ABSTRACT
Papua New Guinea language policy allows for minority languages to be taught in public schools as long as an approved orthography is in place and curriculum guidelines are followed. In addition, the government provides kits including storybook templates and English stories for translation into local languages. However, Notsi children begin school with eagerness, but most do not learn to read during the first three years of their education. Observation and analyses were made of early writing of Notsi children aged 6 to 10 years. Data was collected from children in Elementary Preparatory, Elementary One, and Elementary Two Grades, respectively. Instructional practices and student writing activities reflected writing strategies based on traditional rote learning. As a result, student writing samples indicate that cognition in early writing is disconnected to student phonemic awareness, letter formation, and skills in word, phrase, sentence building, and creative story writing. Future language revitalization efforts might include more effective teacher training in the writing process. Training in principles of multilingual education would equip teachers to develop independent and creative writers in Notsi. Also, advocacy of language revitalization should explore the advantages of traditional Notsi learning strategies as well as issues posed by colonial rote learning practices.
