Discussion
The Behoa language occupies a generally strong position in its homeland area. However because of a recent trend for young children to use Indonesian to the exclusion of Behoa (see below), we rate the language as 4/Vulnerable.
What Others Have Written
Susan Shore (2010:pers.comm.)
Indonesian and Behoa have different domains of use. Indonesian is used in formal settings, in school, and in communication with outsiders. Behoa is used in informal settings, in the home, at work, with friends, and sometimes to text. It is often used when giving announcements. Over the past eight or so years, there has been a decrease in language use, and many children in some of the villages do not use the Behoa language. Some do not even understand it, and interact with their parents in Indonesian. This has been causing some concern that the language might die out, and recently PAUD (preschools) and Kindergartens have instituted a policy of using Behoa every Friday, to help children learn the language. Behoa is also used in church services once a month. Where the villages are mostly Behoa, there tends to be a more vital use of the language, especially between adults and young people.
A few years ago, people belittled their language and were ashamed to use it in front of non-Behoa speakers, or in the city. This has changed and now people are proud of their language. The change was brought about when literature began to be produced in the Behoa language.
Susan Shore (2010:pers.comm.)
It’s disappointing to know that many parents are teaching their children Indonesian to help them with schooling, so Behoa is often their second language, with some children having only a passive knowledge of Behoa and replying in Indonesian. But I have been encouraged lately to hear children of ten and eleven using Behoa when they are playing together, and newcomers to the area (children) are also starting to learn it.
The muatan lokal material [spelling primers and readers] I helped produced several years ago in Behoa has not been well used, but recently I gave a new set of master copies to the head of the education department, and also led a primer workshop for kindergarten teachers, which some SD [primary school] teachers attended. Behoa is to be used in school now on Fridays. So maybe one day they will start to use that material.
Wurm (2007:479)
Almost everybody can speak Indonesian, and the young generation is beginning to prefer it to Besoa, especially the children. The language is potentially endangered.
References
Wurm, Stephen A. 2007. Australasia and the Pacific. Encyclopedia of the world’s endangered languages, edited by Christopher Moseley, 425–577. New York: Routledge.
