation or for increasing one's general knowledge store is uncommon outside the context of formal schooling.~2 This is changing, however, as urban professionals come to see recreational reading as one of the ways to give their children an edge over other children in the educational system. The Project showed that children enjoy reading when high interest, wellillustrated books are provided. Classroom observation and discussion with teachers suggested that the pupils were enjoying the experience of reading for pleasure. For many pupils, it seemed that this was the first time they had sat down to read something in the classroom without worrying about questions the teacher might ask. Individual teachers remarked that children would remind them that it was time for reading if the teacher had become too engrossed in the regular curriculum. It appears therefore that children can be "hooked onto the reading habit" even if their background does not provide much opportunity for reading, does not place high value on reading for pleasure, or does not have much in the way of printed matter (see also Wells, 1981). And an interesting observation was that for children of both ethnic groups the most popular books were the traditional favorite stories of Western children like Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, The Giant Turnip, and other fairy tales. The Book Flood Project suggests a way of improving literacy within school contexts so that pupils are aided in their ability to utilize their textbooks better. In this way they can have a greater control over their own learning and be less dependent upon teachers to process knowledge for them and present it in a more simplified form. This is an endemic problem for much of the Fijian school system and is also seen at tertiary levels where students find reading textbooks and articles (in Enghsh) laborious and frustrating (O'Sullivan, 1978). In rural areas--and a large proportion of the population is ruralwschools are the major institutions for introducing and developing literacy. Rural areas tend to be deficient in print in comparison with urban areas. Provision of books and, even more important, provision of opportunities to read, as in the Book Flood Project, seem crucial in raising the level of literacy and, ultimately, the levels of education.

132

FRANCIS M A N G U B H A I

Future Developments There is a growing concern in Fiji (and indeed elsewhere in the South Pacific) that literacy developed largely in a second language may have the effect of alienating the person from his or her society and its values. Attempts are therefore being made to develop more reading materials in the vernacular languages (as well as in English) that deal with local situations and portray local sensibilities. It is believed that these materials will counterbalance prolonged exposure to reading materials produced for Western, often middle-class, readers, an exposure which may affect self-perception and the perception of one's culture in comparison with the Western culture (Dixon, 1977). Previous attempts at producing local reading materials have been unsuccessful partly as a result of the economics of publishing for a very small market. However with the growing availability of computers and laser printers, it may be possible to overcome this particular difficulty. Whether readers will reject such publications unless they are glossily produced and look like products of the established Western publishing companies remains to be seen. However, the issue of providing vernacular reading materials or materials in English dealing with local themes is largely a marginal one when compared to the impact of the development of high levels of literacy, the essence of which is a critical and analytical approach to reading and writing. Any advances in this area are likely to be in conflict with the largely traditional and conservative society where reticence is deeply embedded and "questions are not just tiresome, they are bad form" (Griffin, 1985). The Fijian society currently wants to have it both ways (the Indo-Fijian less so than the Fijian) and will have eventually to confront some inherent contradictions in the position it has taken. Schools will continue to be the major literate institutions in the country especially in the rural areas where uses of literacy will remain restricted. To increase the opportunities for rural children to participate in higher education, schools will need to provide greater opportunities for pupils to participate in literacy type activities, to facilitate the transition from the use of language in a "shared, extra-linguistic context" to its use in a more decontextualized environment (Olson, 1977; Watson & Olson, in press; Wells, 1981). The use of literacy outside educational institutions is likely to grow slowly, especially in the area of polemical writing, published in the newspapers in the form of letters to the editor. But this will be largely an urban phenomenon. Through this channel, Fijians, in particular, might find that they can look critically at their society, its organizations, its functioning, and its rate of adaptability to the demands of a changing world without necessarily incurring serious social sanction (Griffin, 1985), as might happen if similar remarks were addressed in public in traditional gatherings. The reason for this is that writing as a tool for discussion and critical thinking is, and will continue to be, regarded as belonging largely to an academic realm, removed from real life and daily concerns and thus having little impact upon those daily concerns. This attitude will be compounded by the fact, as is the case at the moment, that these types of writing will have a rather select readership, even in the urban areas, so that the masses will not be reached through this particular medium. The impetus for creative writing will, it seems, continue to come from an institution like The University of the South Pacific, which provided a m ~ e u for its

