Two Weeks in Jamaica 2008 - Reflections on Hurricanes



Man running from storm surge (Front of Gleaner 25/10/12)


In this season of hurricanes, when Montego Bay has once again been spared the worst, so nothing of note to recount, I am instead posting a piece I wrote in 2008, called Two Weeks in Jamaica. We have relived these two weeks this year, (not consecutively). I cannot say how much the lessons learned from the two weeks in 2008 resulted in nation building, but what has been shown strongly during the passage of Hurricane Sandy is the care people have shown to their neighbours, especially by young people towards the elderly. I salute them and hope their kind acts are recognized. Isn’t this the Jamaica we want?



TWO WEEKS IN JAMAICA (2008)


Usain Bolt

     In the third week of August, Jamaica stunned the world by winning 11 medals, 6 of them gold, in track events in the Beijing Olympic Games. Jamaicans worldwide, glued to their TV sets, watched as our athletes won heat after heat. On days of finals, tension stretched to breaking point. All of us in Jamaica held our breath until the winning moment when we burst into a frenzy of celebration. In Kingston, the capital, at a busy intersection where a large TV screen was mounted, a huge crowd stopped traffic, as people waved flags, banged pot covers, laughed and cheered.
     The first of these celebrations took place when Usain Bolt won the men’s 100m in record time. He also won the hearts of spectators as he celebrated in his own way, with his trademark salute, and performed his favourite dancehall moves—“gully creeper” and “nuh linger”.
     Then Shelly-Ann Fraser, Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson won gold and two silver in the women’s 100m. People in the poor inner-city district, where Shelly-Ann comes from, were over the moon. The stigma—nothing good comes out of the ghetto—was blown away in 10.78 seconds.
     When Usain Bolt won the men’s 200m in record time, followed by Melaine Walker’s gold in the women’s 400m hurdles and Veronica Campbell Brown’s gold in the women’s 200m, we were ecstatic. The gloom that descended when the women failed to medal in the 100m relay, soon evaporated when the men’s 100m relay team won gold.

To share the euphoria, the optimism and the unifying force, as it swept through this island, was an incredible experience.

In Kingston after Hurricane Sandy (Collin Reid photo)

The following week, TV images brought us news we did not want to hear—Tropical Storm Gustav was heading towards Jamaica. I had lived here for twenty years before my first experience of a hurricane—Gilbert—in 1988. Jamaica had not been hit by a hurricane since 1951, and was not prepared. As a consequence, at our house, we were without piped water for 4 days, electricity for 3 weeks and telephone for 7 weeks. Others fared far worse.
     By the time Hurricane Ivan hit in 2004, the utility companies had learnt their lesson—telephone service did not fail; and water and electricity were restored within a week. We had learnt the wisdom of putting up hurricane shutters at the windows to prevent rain blowing in, between the glass louvre blades, but the downside was an incessant clanging and rattling which, together with a howling wind, went on all night.
     In 2007, we prepared for Hurricane Dean, but Montego Bay was spared the worst. Come 2008, here we were again, making preparations for Gustav, forecast to pass between Jamaica and Cuba. Instead, it made an unexpected turn to the south and slammed straight into the east coast of Jamaica. Floods washed away houses and bridges; landslides blocked roads and great chunks of road slid down mountainsides. Banana fields, in their final recovery from Hurricane Dean, were once again flattened. We in the west give thanks that we were only inconvenienced. As for those who were battered by the storm, with characteristic Jamaican resilience, they pick up the pieces and move on.

In the months to come, as we recall, talk and joke about these two weeks, the sincere wish of most Jamaicans is that the positives which flowed from the achievements of our hard-working athletes, and the lessons learned from the storm, be converted into decisive steps of nation building.

Books by Jamaican Authors for Children ages 8 -14

Please see the updated version of this post, August 2014

Children who read for pleasure improve their word knowledge, grammar and reading comprehension far beyond what is taught in formal classes. This holds true whether they are reading stories about children like themselves or different from themselves. Why then should we be concerned that books about children like themselves are available for their reading pleasure?

In her blog of October 16, 2012, Diane Browne wrote
“But where is the embracing of the Caribbean literature by the education system so that we may read about ourselves more often than we do, not only in set books, but just in the library at school? Do we think that our children can learn anything from the books being written now? Have our adult gatekeepers read the books and recognized their worth, not only as entertaining stories, but also as self validation, points from which discussion may arise in a young people valiantly searching for themselves , as all young people do? Books allow them to work through their fears, their sources of joy, their experiences, to try on various selves. It would seem a good thing if these selves could be related to their own lives.”

In relation to Diane’s observations, I will comment on a few school libraries I’ve seen. The best prep school library was spacious, full of books and had lending facilities, but the only Jamaican novel was ‘White Witch of Rosehall’. Most of the books in the library had been donated, so the school didn’t actually choose the books. Another prep school had no library. One primary school has a new purpose built library. They are gradually putting up shelves and unpacking boxes of N. American books which will fill the shelves. The school itself has neither a budget for library books nor for a full-time librarian.

