Mr. Philip Tama

Head of Division

  

Mr. Tama is the Head of the Language & Literature Division and is also a Lecturer in the Division. Before joining the University of Goroka in 2006, he was a lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea for ten years in the Department of Language and Communication Studies. He has done collaborative linguistics work, especially on Papuan languages of Papua New Guinea with the University of Papua New Guinea, University of New England, the Australian National University, the University of Michigan and the University of California. He has published and archived linguistics and language work in collaboration with scholars from the Universities mentioned and has presented language papers in Papua New Guinea, Australia, Indonesia and America. His speciality is in language documentation and linguistic. Philip lectures and coordinates courses in Linguistics, Language and World Languages. He also initiates, design and teach Alekano, the first ever indigenous language in Papua New Guinea to be taught as a credited course at the University. He is an academic by profession and has been in this profession for more than 25 years.

The Division’s goal is to see that its students are well equipped in the areas of Language including Literacy, Literature and Linguistics. Currently, the country is faced with a huge language dilemma where its current generation is finding it difficult to communicate effectively in English. The challenge that the Division is facing now is on how to address this falling standards in English faced by our students. The Division is taking measures to address this national issue.

Papua New Guinea is arguably the last frontier on earth where many of its diverse languages and very rich cultures are not documented or archived and are dying and some sadly extinct. The Division offers courses through qualified staff who teach and train students to work as language specialists, linguists and archivists to document and preserve the libraries of indigenous knowledge.