LITERACY IN FIJI

133

development in the early '70s. Early writing tended to be in English for publication in the student newspaper, Unispac. Later, a South Pacific Creative Arts Society was formed which vigorously encouraged and published South Pacific writers. Toward the end of the '70s, national creative magazines began to be published in the South Pacific countries and Fiji launched its own trilingual Sinnet. In reaction to using an outside language (English), there is likely in future to be a greater emphasis on writing in the vernacular languages, especially in Fijian. However, the need to reach a wider audience and to communicate cross-culturally, in addition to the greater emphasis in the educational system on English, will ensure that creative writing will continue to develop in English. The potentially conflictual nature of the Fijian society should produce tensions within and across societies. This could provide ample impetus for writing to act as a way of attempting to understand the predicament and, in the process of understanding, to transcend it by focussing on commonalities that spring from being human. Fiji has yet to produce a writer of stature as has Western Samoa in Albert Wendt. Literacy has opened a window to the rest of the world for those in Fiji who have access to written material and whose level of literacy allows them to benefit from such an access. Perhaps Parsonson (1967) was correct in his thesis that in Polynesia the real revolution was not Christianization but "the adoption of a literate culture in the place of the old non-literate mode of life." Notes

I would like to thank David Olson for his helpful suggestions and comments on earlier versions of this paper. 1. Geraghty (1984) has in fact argued that it was not quite the Bauan language but the missionaries chose to call it that, a tactical foresight that served their purpose well. 2. An instance of the power of the printed word upon newly literate as well as literate people is the manner in which a story concerning the origins of the Fijian people came to be regarded as part of the Fijians' beliefs about their origins after it was published in the government Fijian language periodic'd, Na Mata, in 1892. The story was written as part of an historical story competition run by the paper but its roots lie in the writings and teachings of two European teachers at mission schools who suggested that there were great similarities between some of the words and place names of Tanganyika in Africa and Fiji. This story was picked up by an amateur anthropologist, Basil Thompson, and published in an English journal as being the first instance of an English version of the belief of the Fijian people about their origins and thereafter began to be quoted as a belief held by the Fijians about their origins (France, t966). Many Fijians believe the myth to represent an account of how their ancestors came to the Pacific and many generations of students have been taught this account in the schools. 3. Such a policy was facilitated by the monoracial characteristic of most of the elementary schools, a situation that has historical, political, sociological, and geographical roots; these separate school systems have continued to the present day. 4. See also Clammer (1976, pp. 146-173) for a discussion, somewhat tentative in nature through lack of documentation, of the uses of literacy in Fijian society by the end of the 19th century. 5. There is, it seems, considerable interest on the part of villagers in reading in the Fijian language, The Mobile Library on the main island of Fiji is constantly asked as it visits villages whether there are any new publications in the Fijian language and are disappointed when told "No" (Chief Librarian of Fiji, personal communication). 6. It is interesting to note that while some Fijian short stories are written for publication in

134

FRANCIS MANGUBHAI

a Fijian newspaper, national short story writing contests conducted in all three languages, Fijian, Hindi, and English, produce very few entries in the vernacular languages but a substantial number in English. This may be because the contests are advertised mainly through the English language newspapers. Most of the writers in English are Fijian and Indo-Fijians. A small body of local literature in the English language is therefore available in more permanent book or magazine form. 7. See Graft (1978, pp. 8-10) for a discussion on the problems of both a definition of a literate person as well as the measurement of the extent of literacy. 8. About two and a half years below New Zealand norms, according to Elley (1980). 9. Compare Elley and Achal (1981) who also found a similar pattern for English reading comprehension in their work on the production of standardized tests of achievement for Fiji. By contrast, only 12 percent of the pupils at grade 6 scored below chance level in English listening comprehension. 10. Work done by Elley and Achal on standardized tests of achievement in vernacular languages, but not reported in the 1981 publication, has suggested that achievement in reading at grade 5 in Fijian is "quite good"; in Hindi, less so; and in Urdu, quite poor, resulting in the abandonment of the production of standardized tests of achievement in Urdu (Elley, personal communication). 11. The term "libraries" as used here does not necessarily imply a special room set apart in the school. More frequently, libraries in Fiji are tiny storerooms or the principals' offices from which books are taken to the classrooms. 12. The writer's own experience reflects this situation. While he was in elementary and junior high schools, his parents constantly cajoled him not to "waste time" reading stories but to devote himself to school lessons, leading to a situation where he had to read surreptitiously by the light of the street lamp outside his home. References