I have therefore prepared a list of books by Jamaican authors for Children ages 8 -14. In addition to posting it on my blog, I will make the list available to any teacher librarian who is not aware of these books, especially the more recent titles. The prices of these books range from about $700 to $1,000. Supposing the price is $1,000, the cost for 1 copy of each of the first 25 books listed would be $25,000. For a school with 500 students, a donation of $50 from each child would cover the cost. The age range given for the readership is an average and there will be children above and below those ages who can read and enjoy the books.

Here’s the list:

1. Flying with Icarus by Curdella Forbes 2003 (Walker Books)

Carlong Sand Pebble Series available in Sangsters Book Stores
2. Jojo’s Treasure Hunt by Cherrell Shelley-Robinson 2003 (10-12)
3. Freedom Come by Jean Goulbourne 2002 (10 -12)
4. Island Princess in Brooklyn by Diane Browne 2011 (10-14)
5. Bernie and the Captain’s Ghost by Hazel Campbell 2010 (10-12)
6. Tek Mi! Noh Tek Mi by C. Shelley-Robinson et al 2008 (10-14)
7. Every Little Thing will be All Right by Diane Browne 2003 (8-10)
8. Little Island - Big Adventures by Maria Roberts-Squires 2007 (12-14)
9. Jenny and the General by Jean D’Costa 2006 (8-10)
10. Miss Bettina’s House by Hazel Campbell 2004 (8-10)

By Hazel Campbell, published by LMH,
available at outlets supplied by Novelty Trading.
11. Juice Box and Scandal                                                                                                                               
12. Tilly Bummie
13. Ramgoat Dashalong
14. Goat Boy Never Cries

By Diane Browne

15. A Tumbling World - A Time of Fire                                       
16. Cordelia Finds Fame and Fortune
17. The Ring and the Roaring Water (Available at Bookland)          

By Linda Gambrill (Beenybud Stories)
18. Miss Tiny (7- 9)
19. A Boy Named Neville (7 - 9)
20. Croaking Johnny and Dizzy Lizzie (7 - 9)





Island Fiction Series (Macmillan Caribbean 2009) available at outlets supplied by Novelty Trading

21. Delroy in the Marog Kingdom by Billy Elm 2009 (9-14)         

22. Night of the Indigo by Michael Holgate 2009 (12-15)

Scholastic
23. Blue Mountain Trouble by Martin Mordecai 2009 (8-12)

By Cedella Marley
24. The Boy from Nine Miles
25. One Love

LMH
26. A Jamaican Storyteller’s Tale by Lorrimer A. Burford ( 2005)

The following stories were written longer ago (‘70’s,’80’s; and ‘90’s) and are probably better known than more recent publications.

By James Berry
27. A Thief in the Village and Other Stories 1987 (12-up)
28. Ajeemah and His Son – Harper Collins1993 (8-up)

By Everard Palmer
29. A Cow Called Boy 1972 (6-10)
30. The Sun Salutes You (Republished by Macmillan Caribbean 2007) (8-12)
31. My Father Sun-Sun Johnson 1974 (8-12)
32. Cloud with the Silver Lining 1987 (8-12)

By Jean D’Costa
33. Sprat Morrison
34. Escape to Last Man Peak

By Andrew Salkey
35. Drought
36. Earthquake
37. Riot

By Vic Reid
38. Sixty-Five (1960), London: Longman.
39. The Young Warriors (1967), London: Longman.
40. Peter of Mount Ephraim (1971), Kingston: Jamaica Publishing House.
41. The Jamaicans (revised edition 1978), Kingston: Institute of Jamaica.
42. Nanny Town (1983)
43. The Horses of the Morning (1985)
For a comprehensive list of Jamaican and Caribbean books for children see www.anansesem.com

If anyone reading this post knows of, or has written other stories for 8 -14 year-olds, I would be most grateful if you would let me know.

Added in March, 2014, four books by Suzanne Francis Brown

The Mystery of the Golden Table (Arawak Publishing)

Searching for Pirates. A Port Royal Adventure (Arawak)

Marcus Garvey. (Suzanne Francis-Brown/Jean-Jacques Vayssieres)(Ian Randle Publ)

The Mermaid Escapade (E-Published, Kindle, 2013) 

German Day Celebrations and Concert at Seaford Town

In this post, I depart from my usual topics on literacy to highlight an all-too-infrequent event in Western Jamaica - a classical music concert, this one in Seaford Town.
Seaford Town, also known as “German Town” was founded in 1835 by settlers from Westphalia in Germany. It is widely regarded as having the strongest German cultural retentions of all the places where Germans settled in Jamaica. It is a Jamaican national heritage site, in the hills of Westmoreland, about an hour’s drive south of Montego Bay.

On Sunday, September 30, 2012 two events took place in Seaford Town, courtesy of the German Embassy. One was the handing over of the sanitary facilities which were built to be made available to visitors to the Seaford Town Museum on German immigration.

