Following on from the last issue, here is more information on some recent (and some not so recent) publications about Haitian Creole. Haiti–today and tomorrow, edited by Charles R. Foster and Albert Valdman (University Press of America, Lanham, MD, 1984) contains three articles focusing on the debate about the introduction of Creole as the language of instruction in the first four years of primary school. In “The linguistic situation of Haiti”, Albert Valdman presents a general overview, discussing the functional distribution of Creole, variation, and issues concerning standardization and moderniza-tion. The social and cultural implications of institutionalizing literacy in Creole are dealt with by Ulrich Fleischmann in “Language, literacy, and underdevelopment”. Finally, in “Basic education in Haiti”, Jacomina P. de Regt describes the problems of the Haitian education system, plans to deal with these problems (including the use of Creole in formal education) and constraints on carrying out these plans.

Two other more recent articles by Albert Valdman are concerned with the increasing status of creoles as they are developed and expanded in function: “The deminorization of Haitian Creole” in Iberoamerican 15/1(42), pp.108-26 (1991) and “Vers la déminorisa-tion des créoles” in B. Py and R. Jeanneret, eds, Minorisation linguistique et interaction, pp. 187-206 (Université de Neuchâtel, Genève, 1989). This latter article deals with Mauritian Creole as well as Haitian Creole. Valdman (1991, 108) defines the term “deminorization” as follows:

This term refers to the process whereby a formerly depreciated vernacular speech variety with a strata of a speech community lacking in economic and political power (even though they may in fact comprise the majority of the population) gains prestige vis-à-vis the language variety (or varieties) formerly associated with political and economic power. Haiti represents a particularly interesting case of deminorization in that the language involved, Haitian Creole (HC), developed from an approximative variety of another language, specifically French, in the context of the plantocratic system of the 17th and 18th centuries. In fewer than three centuries after it emerged this language associated with the servile population of the colony has become a language in its own right: it is developing a standard form, it has been endowed with an officially recognized orthography, and, most importantly, it has been promulgated as the republic of Haiti’s official language on equal footing with its lexifier language.

One of the important factors which led to the deminorization of Haitian creole was its use in the schools as a medium of instruction and subject of study.

Two publications on Haitian Creole are available from the Creole Institute, Indiana Uni., Ballantine Hall 602, Bloomington, IN 47405 USA: Ann pale kreyòl: Elementary and Intermediate Haitian Creole (books and cassette tapes) and Haitian Creole - English - French Dictionary (in 2 volumes).

Another work which describes the use of French-lexifier creoles in education to some extent is Créoles et enseignment du français by Robert Chaudenson (L’Harmattan, Paris, 1989).

Comparatively little work is available on the actual use of English-lexifier creoles in the Caribbean, or on associated issues such as standardization. However, one very important article by Lise Winer has recently appeared: “Orthographic standardization for Trinidad and Tobago: linguistic and sociopolitical considerations in an English Creole community” in Language Problems and Language Planning 14/3, pp.237-68 (1990). This article gives an overview of creoles in the Caribbean and discusses general aspects such as variation and attitudes. It reports that the typical negative
attitudes towards creoles in the past have recently given way to more positive attitudes to some extent:

In the English Caribbean, increased acceptance of “dialect” in schools, including writing of songs, poems, plays, and stories (especially dialogue) in Creole, and, significantly, the opportunity to write in Creole on the O-level English examinations set by the regional Caribbean Examinations Council, have given the vernacular an official educational legitimacy. Nonetheless, both educators and the public are concerned over the extent to which acceptance of vernacular might negatively affect students’ competence in standard English. (p.241)

With regard to writing, many Caribbean creoles have “increased efforts towards literacy” (p.242), with Papiamentu apparently having the widest range of functions.

