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- "pan" and literacy for trinidad
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The language situation in trinidad and tobago: school and community
Winford James, a Caribbean Creole linguist has discussed in non-technical terms the crisis that exists in language use and communication in Trinidad and Tobago's classrooms today (see Links). This situation arises because Creole English is still regarded as a "broken" and "corrupt" form of English. He has also listed grammatical features of Trinidad and Tobago Creole English. Standard/International English is the language of upward social mobility, and of education. It is the language of success.
The crisis deepens when one realizes that students' ability to understand spoken English far outweighs their ability to produce this in speech or writing, or for many students to read and understand texts written in English.
Many gifted speakers e.g. pastors, politicians and teachers can switch glibly between the two 'codes' when the occasion, hearers and purposes of speech require this. (Author's question: Is this a sign of "giftedness" which we have not yet recognized or capitalized on?) What is needed is an approach that will allow teachers to reflect on how they use language with creole-influenced students and for the latter to explore in a positive fashion the creative uses of Creole English.
A slice from a group interview
The question for group discussion was:
"How you feel about 'Trini talk' (Creole dialect)?"Here are some responses:
Bill: "...is something I accept."Jarod: "Vulgar talk. I prefer polite language."
Teacher: "What is polite language?"Lisa: "They speak that in Standard English."
J: ...like when you talking to a girl. You don't talk harsh or obscene or ignorant."In the group's view the opposite of "talking polite" is "obscene". They agreed that Creole speech was not primarily for obscene purposes. It happens that way in the community.
Students' views of the relationship between language and literacy
Dell Hymes(1972) saidwhat we need to know about Language in the classroom is
"the relationship between a grammar of English and the ways in which English is organized in use by teachers, students and the communities" they come from;the meaning of features ... such as intonation, tone, rhythm and style;
the range of 'means of speech'..."conveying respect or disrespect, concern or indifference, intimacy or distance, seriousness or play...theappropriateness of different ways of speaking to different topics, speakers and situations." Ethnography is the recommended research method to uncover these "means".( in Cazden et al. pp xi-lvi. )
During my informal chats with students, they "voluntarily" spoke about their language in this fashion--not in terms of grammatical structures, but in terms of"ways" that conveyed respect or disrespect, intimacy or distance, seriousness or play. Below are some points they
made about Language and theirearlier Literacy-learning.
Student talk spectrum
At one end of the spectrum is "Polite"
speech and at the other end "Ignorant" or disrespectful verbal behaviour. These categories for Language in the community, are those that the students themselves used.("Polite"__________________"Ignorant")In between the two points there are a range of speech acts that make up the spectrum. In the "polite" category the students placed those acts which they thought had "positive" value; in the "ignorant" category, they placed what they thought were negative or "senseless" uses of speech. All of this is as they know it in the community in which they live.
They also considered as ranging between the two points, acts such as : Sweet talk or mamaguy, robber talk (bravado) and rude talk. In the two categories of positive and negative speech acts both Standard English and Trinidadian Creole are used. But the latter is used more frequently for "ignorant", negative talk and this is accompanied by loud, vehement tones.
Source:
OpenStax, "pan" and literacy for trinidad and tobago teachers. OpenStax CNX. Mar 09, 2011 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col10460/1.14
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