Danny served for almost 20 years with SIL in Papua New Guinea, where he focused on Scripture Engagement among the Wantoat language group and in Bible Schools. In 2016 he received his PhD from Fuller School of Intercultural studies. He now serves on the SIL Missiological Reflection Resources Team and as a Field Coordinator with Wycliffe USA and lives in Waxhaw, NC with his wife and three kids.
How Perceptions of Language as a Disembodied Object Hinder Incarnational Ministry and What to Do about It
Abstract
Recent research indicates many Bible translations in Papua New Guinea are un-used or little used. Theories from Cognitive Science illuminate why this happens and suggest possible solutions. I interviewed Bible school students from a cross-section of denominational backgrounds in Papua New Guinea to discover the students’ perceptions of vernacular Scripture. I use Relevance Theory and Schema Theory to describe why the students perceive of vernacular Scripture as irrelevant in their ministry environment. My experience in the Wantoat language community provides a case study to explain how the language ideologies I absorbed from the Bible translation community contrast with the language ideologies prevalent in Melanesia. (I viewed language as a disembodied object. Wantoat people perceive language as an embodied social experience.) This mismatch in language schema is typical within Bible translation projects in Papua New Guinea and contributes to the perceived irrelevance of vernacular Scriptures in that context. Bible translators are often incarnational in the way they embed themselves within language communities. This is a laudable missiological model. I will suggest ways to expand the impact of Bible translation by adopting an equally incarnational view of language itself.