PM Golding Says the Debate on Teaching Patois Signifies ....

[Lazie]

(2 thumps up fi dat Mr. PM).

PM Golding Says the Debate on Teaching Patois Signifies an Admission of Failure

Prime Minister Bruce Golding says the debate about teaching patois as a second language and translating the Bible into patois, signifies an admission of failure. He said 'we have failed to impart our accepted language of English so we are giving up. This one can't work, so let us find another one that can work'.

Mr. Golding was addressing the graduating and prize-giving class of 2008 at the Kingsway High School in Kingston yesterday (June 29). He said he was still waiting on someone who is participating in this debate to explain to him how patois is going to help our students to learn and understand history, the sciences, and mathematics.
"When that is explained to me, then maybe I will go to Parliament and pass a law that says don't just translate the Bible into patois but all the laws and proceedings of our court. Let us translate everything into patois if that is the best way we can understand", he told the students and parents, to loud applause.

Mr. Golding said there are forces out there impacting on young people which result in many schools and teachers having to spend so much time retro-fitting and repairing the damage done. He told the graduates that their graduation from Kingsway was just the start of their real journey.
"While we all celebrate with you this evening, let me alert you to the fact that there are enormous challenges that await you. You live in a turbulent, ever-changing world that is complicated and dangerous. You are facing a world where having some CXC subjects is no longer good enough. You will find that persons a little older than you have degrees, and you have a challenge of raising your own competence in order to get ahead of the pact. Don't be intimidated by that because learning never stops," Mr. Golding said.

He told the graduates to "always aim for the highest and remember never be content with what is, because there is always greater that can be achieved. Always aim for the highest. Your ability to learn and master skills is still untapped. Work hard and make this community proud of you".
He urged the students never to forget where they were coming from and never to be unappreciative of the role Kingsway played in their development.

Mr. Golding commended two parents, Mrs. Gloria Gibbs and Mrs. Rose Smith, who gave testimonials of how Kingsway High had transformed their children's lives and turned them into high achievers. Mr. Golding said he was particularly moved by the presentation of Mrs. Gloria Gibbs, whose son, Orlando Gibbs, came and stood by her side at the podium and offered her his support when she was overcome emotionally, enabling her to complete her presentation. He called on parents to continue to play their part in assisting the schools in the challenging task of educating children.

[HL]

...why is patois even up for debate?

I think jamaica has more pressing matters that require the human resource wasted on this debate.

[Gamma]

same reason why yuh decide fi have an input.....

anyway your 5 and dime "accident" betray yuh every time....besides that, what do you care ..... this an matter for jamaica and jamaicans.

[HL]

[Muadib]

After listening to some researchers and applying critical thinking I must cross over to the dark side.

Patios based instruction should be offered as an alternative in certain schools.

If the language of the students and thier environment is not English, there is no point instructing them in what can be considered a second language.. they should be offered instruction in their native language. English should be taught as a second language.

Patios should be treated as a regional language ala certain parts of India and appropriate communication protocol devised to address this reality.

This may create a larger divide among the classes but.. suh it guh.. one haffi deal wid reality.

[Peter R]

So, will they also have patois instruction? Who say dem goin undastan "proper" patois? whatever that is.

pr

[Mosiah]

Much respect to you for this. It must have been the same news item on CVM that I saw last night. I am more convinced that we must treat PATOIS (not patIOS, Maudib!) as a second language. As I asked a few months ago, what is the first language of 90% of Jamaicans? The answer cannot be English. Take a moment and think about it. Most of us on this very forum spoke patois first and learnt English later, mostly in school. Some of us are still learning English!

Again, nuff respect for your honesty in this matter. If only you could be like this when it comes to...why, look at the time!

[Peter R]

The report "ascording" to Maudib is saying that Patois is the first language and English the second.

The thing is that patois is a spoken language with no formal grammatical rules or conventions to my knowledge, whereas English is both spoken and written. My question is that if this is going to be used in schools there must be some standardization of patois, spelling, grammar, for it to make sense (figuratively) in a formal setting.

Who is going to do that groundwork? the M o E?

pr

[Willi]

I disagree.

Most people not in ghettos learn both at the same time.

However, everyone is avoiding the elephant in the room! Patois is ONLY a spoken dialect. There is NO written standard and that makes it impossible to go forward with it at this time. Besides, we are wasting time.

Our problem is EDUCATION, not language. If we had high educ. standards, then we could have a proper debate about language.

Basically, many of our people are patois illiterate! That is why new expressions pop up all the time! Its simply "bad" patois. The man on the street cant handle traditional patois very well either!

[Peter R]

Willi, we de pan de same wavelent..

pr

[Willi]

Nuh chute mi Lion!
Mi glad di iyah propastan.
Mi deh yah a ded wid laff!

[Mosiah]

I disagree.
Most people not in ghettos learn both at the same time.

That is a small, very small percentage of Jamaicans, Willi. Some of us think Jamaica is Kingston, or some school on North Street.

[Bricktop]

How will patois help students to learn math, science, engineering etc?

[Mosiah]

Maudib wrote:

After listening to some researchers and applying critical thinking I must cross over to the dark side.

Patios based instruction should be offered as an alternative in certain schools.

If the language of the students and thier environment is not English, there is no point instructing them in what can be considered a second language.. they should be offered instruction in their native language. English should be taught as a second language.

Patios should be treated as a regional language ala certain parts of India and appropriate communication protocol devised to address this reality.

This may create a larger divide among the classes but.. suh it guh.. one haffi deal wid reality.

[Lazie]

After listening to some researchers and applying critical thinking I must cross over to the dark side.

Patios based instruction should be offered as an alternative in certain schools.

If the language of the students and thier environment is not English, there is no point instructing them in what can be considered a second language.. they should be offered instruction in their native language. English should be taught as a second language.

Patios should be treated as a regional language ala certain parts of India and appropriate communication protocol devised to address this reality.

This may create a larger divide among the classes but.. suh it guh.. one haffi deal wid reality.

Sarcasm!!!