IN
THIS ISSUE (No.3) |
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| REPORTS |
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USA
Katherine
Fischer [The
Caribbean Academic Program (CAP) at Evanston Township High School
was described in the last issue of this newsletter. (See also FORTHCOMING
PUBLICATION on page 9.) The figures given below may illustrate the
positive affect of the program. They show how a large proportion
of the students have moved up into classes at a higher academic
level since being in the program.] “The
following are figures for 51 students who were in the CAP program
for all or part of the 1991 and 1992 school years. They reflect
placements for the 1992 and 1993 school years. (There are a few
students for whom information is not available.)
“Of these students, 14, or roughly 27%, were initially in
for 2-level courses; the remaining 73% were in 1-level courses [the
lowest level]; none were initially in honors courses. Placement of CAP Students 1992-93
“Of 37 students initially eligible for 1-level [in 1991-92], 7 remain in that track [in 1992-93]. Of 14 students initially eligible for 2-level, 6 remain in that track. The remaining students – 75% – have moved ahead at least one level. 12 students, or 24%, have moved ahead two or more levels. 31% of the total students are and/or will be enrolled in at least one honors class.”
From: Albert
Valdman [The
Creole Institute is a research oriented unit, dealing mainly with
French-based creoles, especially Haitian Creole.] “[O]ur
pedagogical role is limited to the teaching of Haitian Creole [HC]
as a foreign language. However, between 1979 and 1983, we did hold
summer institutes for the training of bilingual education teachers
involved in the education of Haitian children in the main US Haitian
diaspora communities. Many of our graduates are still active in
the Boston, Miami, and New York City areas. At present we are engaged
in two research projects in French-based creoles: (1) the preparation
of a bilingual English - HC dictionary; (2) a historical and general
dictionary for Louisiana Creole.” [See PUBLICATIONS below.]
Seychelles
M.T.
Choppy “In
Seychelles, Creole is used as a medium of instruction and also taught
as a language in schools. For some teaching materials, contact L.
Barbé, Creole Section, National Institute of Pedagogy, Seychelles.” Australia
Margaret
Dean (formerly Allan)
From: Rob
Amery “I
am involved in language revival/resur-rection work in the Wunga
languages of the Adelaide region. I am particularly interested in
J.D. Powell’s (1973) work, ‘Raising Pidgins for Fun
or Profit’, and the application of these ideas and methods
in the Australian context (Sandefur 1983; Thieberger, forthcoming).
Sandefur refers to ‘relexification’ whilst Thieberger
refers to ‘language recreation’, but they both draw
on Powell's original idea of constructing what he calls an artificial
pidgin to facilitate acquisition of a language in situations of
severe language loss. “I have not used these methods (sometimes referred to as the Quileute approach) but I’m particularly interested in their application and outcomes.
Papua New Guinea
Beverley Sundgren
From:
“In 1991 PNG had Vernacular Prep Schools (Pre-Grade 1) operating in at least 91 languages. Tok Pisin was 3rd in the number of students in classes from a single language. Enga and Kuanua languages had over 1800 students and Tok Pisin had over 1600. There may be more Tok Pisin students since we may not have received data from every school since Tok Pisin is so diffuse. The Enga and Kuanua numbers are fairly reliable since they were collected by provincial governments. Tok Pisin schools that were not aware of the education data base may not have sent in information.”
From:
Edward
Wiruk [The
Tok Pisin Prep-school Programwas featured in earlier issues. The
following latest information comes from the 1992 Annual Report.] “There are now 23 prep-schools in the program, an increase of 9 from the 1990 total reported in the last PACE Newsletter.There are 39 teachers, 5 of these being supervisors.
“The Melanesian Tok Pisin preschool program was first started with two schools in 1985. The program moved slowly at a snail’s pace when there was opposition from other church groups. Not only that, many teachers opposed the use of Tok Pisin. They thought that the children’s learning to read and write first in Tok Pisin would interfere with their learning English. But the growing general opinion seems to be that Tok Pisin Preschool…actually helps rather than hinders learning of new concepts and ideas as well as other subjects in the English language. In fact, the popularity of the preschools is mainly due to the success of their ‘graduates’ in the community schools. The recognition and demand for this type of program grows rapidly. Parents, teachers, education authorities in the district, local community leaders and the public at large all agree to the effectiveness of the program.”
The
PNG Post Courier
“This follows the launching of a literacy school at Banz…It is being sponsored by the United Nations Education and Scientific Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).”
Solomon Islands
Bernie
O’Donnell “There
has recently been formed a Non-Government Organization to look after
Literacy Work. This will initially handle funds from CODE (Canadian
Organization for Development through Education). A name [for the
organization] will be selected from a competition…There have
been several names submitted with Pidgin titles. “A
co-ordinator has been selected for this NGO and he has just started
work. This is Mr Jack Rekzy, who has experience as a school teacher
and in non-formal education. He will initially supervise projects
already operating, some of which are in Pidgin, and some in the
vernacular. “It
is hoped that the new co-ordinator will be prominent in advertising
literacy in the various districts and sell the idea. He himself
has ideas of working in Pidgin and promoting it as something national.
“The
need to have an NGO in the Solomons shows that the literacy work,
with “There
have been statements made that people are “hungry for literacy”,
so any efforts at this time will be well rewarded.” From: Ernest
W Lee “The
New Testament in SI Pijin is in the final stages of preparation
for printing by the Bible Society of the South Pacific. It is expected
to be available for distribution in 1992. The work was finalized
by the Pijin Commission of the Solomon Islands Christian Association. “Funding
has been received from CODE (Canadian Organization for Development)
for producing 4 Pijin study booklets. “Pijin
literacy series with basic literacy skills book and story track
book have been prepared under the direction of Janice Allen (SIL)
under the auspices of SILAC. I’m not sure how soon these will
be published. “I
also recently talked to Tancicious Ogamauri an RC catechist in the
West Kevato area of Malaita. He has trained some people to teach
Pijin literacy with apparently very good results among young Kwaio
people.” From: John
J. Roughan “A
number of literacy programs are springing up and many of them are
using Pijin-English, especially those going on in town…[A]
recent literacy training program [the Women’s Literacy Training
Group, aided by teachers of the Bishop Epalle School]…has
been in operation almost two years now. The remark-able thing about
it is the fact that almost a third of the 59 women are 40 years
old or more. That fact underlines the hunger [for literacy] these
women feel in an urban setting.” From: Rex
Stephen Horoi “The
Solomon Islands National Literacy Committee under the guidance of
Lesley Mosely, who is the consultant to the committee, has been
carrying out a National Survey of all the major languages in the
Solomon Islands. “Solomon Islands is a multi-lingual society with Solomons Pijin as its lingua franca, English as the official language and between 60-100 different vernaculars. The aim of the survey is to gather the necessary linguistic data upon which to design and develop an appropriate language and literacy policy for Solomon Islands. The absence of a language policy is a policy! We hope to do better when the data is available.”
Britian
Philip
Baker “You
may be interested to know that there is some adult literacy teaching
of creole languages in London. The creoles concerned are Antillean
(St Lucia and Dominica) and Mauritian.” [If anyone has more information on the use of creoles in education in the UK, please write to the editor.] |
