Jamaican (Patwa) Debate AGAIN!

In the last post, I indicated that the debate re the place of the Jamaican language (Patwa) in Jamaica has resurfaced in our local media, due to the efforts of Jamaican enthusiasts to have the Charter of Rights protect Jamaicans from discrimination on the ground of language. To save you time, I've hyper-linked most, if not all, the newspaper articles that have surfaced as a result of such and endeavour (1-21). (22-30) are articles that have been published on issues relating to language since the beginning of the year.   

1. Undeveloped Conscience and Real Sin
2. Argue Logically for Patois
3. Patois is the Best Route to English
4. Teaching Patois Undermines Poor
5. Teach English as Foreign Language
6. How Would the Patois Policy Work?
7. UNESCO Guidelines and Jamaican Patois
8. Fait a Yaad, Daans Abraad
9. Defending Patois
10. A Waste of Time to Teach Patois - Seaga
11. Teaching Patois Adds to Problem
12. Online Feedback
13. Policy Makers Must Be Informed About Patois
14. The Discrimination Debate
15. Harding Warns Against Discrimination Based on Language, Sexual Orientation 
16. Charter of Rights - A Recipe  for Discrimination 
17. What About Freedom from Language Discrimination
18. Guarantee Freedom from Language Discrimination
19. The Right to Discriminate
20. Nicholson Doubts Ja Will Resume Capital Punishment 
21. Charter of Rights (and Wrongs)
22. Is Jamaican Patois Inherently Vulgar and Base
23. Abbot, Patois Bible and Language Discrimination 
24. The Patois Industry, Rastamouse and Sandals Brand
25. Don't Knock Rastamouse
26. Teaching Patois in Schools Is Not Wrong
27. Encourage English, Not Patois
28. Cherish J'can Dialect, but Please No Patois Bible 
29. Creole Advocates Sign Language Charter 
30. Nationalise Caribbean Creole - Regional Officials

The Charter of Rights Maintains Linguistic Discrimination

The place of Jamaican (Patwa) has yet again resurfaced and the discussion is been kept in the public sphere by our leading media houses. The dialogue was sparked by proponents of Jamaican seeking to persuade the Jamaican government to make provision for the protections of Jamaican speakers against discrimination on the ground of language in the recently passed Charter of Rights.

On 22 March, the House of Representatives passed the Charter of Rights and sent it to the Senate. If passed by the Senate, the Charter would result in an amendment of the Jamaican constitution by replacing Chapter III of the current Constitution. According to Luton, "The Charter of Rights places on the State an obligation to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms for all persons in Jamaica and affords protection to the rights and freedoms of persons as set out in those provisions." Amongst other things, the Charter protects Jamaicans from being discriminated against on ground of gender, race, place of origin, social class, colour, religion and political opinions (Devonish, 02; cf Gleaner commentary, 5 April, 11).

No provision was made for protecting the 95% of the Jamaican population who has Jamaican as their first language against discrimination on the ground of language. This is so, even though the government had given the University of the West Indies (UWI) the opportunity do the research necessary to having an informed discussion/decision on the proposed provision. The UWI through the Jamaican Language Unit (JLU) seized the opportunity and conducted the necessary research. This included organising and implementing the Bilingual Education Project, a pilot project which sought to determine “the most effective means of encouraging full bilingualism for primary level students at the Grades 1 – 4 in Jamaican (Jamaican Creole) (JC) and Standard Jamaican English (SJE)” (BEP webpage). Unfortunately, the Charter has been passed by the House of Representative without giving consideration to the JLU’s research and its findings.

1. Luton, Dariane (23 March, 11) Parliament Passes Charter of Rights Jamaica Gleaner
2. Devonish, Hubert (13 Jan 02) Language rights, justice and constitution Jamaica Gleaner
3. BEP Webpage http://www.mona.uwi.edu/dllp/jlu/projects/index.htm

UK Launch of Luuk Buk

Update!

