tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798666792536941164.post6457606807903749960..comments2023-07-31T01:44:54.861-07:00Comments on Caribbean Children's and Young Adult Literature Diane Browne: The future for Caribbean children's books. Part 2. Reading and the English LanguageDiane Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00027399765826980748noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798666792536941164.post-41513971066084753532012-09-05T14:18:24.880-07:002012-09-05T14:18:24.880-07:00Well technology has bested me again. By mistake I ...Well technology has bested me again. By mistake I deleted Diana's comment, which was a good one, and now I cannot get it back on. Then I tried to change something in my latest one (which I had spent some time on and I thought led us to an understanding) and lost it. What a something! Tchu! Can't stay with this any longer. Have to do something else now. Thanks to all of you for contributing.Diane Brownehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00027399765826980748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798666792536941164.post-65021110056934537752012-09-05T13:15:38.105-07:002012-09-05T13:15:38.105-07:00Diana McCaulayhttp://www.dianamccaulay.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798666792536941164.post-17955038139814007092012-09-05T07:18:59.393-07:002012-09-05T07:18:59.393-07:00Here we go again! An argument to use Creole to all...Here we go again! An argument to use Creole to allow Creole-speaking children to learn English better turns into a gratuitous disquisition on the virtues of English. Diane I'm well aware of the advantages of English. The point is as Silvia who is head of the Linguistics Dept at UWI just outlined that too many Jamaican children are NOT competent in English as we know only too well at UWI because we deal with the consequences of this. The point is not about 'not removing creole from our lives' it is about not devalorizing it at school and in the minds of those for whom it is a first language! This in effect is what is being done when you constantly keep comparing it negatively with English, insisting it has no use in the contemporary world, that it's broken English etc etc none of which incidentally is true. I didn't learn English at the expense of the two Indian languages which happen to be my mother tongue and national tongue respectively. Why must Jamaican children learn English at the expense of Patwa?! that is the question--Annie Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05741373844055889633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798666792536941164.post-35689288080145574672012-09-04T19:49:58.227-07:002012-09-04T19:49:58.227-07:00It is with some trepidation that I decided to add ...It is with some trepidation that I decided to add my comment to this blog. With trepidation, because discussions about language and its value to individuals and to the communities that they form are often so emotionally charged that the opinions of linguists such as myself matter little. Nevertheless, let me try to insert some rational considerations into the exchange. <br />The first is that the most basic insight of pedagogy is that learning is incremental, and must therefore build on what is already known. It is on this basis that we recognize that the acquisition of a second language in a formal educational setting must proceed on the basis of meta-knowledge of the first language: stuff like the ability to distinguish different parts of speech, to recognize different sentences types, etc. That meta-knowledge needs to be taught, and it is really neither here nor there which is the first language in which it is taught: Dutch (as in my case) and Patwa (as in the case of the majority of Jamaican children entering primary school) are equally good for this purpose.<br />The second observation that I would like to contribute is that the current approach to the teaching of English in Jamaican schools is not only unsuccessful, but frequently succeeds in producing adults who are utterly convinced that they lack the ability to learn English - the result of years of invalidation of the linguistic knowledge which they brought to their schooling, and years of being made to feel that what they managed to learn of English despite the lack of proper teaching of the language, was never good enough. <br />Some of my graduates are teachers, and achieve small miracles in their classrooms by validating the first language of their students and recognizing that English has to be taught as a second language. But they are too few to make the sea change in education that we want. The responsibility for that project lies with the Ministry of Education, which needs to recognize that Jamaica is a bilingual society, and that its children deserve a bilingual education.Silviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157977900830039448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798666792536941164.post-46176642980734626442012-09-04T06:27:19.013-07:002012-09-04T06:27:19.013-07:00Actually, Annie, I think the various articles in t...Actually, Annie, I think the various articles in the newspapers on Creole and Enlish Language are making the matter clearer. The thing is, one doesn't want to remove Creole (which we all speak), from our lives, but we do need to be able to use English to get on in the world. Most people will not be great musicians/entertainers or track stars, but they can utilise the English Language for other jobs which require it, especially if they have to interact with people outside of Jamaica, or if they migrate, and regretfully we can't all stay here. Island people migrate. We do have outstanding writers, so people other than entertainers and athletes have made thir mark, and they show that English and Creole can live and breathe in their work (together). Creole speakers attest to the value of reading in their youth in their mastery of the English Langauge, and if the reading habit is instilled in the early years then it will be invaluable; which brings us to children's literature, which we seem not to value. Studies indicate that the 'child reader searches for himself/herself in the pages of a book (particularly fiction) for self validation'. However you bring up a point which I've often wondered about, and that is: "Is our own life so 'foreign' to us that we cannot read baout it?" Reading then belongs to another world, America, the UK, which we are still striving to be a part of emotionally." Merle Hodge's "Crick Crack Monkey" clearly articulates this in one section. One hopes that by encouraging the use of local/Caribbean children's literature, we can find our own world. Welcome to this discussion on children's literature, Annie. I'd love us to be able to have a seminar on this. Who knows, maybe we will.Diane Brownehttp://dianebrowneblog.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798666792536941164.post-15364133659591217192012-09-02T06:40:21.177-07:002012-09-02T06:40:21.177-07:00I think you've answered your own question Dian... I think you've answered your own question Diane, if you don't valorize the local yourself (the suggestion that somehow speaking or learning in Patwa will undermine the acquisition of English and that the two are mutually exclusive where learing is concerned)...why shouldn't locals go to those who actually own the English language for books for their children? why would they imagine that Jamaicans might write an English book better? <br /><br />And incidentally what the linguists and many of us are arguing for is recognition that Jamaica is a bilingual society, no one is arguing that English not be taught. in fact this whole debate stems from the acknowledgment that too many Jamaicans are failing to learn English. The linguists say this is because their first language is not being recognized appropriately, it is assumed their first language is English and therefore they are not being taught the fundamentals of English because it is assumed that they know it already. You say children should learn English by reading more...how can they do that if they don't know how to read English?<br /><br />Finally please note that 'we' who are Olympic heroes and musical heroes are primarily Patwa speakers NOT English speakers. this didn't prevent them from going out and conquering the world, something Jamaiacans English-speakers have yet to do...<br /><br />In the matter of language I think we should be informed by research linguists have undertaken. There is an excellent article by the current head of linguistics, Silvia Kouenberg titled Linguistics in the Caribbean: Empowerment through Creole Awareness. I recommend it highly.Annie Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05741373844055889633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798666792536941164.post-20424623794416719122012-09-01T16:20:37.052-07:002012-09-01T16:20:37.052-07:00Another thought provoking post, Diane. A colleague...Another thought provoking post, Diane. A colleague of mine, Philip Clarke, at Montego Bay Comm Coll did some research with students, who are otherwise intelligent, into reasons why they failed CSEC English. The perception of English as the language of the coloniser and oppressor was high on the list. How do we change that? I think it would help if children were made aware of the 2-language situation from when they start basic school, explaining what each is used for, without implying that one is inferior to the other. I have lots more thoughts on this which I need to pull together. Helenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743130026557678304noreply@blogger.com