The author then proceeds to focus on Trinidad and Tobago, presenting some very interesting information on the use of Creole there in education:

In 1975, the Ministry of Education officially recognized that the majority of children in the Trinidad and Tobago school system had a first, primary, and sometimes sole competence in the first language, the “vernacular” or “dialect” [ie Trinidad and Tobago English Creole (TC)]. The ministry’s 1975 syllabus called for the recognition of the vernacular as a real language and as a legitimate vehicle for oral and written expression. Educators were called on to use teaching strategies based on the differences between the two language varieties, and to incorporate spoken and written “dialect” in schoolwork and formal examination. (p.245)

The general reaction to the syllabus was predictable:

At the time, the syllabus drew a barrage of protest from parents and the general public. Many objections were based on the fear that acknowledging – much less using – an “inferior” and “useless” kind of speech would undercut the learning of “proper” English, thus limiting a child’s opportunities for successful education and employment. (p.245)

But, Winer concludes:

This attitude no longer generally holds…TC has a measure of officially sanctioned and even required educational use, and is widely available in written form…Although few would advocate the use of TC as the primary educational medium, even in primary education, there is a widely recognized need, from teachers and community, for its use in education as complementary, additive, and transitional to standard English (p.245)

The article goes on to talk about the need for orthographic standardization, presenting general information on writing in TC and problems with the traditional strategies for doing so. Seven principles to be considered in standardization are then outlined. The rest of the article details three possible systems for the TC orthography – the phonemic, the historical-etymological and the modified English – giving the advantages and disadvantages of each. One the basis of these, some guidelines are given for a standard orthographic system following an innovative continuum model.

Another article by Lise Winer examines the popular view that the use of a creole language will have a negative effect of the acquisition of the standard lexifier language. This article is “Variation and transfer in English Creole -Standard English language learning” in The dynamic interlanguage: empirical studies in second language variation, ed. by Miriam R. Eisenstein, pp.155-73 (New York, Plennum Press, 1989). Early in the article, she points out that learning standard English is a priority in the Trinidad education system, but students’ performance, especially on standardized examinations, is poor. Winer’s detailed research on students’ errors in standard English showed a large proportion of transfer errors – that is, errors caused by the influence of the first language (in this case, Trinidad English Creole). These findings seem to back up fears of using creoles in the education system.

However, the article implies that at least part of the problem may be due to classrrom attitudes and teaching methods both connected with perceptions that Creole is not a distinct language:

Attitudes toward TEC [Trinidad English Creole] are now very different from the total rejection of even 1 years ago, but it is still common to hear teachers or other native TEC speakers talk about the language as “bad” or “broken” English, or to state that you can “mix up” the language any way you want because it “has no rules”. Although the recognition of the vernacular is much greater now, there is still a widespread lack of understanding of the language and, especially on the part of teachers, tremendous insecurity about language use and a lack of conscious awareness and understanding of the ways in which TEC works…(p.156)

Consequently, Winer comes to the following conclusion (p.170):

[T]wo approaches to the teaching of “language arts” should be seriously considered in this situation: (1) an overtly contrastive method of comparing TEC and English and (2) the development of true TEC L1 literacy.

With regard to the first point, she notes (p.171):

Much language now considered “error” is in fact a result of what might be considered inadequate or inappropriate code-switching. A teaching approach which consciously used positive transfer and focused on areas of overlap which are difficult for learners to disentangle on their own should serve to decrease hypercorrections and negative transfer in English by increasing the perception of language distance and by facilitating recognition of difference as well as true similarities between the two languages.

With regard to the second point, Winer refers to the “strong support amongst many educators…for literacy in L1 vernacular as crucial to educational, social, and political development”. However, she notes that there has been very little work done in first-language literacy in English Creole:

Kephart’s (1987) preliminary work in Carriacou, Grenada, is the only example of a study of the use of a phonemically based orthographic system used to teach reading and writing to native speakers of a Caribbean English Creole who were otherwise taught in English. He found that L1 literacy was accepted, understood, and like by the students and was accepted by parents and teachers once they were assured that it would not hamper their children’s educational progress in English, which it apparently did not. A stronger position to investigate is that L1 literacy would in fact develop general reading skills more easily, without the burden of concurrent L2 learning, and that the skills could be transferred to L2 literacy as well.

Contact address:

Lise Winer
Department of Linguistics
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901 USA

A revised version of Kephart’s (1987) paper, referred to by Winer, is soon to be published (see FORTHCOMING PUBLICATION below). The abstract of his PhD dissertation on the topic follows.