EduFocus # 8: Can we have it both ways? Embracing Jamaican Creole to improve acquisition of Jamaican Standard English

Submitted by Alesia on Dec 15, 2011 09:53 am

Few Jamaicans will challenge the fact that we are a bilingual society, but the concern for many years has been whether our local patois is actually a language. Regardless of the official linguistic classification, a large percentage of Jamaican households use Jamaican Creole, or patois, as a ‘home language’ and for many, it is their only language.Derived from both African languages and English, Jamaican Creole (JC) is a colourful and expressive language that is often used in informal settings. However, Jamaican Standard English (JSE ) is the island’s official language and the primary language of instruction in all Jamaican schools. The collision of both in the formal education system has contributed to concerns among educators about how to facilitate the acquisition of the official language through utilization of the home language. This is particularly challenging in a social context where there is no official recognition of the country’s bilingualism and therefore no set strategy or policy on how to address this issue.Education data clearly indicates that it is an important issue. Performance of children on the Grade Four Literacy Test has hovered around the seventy percent mark for some years, with some schools having less than 30 percent of their students certified as literate. This generally low level of performance is also reflected in an average Language Arts score of 62 percent (2010) in the Grade Six Achievement Test.If it is recognized that JSE is a second language for many students, then we must begin to discuss strategies to enhance the acquisition of the official language. Language experts acknowledge that children everywhere seek to learn the language that is present in their environments, whether at home or school. In addition, research clearly demonstrates that preschool children can and do acquire more than one language, either simultaneously or sequentially, depending on when the second language is introduced to them . The consensus is that for language acquisition to be successful, it must follow a clear sequence and cannot be approached in an ad hoc manner, or worse, left to chance.In an attempt to provide a systematic framework for the teaching in this environment, The Jamaica Language Unit at the University of the West Indies piloted a project in bilingual education for primary school children in 2004. The main targets were children in Grade One who had not mastered three of the four components of the Grade One Readiness Inventory. The project built on the tenets of the Ministry of Education’s draft policy on bilingual education, which explored the following options for bilingual education in Jamaica:

  1. Declare the Jamaican Language situation bilingual ascribing equal language status to JSE and JC. Tailor instruction to accommodate this status and permit instruction and assessment in both languages. Produce printed materials in both languages, and permit teaching in both languages using appropriate instructional strategies.
  2. While retaining JSE as the official language, promote the acquisition of basic literacy in the early years (e.g. K – 3) in the home language and facilitate the development of English as a second language.
  3. Maintain Standard Jamaican English as the official language and promote basic communication through the oral use of the home language in the early years (e.g. K – 3) while facilitating the development of literacy in English.

An assessment of the impact of the pilot suggests that the very idea of acknowledging bilingualism in our education system is still met with some resistance from both parents and teachers. One researcher described observing a teacher trying to conduct a class in JC who was obviously uncomfortable doing so. In her mind, JSE was the language of ‘proper conduct.’This discomfort is a significant barrier to the use of JC for JSE acquisition as it requires implementing teaching strategies which endorse JC as having equivalent status to JSE. Perhaps among the most important characteristics of classrooms that support bilingual language development are those that prioritize the learning atmosphere. Experts suggest that among these strategies should include:

  1. The creation of classroom environments that clearly support and value children’s language and culture while they foster second-language acquisition,
  2. Avoidance of subtle indications of non-support for home language,
  3. Consistent use of vocabulary and language patterns in routine activities, and
  4. Employment of paraphrasing, demonstrating, and modeling.

Click here to read more on this issue.Source:

Sectors: 
Education
Regions: 
Jamaica
PathSection1: 
practice-center