Pidgins and creoles

The latest book by the French author, Marie-Christine Hazaël-Massieux is Les Créoles: L’indispensable survie [‘Creoles: Their vital survival’] (Editions Entiente, Paris, 1999). This book consists of an introduction (defining creoles and endangered languages), 11 chapters and a conclusion. Chapter 1 locates French creoles in geographic space and Chapter 2 describes some of the linguistic features of these creoles. Chapter 3 answers the question of whether French creoles are merely reduced forms of French. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 discuss French creoles in the context of language endangerment. Chapter 7 talks about the use of French creoles in education, Chapter 8, their use in the media, and Chapter 9 their use in literature. Chapter 10 discusses problems of language planning and development for French creoles. The final chapter briefly discusses other creoles. Following the short conclusion are several appendixes with useful information about French creoles as well annotated lists of references.

A new textbook, Pidgins and Creoles; An Introduction by Ishtla Singh (Arnold, London, 2000) has a section on language planning and deals with the use of creoles in education in Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Seychelles, Hawai‘i and Australia.

Two recent journal articles have appeared with information about the use in education of Sranan, the English-based creole of Suriname (sometimes spelled as Surinam), formerly a Dutch colony. In “Orthography and ideology: Issues in Sranan spelling” (Linguistics vol.38, no.5, pp.925-48, 2000), Mark Sebba mentions that in 1844, missionaries were given permission by the government to teach slaves to read (but not write) in Sranan. From 1856 they were allowed to teach writing in the language. However, from 1877, Dutch became the only official medium of instruction.

Aonghas St-Hilaire’s article, “Language planning and development in the Caribbean: Multi-ethnic Suriname” (Language Problems and Language Planning vol.23, no.3, pp.211-31, 1999), includes a historical account of educational language planning in the country. In the late 1950s, literature published in Sranan improved the status of the language and from 1959 to 1962, it received some official recognition. Parliament approved a second stanza in Sranan for the national anthem, and passed a resolution giving it an official spelling. However, Dutch remained the sole educational language. In the 1980s, there was some discussion of implementing mother-tongue instruction in Sranan (and other vernaculars), but, as the author reports (p.219), “this idea was never formally adopted despite the historical difficulty of many Surinamese children in the schools due to limited mastery of Dutch”. However, during this period a Sranan-only FM radio station was established, a new modern orthography was developed, and some print material in Sranan was produced. Nevertheless, up till now, no provisions have been made for Sranan to be used in education, and there seem to be no prospects of this occurring.

Minority dialects

Since the last issue of the PACE Newsletter, several new books have appeared which deal with African American Vernacular English (AAVE) (or Black English or Ebonics). The first is Out of the Mouths of Slaves by John Baugh (University of Texas Press, Austin, 1999). This is a collection of mostly previously published articles. Part 1, “Orientation”, has two chapters, one on common misconceptions about AAVE and one on language and race, and the implications of bias in linguistics. Part 2, titled: “The relevance of African Vernacular English to Education and Social Policies”. is made up of four chapters, three on education and one on the legal system. Part 3 has two chapters under the heading of “Cross-cultural communication in social context”. Part 4 contains four chapters on the linguistic dimensions of AAVE. The first two look at specific linguistic features; the third describes “hypocorrection” among second dialect learners of AAVE; and the last discusses a study of attitudes to AAVE. The final section, “Conclusions” consists of a single chapter on future research on AAVE in anthropology, education and linguistics.

The best book on the topic that we’ve come across is Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English by John Russell Rickford and Russell John Rickford (John Wiley, New York, 2000). This is an engaging account of the use of AAVE in religion, literature, the performing arts, and everyday life, with an illuminating description of the Ebonics debate. An introductory Part 1 sets the scene. Then Part II, titled with a quote from Paule Marshall “This passion, this skill, this incredible music”, has four chapters describing the use of AAVE by writers; preachers and “pray-ers”; comedians and actors; and singers, toasters and rappers. Part 3, “The living language”, consists of three chapters on vocabulary and pronunciation, grammar, and the history of the language. Part 4, “The Ebonics firestorm” has three chapters. The first, “Education”, provides an unusually detailed analysis of the Oakland school board’s resolution, in both its original and revised forms. It also has a very useful section summarizing research on taking the vernacular into account when teaching standard English and reading. The second chapter in Part 4 describes the unbalanced and sensationalized media coverage of the Ebonics debate. The third chapter presents many examples of Ebonics “humor” found in the media and circulating on the internet – ranging from clever to racist. The authors conclude (p.218): “In short, ‘Ebonics’ became a new slur, a ‘nigger’ upon whom one could inflict a Rodney King-style beating while wearing a helmet of ‘wit’.” Part 5, “The double self” concludes the book with a short chapter, “The crucible of identity”. This is followed by 28 pages of notes, containing valuable references.

In the last issue of the PACE Newsletter (no.10, 1999, p.14), we reported on John McWhorter’s views on AAVE and education in his book, The Word on the Street: Fact and Fable about American English (Plennum Trade, New York & London, 1998). In his latest book, Losing the Race: Self-sabotage in Black America (Free Press, New York, 2000), the author also briefly discusses the Ebonics debate. He mentions twelve studies on the use the Ebonics approach and says that in the majority, it had little positive effect. McWhorter’s position is that the reason African-American children do poorly in school is not because there is a gap between AAVE and standard English, but “because there is a psychological barrier between them and school in general” (p.191).

