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It's our language!
Alison Irvine
Thursday, July 24, 2008
In his address to the graduates of Kingsway High School on June 29, Prime Minister Golding said the following (apparently to much applause):
"We've always thought that we needed a second language, but I thought that when we were talking about a second language we were talking about an international language, whether French, Spanish or German. Something that can allow us easier access to other parts of the world... But no, we're talking about patois, as if there's any other country that will understand what we're saying. To me what this signifies is an admission to failure. We have failed to impart our accepted language, English, and so we have given up."
May I point out to Mr Golding that we have not "given up". In fact, we never started at all.
In 1895, the superintending Inspector of Industrial Schools made the following assessment of the Jamaican school-leavers in his inspectorate:
"With regard to English, which I look upon as the most neglected of all the subjects taught in the schools of my district, children leave school from the highest standard, no better equipped in the correct use of the English language than the people surrounding them who have in many instances never been to school at all."
The Superintending Inspector further noted that English was "very little understood, often misunderstood and mistaught or neglected in the great majority of our schools".
In 1916, the Jamaican Annual Report of the Education Department and of the Board of Education identified what was described as "lamentable weakness" in written composition in Jamaica's elementary schools.
Similar reports for the colonial government done in 1896, 1903 and 1908, made specific reference to the linguistic problems which pupils were experiencing. In general, the archival and historical data drawn from the Annual Reports of Her Majesty's Inspectors highlight the systemic failure of pupils to acquire English in Jamaica's elementary schools.
Half a century later, the results for exams in English Language show the same pattern of underachievement as they do now. In 1949, 26 per cent of those who sat for Senior Cambridge English Language passed the exam; only 32 per cent passed in 1950. Just before Independence, in 1959, 45 passed the exam. According to Dr Ralph Thompson's analysis of the 2007 results obtained by students leaving our schools, 71 per cent of Jamaican children left secondary school unsuccessful in English language examinations.
For well over a century we have been determined to ignore the reality of the linguistic situation in Jamaica. For well over a century we have preferred to squander our human potential, infringe the rights of citizens who do not speak English and pretend, like the prime minister, that English is our first language.
We advance silly arguments like, "People in other countries will not understand what we're saying." Well, people in Finland, Greece, Turkey, Japan and a number of other such places should also abandon what they speak since their languages are confined to only one country too. Or we insist on pretending that Jamaicans are incapable of being bilingual and will be incapable of using two languages - Jamaican and English.
We are now startled that the Bible Society of the West Indies and Wycliffe Bible Translators Caribbean want to translate the Bible into Jamaican, even though it will really not be a cost to the Jamaican taxpayer. Jamaicans should know that the Bible has been translated into the creoles spoken in Suriname, Curacao, Haiti and St Lucia.
The founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators was William Cameron Townsend, a missionary from the USA. While preaching to the Cakchiquel Indians of Guatemala, Townsend was asked by one of the men: "If your God is so great, why doesn't He speak in my language?" We Jamaicans, in 2008, are still essentially saying the opposite: If God is so great, how could He possibly speak our language?
Our reactions in 2008, after a century of an "English-only" language policy that has clearly failed, say a lot about how we see ourselves. And by the way, Mr Golding, you should know that, based on your own criticism of Jamaican, German is a global non-starter if we are choosing a foreign language for our students to learn.
Alison Irvine is a linguist and researcher in Washington, DC, USA.
treacle_29@yahoo.com
Alison Irvine
Thursday, July 24, 2008
In his address to the graduates of Kingsway High School on June 29, Prime Minister Golding said the following (apparently to much applause):
"We've always thought that we needed a second language, but I thought that when we were talking about a second language we were talking about an international language, whether French, Spanish or German. Something that can allow us easier access to other parts of the world... But no, we're talking about patois, as if there's any other country that will understand what we're saying. To me what this signifies is an admission to failure. We have failed to impart our accepted language, English, and so we have given up."
May I point out to Mr Golding that we have not "given up". In fact, we never started at all.
In 1895, the superintending Inspector of Industrial Schools made the following assessment of the Jamaican school-leavers in his inspectorate:
"With regard to English, which I look upon as the most neglected of all the subjects taught in the schools of my district, children leave school from the highest standard, no better equipped in the correct use of the English language than the people surrounding them who have in many instances never been to school at all."
The Superintending Inspector further noted that English was "very little understood, often misunderstood and mistaught or neglected in the great majority of our schools".
In 1916, the Jamaican Annual Report of the Education Department and of the Board of Education identified what was described as "lamentable weakness" in written composition in Jamaica's elementary schools.
Similar reports for the colonial government done in 1896, 1903 and 1908, made specific reference to the linguistic problems which pupils were experiencing. In general, the archival and historical data drawn from the Annual Reports of Her Majesty's Inspectors highlight the systemic failure of pupils to acquire English in Jamaica's elementary schools.
Half a century later, the results for exams in English Language show the same pattern of underachievement as they do now. In 1949, 26 per cent of those who sat for Senior Cambridge English Language passed the exam; only 32 per cent passed in 1950. Just before Independence, in 1959, 45 passed the exam. According to Dr Ralph Thompson's analysis of the 2007 results obtained by students leaving our schools, 71 per cent of Jamaican children left secondary school unsuccessful in English language examinations.
For well over a century we have been determined to ignore the reality of the linguistic situation in Jamaica. For well over a century we have preferred to squander our human potential, infringe the rights of citizens who do not speak English and pretend, like the prime minister, that English is our first language.
We advance silly arguments like, "People in other countries will not understand what we're saying." Well, people in Finland, Greece, Turkey, Japan and a number of other such places should also abandon what they speak since their languages are confined to only one country too. Or we insist on pretending that Jamaicans are incapable of being bilingual and will be incapable of using two languages - Jamaican and English.
We are now startled that the Bible Society of the West Indies and Wycliffe Bible Translators Caribbean want to translate the Bible into Jamaican, even though it will really not be a cost to the Jamaican taxpayer. Jamaicans should know that the Bible has been translated into the creoles spoken in Suriname, Curacao, Haiti and St Lucia.
The founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators was William Cameron Townsend, a missionary from the USA. While preaching to the Cakchiquel Indians of Guatemala, Townsend was asked by one of the men: "If your God is so great, why doesn't He speak in my language?" We Jamaicans, in 2008, are still essentially saying the opposite: If God is so great, how could He possibly speak our language?
Our reactions in 2008, after a century of an "English-only" language policy that has clearly failed, say a lot about how we see ourselves. And by the way, Mr Golding, you should know that, based on your own criticism of Jamaican, German is a global non-starter if we are choosing a foreign language for our students to learn.
Alison Irvine is a linguist and researcher in Washington, DC, USA.
treacle_29@yahoo.com
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