Over several generations villagers of Dominica have been shifting from Patwa, an Afro-French creole, to English, the official language. Despite government efforts at Patwa revitalization and cultural heritage tourism, rural caregivers and teachers prohibit children from speaking Patwa in their presence. Drawing on detailed ethnographic fieldwork and analysis of video-recorded social interaction in naturalistic home, school, village and urban settings, the study explores this paradox and examines the role of children and their social worlds. It offers much-needed insights into the study of language socialization, language shift and Caribbean children's agency and social lives, contributing to the burgeoning interdisciplinary study of children's cultures. Further, it demonstrates the critical role played by children in the transmission and transformation of linguistic practices, which ultimately may determine the fate of a language.

"This is an extremely well written and accessible text. It integrates data and theory in a way that few writers have achieved - [and]breaks new ground in its innovative, comprehensive, and theoretically engaging approach to peer language socialization and language ideology." * Marjorie Harness Goodwin, University of California, Los Angeles "[This book] presents important issues in clear, precise language and the use of the transcripts is wonderful - The language socialization framing is beautifully illustrated and clearly reminds us of the significance of children's actions in addition to our own. The detail and insight captured by this ethnographic account of children's interactions and language change is reminiscent of the best in the field." * Barbra Meek, University of Michigan "The study is highly original and exceptionally valuable, as so few books on language socialization are available - To date no book exists on the role of socialization practices on the viability of creole languages in the Caribbean." * Elinor Ochs, University of California, Los Angeles

Amy L. Paugh is Associate Professor of Anthropology at James Madison University. Her research investigates language socialization, children's cultures and language ideologies in the Caribbean and United States.