Jamaican Creole Bible Update (April - June 2010)

What Means the Most to Me

“It’s not being knighted by the crown
It’ not being given each order known
It’s not a sculpture of one’s own
- that means the most to me

“It’s not being spoken highly of
It’s not being known as capable of
It’s not being seen as worth of
– that means the most to me

“It’s not the world to call my own
It’s not a house to call sweet home
It’s not a car to drive around
– that means the most to me

“It’s those little things you do
Your hug, your kiss, your smile, your stew
Your touch, your time, your play time too
– that means the most to me”

By Bertram Gayle

My Experience with Relevance Theory: A Poem

Fraahn mi kom a dis ya plies, dem no tap chat
A ron op dem mout, bout mi no nuo wat
A paahn mi gud edikieshan, dehn wahn pu dehn fut
A fala wahn man we dehn kaal Gut

Rik, Maagarit an di wan Hariyat
No tap pesa mi main bout wa Relavant
I wan Maatin, we dehn kaal Shuoda
I uol a dem a fala di uman Diyaajra

Prossesing effort, cognative benefits
Ef dem gwaan chat so, mi a go lef ya wid fits
Satisfying expecations of relevance
Pupa Gad dis neeva mi ekspektans

Wooi mi ed, Laad mi kanfuuz
A wa dem big wod Diyaajra a yuuz
Ostensive-inferential, a wa dat, Jiiz
Contextual implication, dikshineri pliiz

Bot Laad, mi naa gu bak Jumieka
Wid i siem andastandin mi kya kum uova ya
Mi wahn yu fi elp mi fi andastan Onga
Ahn yu don nuo aredi, bout di wan we niem Sporba!

Laad, yu gud, iih?! Mi a get sopn
Aal dem big wod, no kom iin laik notn
Tenk yu fi ansa, preya -wat a sitn
Nou me a gu uom wid mi main ful a sitn

When Will the Government Hear?

Recently, and out of interest, I visited the website for Jamaica Association for the Deaf (JAD), a government based organisation. I visited their schools page and I was most facinated by what I read under “Programmes and Curriculum.” It reads:

“Instruction is delivered in academic and vocational subjects and the curriculum pursued is based on the Ministry of Education's guidelines/curriculum with additional components to address language and speech development, these being the areas most affected by deafness. A special feature of our programme is the current thrust for a multilingual approach to instruction. The approach embodies the use of both Jamaican Sign Language and English in communication with students allowing the student to utilize the communication mode most comfortable to him/her. Research efforts are further seeking to develop a clearer understanding of the structure and usage of Jamaican Sign Language by the Deaf population as a means of aiding their development of English as a second language” (emphasis mine).

It is my conviction that the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture (MOEYC) is blameworthy of double standard here! How so? The Ministry allows for full implementation of Jamaican Sign Languag (JSL) in deaf education - from pre-school to continuining education - whilst, at the same time, it practically disregard to the use of Jamaican Ceole (JamC) in the education of the hearing population, even at the primary level. True, societal attitudes toward JamC are (???) more negative than those toward JSL (I’m not certain as to the veracity of this claim as I have no corroborating evidence, save my limited experience). And we are all aware that the status of a speech variety has much to do with its use in both informal and formal domains. The MOEYC acknowledges the problem of societal attitudes in its Language Education Policy where it states its decision to adopt “transitional bilingualism.” Besides financial and orthographic constraints, states the ministry, transitional bilingualism was favoured above full bilingualism (its ideal choice) because of “political and social attitudes to Creole as a medium of instruction.” It goes on to say that these social attitudes “could present obstacles that are difficult to overcome” (MOEYC, 2001:24). My opinion: the government hasn’t yet got (there’s hope here!) the backbone to do what’s in the best interest of the majority of the nation’s aural/oral population.

Also, by not accomodating Jamaican Creole in the classroom as a vialble medium of instruction, the MOEYC repudiates its claim that it’s best to move from the known to the known. That the government expouses this principle is stated in the sentence “Research efforts are further seeking to develop a clearer understanding of the structure and usage of Jamaican Sign Language by the Deaf population as a means of aiding their development of English as a second language.” But what are we to conclude when the ministry’s approach to instruction in aural/oral schools is anything but “multilingual”?