Bokamba, E. G. (1984). Language in literacy in West Africa. In R. B. Kaplan (Ed.), Annual review of applied linguistics 1983 (pp. 40--74). Rowtey, MA: Newbury House. Bole, F. (1972). The possible conflicts which may arise as a result of individual expectations and communal demands. Occasional Paper #8. Suva: School of Education, The University of the South Pacific. Clammer, J. R. (1976). Literacy and social change: A case study of Fiji. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Dixon, B. (1977). All things white and beautiful. In M. Hoyles (Ed.), The politics of literacy. London: Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative. Elley, W. B. (1980). Recent studies of English reading levels in Fiji. Suva: The University of the South Pacific. Elley, W. B., & Achat, S. (1981). Standardized tests of achievement (STAF) in Fiji. Studies in South Pacific Education Series #2. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research and Institute of Education at The University of the South Pacific. Elley, W. B., & Mangubhai, F. (1979). Research project on reading in Fiji. Fiji English Teachers' Journal, 15, 1-7. Elley, W. B., & Mangubhai, F. (1981a). The impact of book flood in Fifi primary schools. Studies in South Pacific Education Series #1. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research and Institute of Education at The University of the South Pacific. Elley, W. B., & Mangubhai, F. (1981b). The long-term effects of a book flood on children's language growth. Directions, 7, 15-24. Elley, W. B., & Mangubhai, F. (1983). The impact of reading on second language learning. Reading Research Quarterly, 19, 53-67.

L I T E R A C Y IN FIJI

135

France, P. (1966). The Kaunitoni migration: Notes on the genesis of a Fijian tradition. Journal of Pacific History, 1, 107-113. Geraghty, P. (1977). How a myth is born: The story of the Kaunitoni story. Mana, 2(1), 25-29. Geraghty, P. (1984). Language policy in Fiji and Rotuma. In Duivosavosa: Fiji's languages--Their use and their future (pp. 32-84). Fiji Museum Bulletin #8. Suva: Fiji Museum. Goody, J. (1968). Introduction. In J. Goody (Ed.), Literacy in traditional societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Graft, H. J. (1978). Literacy past and present: Critical approaches in the literacy/society relationship. Interchange, 9(2), 1-21. Griffin, C. (I 985). "Thinker, teller, soldier, seller...": Language, culture and de velopment in Fiji. Pacific Perspective, 12(2), 13-23. Heath, S. B. (1980). The functions and uses of literacy. Journal of Communications, 30, 123-133. Holdaway, D. (t979). The foundations of literacy. Sydney: Aston-Scholastic. Ladefoged, P., Glick, R., & Criper, C. (1968). Language in Uganda. Nairobi, London: Oxford University Press. Lal, B. (1983). Girmityas: The origins of Fiji Indians. Canberra: Australian National University. Mangubhai, F. (1977). Literacy in a multiracial society. Fiji Library Association Newsletter 4, 184-191. Mangubhai, F. (1984). Fiji. In R. M. Thomas & T. N. Posttethwaite reds.), Schooling in the Pacific islands (pp. 167-201). Oxford: Pergamon Press. Mann, C. W. (1935). Education in Fiji. Melbourne: University Press. Moag, R. (1982). The life cycle of non-native Englishes: A case study. In B. Kachru (Ed.), The other tongue: English across cultures (pp. 270-288). Oxford: Pergamon Press. Olson, D. R. (1977). From utterance to text: The bias of language in speech and writing. Harvard Educational Review, 47, 257-281. O'Sullivan, P. (1978). English at USP: The students' view. Unpublished manuscript. Suva: The University of the South Pacific. Parsonson, G. S. (1967). The literate revolution in Polynesia. Journal of Pacific History, 2, 39-57. Scarr, D. (1980). Viceroy of the Pacific: The majesty of colour. Canberra: Austrafian National University. Schutz, A. J. (1972). The languages of Fiji. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Watson, R.P.M., & Olson, D. (in press). From meaning to definition. A literate bias on the structure of the word meaning. In R. Horowitz & J. Samuels (Eds.), Comprehending oral and written language. New York: Academic Press. Watts, I. (1957). The rise of the novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and FieMing. Berkeley: University of California Press. Wells, G. (1981). Language, literacy and education. In G. Wells et al., Learning through interaction: The study of language development (pp. 240-276). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Williams, D. (1981). Factors related to performance in reading English as a second language. Language Learning, 31, 31-50. Williams, T., & Calvert, J. (1859). Fifi and the Fijians. New York: D. Appelton & Co.