EGIDS 5-6a

Migration for work and to avoid environmental risks, and proximity to other ethnicities in neighboring villages, promotes multilingualism. Bislama is used on social media and texting. Marriage partners from other regions tend to communicate in Bislama. There is an Ahamb-medium preschool, but continuing education is in Bislama and sometimes English or French. Ahamb-language materials are mainly religious or educational. Indigenous language-medium schooling is permitted for first three years of schooling, but Ahamb has not been supported among the numerous other indigenous languages due to a relatively small population.

There has been a sparsity of literacy materials and skills, and poor transition into new domains and media. Several linguistics have worked with community members in the past decade to develop an orthography and create print and digital literacy materials, dictionaries, stories, and religious materials.

"Although it is passed to virtually all children living on Ahamb island, the language is considered endangered due to Bislama being the dominant and more prestigious language and the limited domains, in which Ahamb is used. Other socioeconomic factors that contribute to Ahamb’s endangerment status include migration due to climate change (more frequent and severe storms and cyclones and the resulting erosion), overpopulation and the general effects of globalisation."

"Virtually all speakers of Ahamb are bilingual in Ahamb and Bislama (a dialect of Melanesian Creole), the national language of Vanuatu. Some Ahamb speakers also speak English. French is not commonly spoken. Bislama is the more prestigious language and the language of choice for trade and communication with the authorities and people from other language areas. It is also the more common language for church services. Bislama and English are used in teaching at the local primary and secondary schools. Ahamb is mostly used at home and for everyday purposes and sometimes for custom ceremonies. Ahamb borrows heavily from Bislama and code switching is common."

"Ahamb is a predominantly spoken language with very few written sources, including a handful of songs and a short Bible comic story published recently. There is no established standardised orthography for Ahamb yet."