What is Individual Bilingualism

This chapter first provides an overview as to the history and factors that have contributed to a marked decrease in the number of Chamorro language speakers in Guam. Although recent efforts by the Government of Guam as well as community groups have sought to reverse this decrease, there continues to be a decline in the number of Chamorro speakers, especially amongst the youngest generations. In a contemporary context, the chapter will focus on the acquisition, maintenance, and the attitudes toward the Chamorro language among the young generation in Guam. Data collected from 582 participants was statistically analyzed. The results show that 80.4% of participants claimed that they understand the Chamorro language, more or less. However, only 4.5% of them evaluated their speaking ability as very good. Among the participants in our study, only 2.6% acquired Chamorro as their mother language, and 9.8% regularly use the Chamorro language. These results show that the extent of the shift on Guam among the youngest generation to the use of English is statistically large.