Three recent journal articles are relevant to the use of AAVE in education. The first is “TOEFL to the test: Are monodialectal AAL-speakers similar to ESL students?” by Anita Pandey (World Englishes vol.19, no.1, pp.89-106, 2000). The article reports on research which makes use of the well-known Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to test the standard English language skills of pre-college and first-year students raised in the inner city and basically monodialectal in AAVE (or what the author refers to as African American Language [AAL] or Ebonics). To quote the abstract (p.89):

The findings of two longitudinal studies are cited to demonstrate that, for many Ebonics-speakers, SAE [standard American English] is much like a second language. The students’ performance on the TOEFL, particularly in the listening comprehension and grammar sections, suggests that both comprehension and production of ‘Standard English’ can be problematic for transitional students whose first language is AAL.

The author notes that these results support “the validity of the Oakland School Board’s resolution on Ebonics and the value of ESL-based approaches to the teaching of ‘Standard American English to speakers of other dialects…”. She also illustrates the benefits of using a contrastive approach to the teaching of SAE to Ebonics speakers.

The second study is “Teaching elementary students who speak Black English Vernacular to write in Standard English: Effects of dialect transformation practice” by Howard Fogel and Linnea C. Ehri (Contemporary Educational Psychology vol.25, pp.212-35, 2000). Here is part of the text of the abstract (p.212):

Although nonstandard dialects of English are legitimate forms of spoken language…, students in US schools must acquire writing competence using Standard English (SE). Participants in this study were 3rd- and 4th-grade African-American students who exhibited Black English Vernacular (BEV) features in their written work. Six syntactic features differing in BEV and SE were targeted. Students received one of three treatments to increase their use of SE features in their writing: (1) exposure to SE features in stories; (2) story exposure plus explanation of SE rules; and (3) story exposure, SE rule instruction, and guided practice transforming sentences from BEV to SE features. The third treatment proved most effective in enabling students to translate BEV sentences into SE forms and to employ the targeted SE features in their free writing. Results indicate that having students practice translating nonstandard sentences that typify their own writing and providing corrective feedback are effective for teaching them to use SE forms in their writing.

It is interesting to note, however, that the effectiveness of the third treatment might actually have to do with the same factors that make the contrastive approach effective. The authors point out (p.231): “Very likely this practice proved effective because it clarified for students the link between features in their own nonstandard writing and features in SE and how the two forms were similar and different.”

A very different point of view is taken by Signithia Fordham in “Dissin’ ‘the Standard’: Ebonics and guerrilla warfare at Capital High” (Anthropology & Education Quarterly vol.30, no.3, pp 272-93, 1999). This article analyses the discourse styles and linguistic practices of a group of African American high school students. The author found that the use of AAVE rather than standard English is both a promotion of Black identity and an unconscious act of resistance against the White establishment. In a reversal of what is normally thought of as the usual pattern, the use of AAVE has high prestige among the students, while the use of standard English is stigmatized or “dissed” (dis-respected) because it is considered “acting White”. Students who want to achieve academic success (which involves the use of standard English) must have strategies that will allow them to do so without being ostracized by their peers, such as being skilful in AAVE. Thus, the author argues that trying to repair or alter students’ use of AAVE is largely counterproductive. She concludes:

Indeed, instead of trying to repair the linguistic practices of Black American adolescents, successful policy makers will redirect their energies toward minimizing the linguistic warfare inherent in the ongoing convention of marginalizing and stigmatizing the Black self…

Resources for teachers

Two books on general language awareness and teaching in multicultural schools may be of some interest to teachers. The first is Teaching and Learning in Multicultural Schools by Elizabeth Coelho (Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, 1998). (This is the same author of the excellent two books on teaching speakers of Caribbean creoles in Canada, described in PACE Newsletter 4, 1993.) The focus of this book is on teaching in schools where there are many immigrant children of different nationalities. It discusses sources of diversity, attitudes towards immigration and the immigrant experience in general. Then it goes on to describe an “inclusive” approach to the school environment, the community, classroom instruction and the curriculum. Also included are chapters on an anti-racist approach to education and on assessment. A short section (pp.87-9) deals specifically with teaching speakers of creoles and minority dialects. Part of this is worth quoting:

The students often receive the message that their own language is “wrong” or “bad English”, and this can have negative effects on self-esteem. Also, teachers who lack information about language and language variety often regard these students not as learners of standard English but as English speakers who are careless, lazy, or of limited intellectual capacity.

It is important to recognize and validate the linguistic systems that students bring to school, and all languages and varieties of languages should be viewed as equally valid forms of communication.

The second book is Language Exploration and Awareness: A Resource Book for Teachers (second edition) by Larry Andrews (Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah NJ, 1998). The book defines the language exploration and awareness approach and gives the rationale for it. Then it looks at the various “elements” covered in the approach, including the properties of communication; words and lexicography; grammar, spelling and “good English”; discourse routines and conventions; regional, social and historical variation; meaning and semantics; language intolerance and discrimination; and second language learners. There is a brief description of AAVE (pp.198-200), but no mention of pidgins or creoles.