Language Wars: Jamaica and Haiti Edition

[the_future_modernes]

The Great Jamaican/Haitian Language Wars

Well, I’ve always known that my views on Jamaican Creole or Patwa, the native language here, were contentious but sound. Still for all those who’ve doubted what i’ve written on the subject please read what Michael DeGraff, an MIT Associate Professor of Linguistics, Syntax, Morphology, Language Change, Creole Studies, and Haitian Creole has to say on the subject. Here’s an excerpt from a Boston Globe article on him and his work:

The Power of Creole
Beneath Haiti’s problems lies a deep conflict with its own language. An MIT professor has a bold plan to fix that.

When Michel DeGraff was a young boy in Haiti, his older brother brought home a notice from school reminding students and parents of certain classroom rules. At the top of the list was “no weapons.” And right below it, DeGraff still remembers: “No Creole.” Students were supposed to use French, and French only.

It was like this all over the country, and still is. Despite the fact that the vast majority of Haitian children grow up hearing and speaking exclusively Haitian Creole–the language used in their villages and homes, in their music, and in their proverbs, jokes, and jingles–the minute they start school they are forced to start all over in a language they don’t know. French is the language of Haiti’s tiny ruling class, and for children who come from that world, this poses no problem. But for all the others, being forced to use French makes it nearly impossible to learn. Many students just stop talking in class, going silent. And according to an estimate from the Ministry of Education, less than a third of students who enter first grade reach sixth grade, and only 10 percent of those who start high school pass the exam that is given at the end….

“Haiti will never be able to rise to its potential if you have 90 percent of Haitians who cannot be instructed properly,” DeGraff said. “Once you open up that reservoir, what can happen? So many things can happen….Imagine how many well-prepared minds you would have to try to solve the country’s problems.”

Were you to substitute Jamaican Patwa for the words Haitian Creole, the article would still be accurate because the situation DeGraffe describes is exactly the one that prevails here. Read what i’ve said on the subject before and see what i mean:

MORE

Jamaican Bible: 'It preserves the dignity of the Jamaican people'
Courtney Stewart of the Bible Society of the West Indies talks to Riazat Butt about a project to translate the Bible into Jamaican patois (Four minute audio at the link. No transcript though)

2008 The Bible in Jamaican

It is, of course, a tremendously ambitious project, for there is no such thing at the moment as Standard Jamaican Creole. Different dialects are spoken in different parts of Jamaica. One immediately thinks of those in the west who say: "Him ben a come" while others (from the east) say: "Him a come". Both are 'correct', but they are different, and since I do not expect the translators to produce more than one translation, they are going to have to make choices about which variations they will use. And there are many variations. People from deep rural St Thomas speak slightly differently from people in deep rural Portland, and again differently from those in upper Clarendon. There is uptown Jamaican Creole and downtown Jamaican Creole, not to mention the Rastafarian variation. Into whose Jamaican Creole will the Bible be translated?

There is a danger that, with the hegemony of the big city, the translators will produce an uptown St Andrew Creole Bible, the Mona Version, which may defeat their purpose. I remember the disdain with which many in the ghetto treated the UptownReggae of Pluto Shervington and Ernie Smith in the 1970s. If the idea is to reach the Jamaican people with a creole Bible, which Jamaican people will be targeted?

MORE

Patwa Rights and Wrongs

Believe it or not, the Jamaican Constitution covertly acknowledges the fact that 'Patwa' is, indeed, a national language. Furthermore, the Constitution guarantees 'Patwa' speakers basic rights in the legal system. But don't take my word for it. See for yourself the relevant sections:

Chapter III of the Jamaican Constitution (2011), Section 14 (2):

(2) Any person who is arrested or detained shall have the right:

(b) at the time of his arrest or detention or as soon as is reasonably practicable, to be informed, in a language which he understands, of the reasons for his arrest or detention;

(c) where he is charged with an offence, to be informed forthwith, in a language which he understands, of the nature of the charge;

Section 16 (6):

(6) Every person charged with a criminal offence shall:

(a) be informed, as soon as is reasonably practicable, in a language which he understands, of the nature of the offence charged;

(e) have the assistance of an interpreter, free of cost, if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court;

The Constitution doesn't explicitly state the fact that the language of the court is English. Nor does it openly admit that the first language of the vast majority of Jamaicans is not English, but Jamaican. To concede this gross disparity would be an admission of the fundamental inequity of the justice system. So, instead, we have compromised justice.MORE

Should Creole Replace French in Haiti's Schools?

Creole is the mother tongue in Haiti, but children do most of their schooling in French. Two hundred years after Haiti became the world's first black-led republic, is the use of French holding the nation back?

"The percentage of people who speak French fluently is about 5%, and 100% speak Creole," says Chris Low.

"So it's really apartheid through language."

Ms Low is co-founder of an experimental school, the Matenwa Community Learning Center, which has broken with tradition, and conducts all classes in Creole.MORE

Colonization has been a hell of a thing.

Comments

[bcholmes]

I remember one of my early trips to Haiti. I was staying in a Guest House run by the Baptist Church. Guest Houses are convenient places to stay in Haiti. They're often a home base for different church groups who run different missions throughout the country. I've met some groups who seemed to be doing good work, but I often meet groups that make me scream.

Anyway, on this early trip I the Guest House was relatively empty, and I tended to take my meals with a coupl'a missionaries. And one night we got into this argument about kreyòl. Their group ran a school, and one of the missionaries was telling me stories about kids in this school. And on this night, he was explained that they were trying to pressure the kids to use French rather than kreyòl. Me, I pointed out that they Haitians have a saying: "kreyòl pale; kreyòl konprann." When kreyòl is spoken, it is understood. The saying is kind of a jab at French, which is sometimes considered a language of duplicity in Haiti.

Unfortunately, Missionary-Guy didn't speak a word of either French or kreyòl, despite the fact that he'd been visiting Haiti for almost two decades. He defended his stance saying that if the kids learned French, they were opening up doors in Haiti. Like I said: we argued quite a bit that night.

So, one of the many problems with education and language in Haiti is that far too many of the country's schools aren't run by the local people -- they're run by foreign organizations who really don't understand the issues around language. (If I were putting in a plug, I'd point out that this is why projects like SOPUDEP school are so important).

Other problems are just simply logistical. French textbooks are easier to come by than kreyòl textbooks. If you're lucky, you can pick up a bunch of French textbooks that some Canadian school is getting rid of because they've bought new books. In a resource-constrained education system, donated second-hand French textbooks are more accessible than new kreyòl textbooks (and I've only ever found one supplier of kreyòl textbooks).

There are a lot of structural systems in place that make it hard to convert to a 100% kreyòl teaching environment.

[the_future_modernes]

Thanks so much for this breakdown.