In Dominica, rural adults forbid children from speaking Patwa (a
French-lexicon creole) in favor of acquiring English (the official
language), contributing to a rapid language shift in most villages.
However, adults value Patwa for a range of expressive functions and
frequently code-switch around and to children. Children increasingly
use English but employ Patwa for some functions during peer play when
away from adults. This study examines how, despite possible sanctions,
children use Patwa to enact particular adult roles during peer play,
and what this signifies about their knowledge of role- and
place-appropriate language use. Critically, they draw on their verbal
resources and physically embodied social action to create imaginary
play spaces both organized by and appropriate for Patwa. The
examination of children's social worlds provides a more nuanced
picture of language shift – and potential maintenance –
than observing only adult-adult or adult-child interaction.An earlier version of this article was
presented at the 2002 AAA Annual Meeting in New Orleans in a session
organized by Marjorie Goodwin and Lourdes de León,
“Children socializing children through language: New perspectives
on agency, play, and identities.” I thank them for organizing
this exciting and timely panel, and for their comments on my paper. I
also thank Bambi Schieffelin, Ana Celia Zentella, Tamar Kremer-Sadlik,
Carolina Izquierdo, Jane Hill, and two anonymous reviewers for
Language in Society for their insightful comments. I am
grateful to several organizations which funded the research: the U.S.
Department of Education (Fulbright-Hays), the Wenner-Gren Foundation
for Anthropological Research, the National Science Foundation, and the
Spencer Foundation. My deepest thanks go to the Dominican children and
their families who generously opened their lives to me. I alone take
responsibility for any shortcomings here.