FC Form 7 FL SBR 9313658 PI Errington / Makihara _________________________________________________________________ This dissertation research proposal to study language use in a bilingual community on Easter Island, Chile, received enthusiastic reviews. The student is in Chile now, doing research. She will return to the US and then begin her research in the early spring. She has access to the research site, and has no other support for this project. I questioned the need for two expensive tape recorders, but the adviser convinced me of the student's need for two of the less expensive recorders as well as two transcriber machines. The student will hire people to do the transcription work, and will use a machine herself. Linguistics will co-fund this award. I recommend that this proposal be funded DAMmmm d, yyyy PG 9313658 Errington This project involves the dissertation research of a linguistic anthropology student from Yale university, investigating the use of language as a mediator of social relations during rapid social change in a bilingual community of Easter Island, Chile. The speech community is changing gradually from a native Polynesian language to Spanish, and some recently have asserted a native cultural identity to claim improved social and economic rights. This has raised awareness of the value of language as a symbol of group identity and as a tool of resistance against Chile's control. Using tape recorded conversations, interviews, and participant observation, the student will analyze bilingual language use and patterns of language change as expressions of and instruments for shaping ethnic, national and gender identities. This research is important because local cultural identity struggles against dominant state institutions are a fact of life in most of the world. Improved understanding of the process of local cultural identity formation and the role of language use in this process can help decision makers plan for cooperative local-st ate relations. *** LBRV 3 LBLG STU LBCD 07C9090E LBCT 0E1C360C LBAU STU LBMD 07C9091B LBMT 0D0E2503 LBRP LBPJ LBCM LBKY "
