The often-heard call for a recourse to "foreign-language teaching methods” for the improvement of English-Language teaching in the Caribbean implies a distinction between the concepts of first language and foreign-language teaching “methods” that must be severely questioned. In one sense, teaching a first language is a contradiction in terms: a “first” or native language is one which is by definition perfectly known to those who speak it. Therefore “teaching" must refer to different objectives in each case.

The concern of West Indian educators for improvement in language-teaching methods and materials has been for the most part confined to the problem of teaching Standard English. Research seeks to determine the differences between Creole and Standard English, the nature of the post-Creole continuum, if it exists, and the effects of the vernacular on proficiency in learning the standard or, through it, other subjects.