Tuesday 15 April 2008

Our Government's Language Education Policy

Have you read the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Culture's (MOEYC) Language Education Policy? I did, a number of months ago.

For now, I would only like to say I believe the Jamaican Government is realistic. It recognises that Jamaica is a bilingual country with Jamaican Creole being the most widely used; and it laments (and rightly so) that "the fluid nature of language usage between these languages [Standard Jamaican English & Jamaican Creole), as well as the peculiar nature of the linguistic relationship they share, creates difficulties for the majority of Creole speakers learning English."

Well, what couse of action should be taken? The government considers 3 of 5 proposals:


1. Declare the Jamaican Language situation bilingual ascribing equal language status to Standard Jamaican English (SJC) and Jamaican Creole (JC). This would including tailoring a number of things to accommodate this status - teaching and publishing education material in JC.

2. Retain SJE as the official language and at the same time "promote the acquisition of basic literacy in the early years (eg. K – 3) in the home language and facilitate the development of English as a second language.

3. Maintain SJE as the official language and promote basic communication through the oral use of the home language in the early years (e.g. K – 3) while facilitating the development of literacy in English."

For financial as well as social and political constraints, the Government has opted for the 3rd suggestion. Siit ya: "Besides, issues such as funding for an adequate supply of literacy materials, as well as political and social attitudes to Creole as a medium of instruction (Bryan 2000),
particularly the latter, could present obstacles that are difficult to overcome."

So, my question is this: HOW CAN WE, WHO WOULD LIKE TO TRANSLATE INTO JC THE TEXT WHICH MOST (?) JAMAICANS READ AND MEMORISE, AVOID CONMFLICT WITH THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICY? This might be a foolish question, but I'm thinking anyway.

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