Letter of the Day | Language: crises and prospects in education

THE EDITOR, Madam:

In looking at the history of colonisation, I encountered the idea of being hubristic – having the unique quality of advancing civilisation-supreme race status. As a result of this, the English language is (promoted as) the vehicle to the civilising process in Jamaica. Given the current situation in Jamaica it has not been effective in the “civilising process.”

Slavery, of course was not a part of the “civilising process” and by the emergence of the era of colonisation the ex-slaves developed their form of communication, a language spoken by the majority of Jamaicans–the mother tongue. Culture, language and education, for example, are critical social forces for problem solving and creativity. Language and communication are the two most important dynamic drivers in the process of education. Since the advent of education in Jamaica, marked by the “Negro Education Act” in the mid-1930s, the mass of Jamaican students are taught in a language that is not their mother tongue.

My present mission however is not about teaching the students in their mother tongue at this stage, but to teach them English language in the same manner as they are instructed in French and Spanish-teaching – English as a second language. For this to take place, the Jamaican Patois/Creole must be recognised as an official language.

I was inspired to write on the topic by two articles and one editorial published in The Gleaner between February 17 and 24. The first, “UWI observe English language section week” ( The Gleaner, February, 17). The aim of this article was “raising awareness” inside and outside UWI on the functions of the unit and matters concerning public speaking. It makes the distinction between the Jamaican language, Patois, and Jamaican Standard English. This was a critical point of the article, giving existence to the “other” language. I did not get the impression that there was a concern for the “language crisis” in education and how the language section plans to respond to this major problem. There are calls to teach some students in Patois and also recently we are hearing of the “Mississippi Miracle,” a perceived foreign approach to solve a local problem. In the celebration of “Mother Language Day,” The Gleaner (February, 22) published “The language of our identity: di real voice a di people.” It argues that language is not just a tool of communication but a vessel of history and identity; and that when children are taught in the “other” language, their language they feel more confident in themselves and learn faster. The theme of teaching in Patois and this imported “Mississippi Miracle” are mentioned in “Holy Trinity, Patois and reading” ( The Gleaner, February 24).

It is my thinking that there is an enormous work to be done on the development of our indigenous language, and that schools and community must be involved in more historical and cultural activities as part of the process. English is the language of education and global business, therefore it is important that our children learn English. We have sent people abroad to teach English as a second language but we are unable to develop such relevant curriculum for ourselves. Language has to do with logic, reasoning and critical and creative thinking. Studies done in Jamaica have shown that poor results in mathematics and the natural sciences are due to poor understanding and application of English language. Importing solutions to our problem is not new, as a people trapped in this dependency syndrome and always looking outside in our search for solutions. Let me conclude with an interesting story, I read years ago: a sheep herder in Andalusia had a dream of treasure and interpreted the site of the treasure in the setting of the pyramids in Egypt. His journey to Egypt was most adventurous but only to find out when he arrived there that the treasure was located in the site where he had the dream.

LOUIS E.A. MOYSTON

thearchives01@yahoo.com