Ambassador Josef Beck

The second was a special outreach concert, at Seaford Town Primary School, to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between Germany and Jamaica. Ambassador Josef Beck opened the proceedings. He invited the Hon. Luther Buchanan, MP for Eastern Westmoreland and Minister of State in the Office of the PM; the Hon. Damion Crawford, Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism, and Councillor Paul Wilson, Deputy Mayor of Sav-la-Mar to bring greetings.

The appreciative audience was then treated to a classical concert which included the following items:

Nastassja Nass, soprano, singing ‘Lord I Obey”, the 1st Aria from ‘Jonah’ written by Samuel Felsted (1743-1802) organist at Kingson Parish Church in the 18th century. Natassja is a professional opera singer.

Instrumental pieces, by a number of composers, including Mozart and Saint Saens, for the following instruments: recorder, played by Rosina Moder of Music Unites; violin; viola, played by Kwame Kohl, a Jamaican who lives in Berlin. (His mother was one of the first members of Black Uhuru.); cello; French Horn; and trumpet.

Violinist, Cellist and Violist (Kwame Kohl)

Piece  for French Horn and Trumpet

Nastassja Nass

The final item, sung by Nastassja, was taken from the Reggae Opera, music by Peter Ashbourne, lyrics by Mervin Morris. The opera is 'Mikey'. Of it, Rosina Moder said, "It is a Jamaican story, loosely based - it takes poetic licence - on Mikey Smith." Smith, a poet, was murdered on August 17, 1983, in Stony Hill, St Andrew. One of his more popular poems and recordings is Mi Cyaan Believe It. There were excerpts from the opera in Kingston last week.



Larkland Williams assisted by Dr. Althea Neblett



After the musicians had taken their final bow, there was an impromptu item by Larkland Williams, a JUTA Tours operator, who performed the country and western ‘You picked a fine tome to leave me Lucille’ in German, much to the delight of Ambassador Beck and other German nationals.

As a token of appreciation, Jeremy Ashbourne, son of Peter Ashbourne, presented Ambassador Beck with a gift basket filled with local produce. Rita Hilton, Treasurer of the Seaford Town NGO, explained to the Ambassador what everything was.

After the classical concert, the Seaford Town marching band performed. The young people were well coordinated and entertaining, but unfortunately, because of the rain, they had to play inside the school instead of marching outside. The resulting volume was too loud for some of us, so we slipped out before they had finished.

I apologise for any errors and omissions in this post, which, as there were no programmes, I wrote from my own incomplete notes and internet searches. I had expected to see a report in one of the newspapers, but there were only photographs in the Gleaner’s Western Focus on Saturday, October 6. I would appreciate further input on this cultural event from my readers.

Raising Children to be Readers

Many parents believe that the best way to help their children to learn to read is to teach them the alphabet. However, studies have shown that the best things they can do begin when the child is born. Raising children in an environment of love allows for their physical, cognitive, social, and emotional developmental goals to be met. A 4-year-old who is socially well-adjusted, has self-control, is well-behaved, who knows what he wants to do, has enough self-confidence to do it, persisting until he has completed the task; and is able to carry on a conversation, is ready for school and will not find learning difficult.

The first requirement for these goals to be met is proper nutrition—preferably breast-milk for the first 6 months of life, followed by weaning onto a balanced diet. The second is for his mother to respond to his needs, so that he learns to trust, and to show affection. A neglected baby feels emotions of disappointment and anger, which later lead to defiance, intentional hurting and feelings of guilt.

The third is for adequate stimulation, so that the baby learns the properties of objects. He learns that objects and people are still there when he cannot see them, and develops the ability to hold an image of objects in his mind. This is the beginning of memory. He learns that he can be a causal agent and can predict the outcome of his actions. This is the foundation of an adult’s ability to make a plan, carry it out and judge its success. When a baby can creep he should be allowed to explore a safe environment. Parents could baby-proof part of the house instead of restraining the baby.

In the toddler years (ages 2 and 3), a great deal of development takes place. I’m choosing four things to emphasize. Firstly, the importance of fantasy play, which children use to come to terms with their physical and social environment. Many children talk to imaginary friends. (They are not talking to duppies, as some people think!). When they make imaginary friends scapegoats, they show that they are learning the difference between right and wrong.

Secondly, the purpose of punishment should be to develop self control. When a child has misbehaved, parents need to explain why the action was wrong. Discipline should be administered as close to the action as possible, should be appropriate but firm, and brief. A toddler can be given ‘time-out’. Where the child is in a loving home, the occasional slap can be effective, but intense, frequent, harsh punishment leads to emotional distress (including depression) which later leads to arguing, disobedience and destructiveness. Toddlers learn by imitation, so will copy caregivers who behave in a violent manner.

Many children all over the world, including Jamaica, suffer from undiagnosed, untreated post-traumatic stress disorder, resulting from abuse, loss of loved ones, fires and other disasters. In these children, the ‘wiring’ of the brain develops in such a way that they are on constant alert, and are unable to concentrate on school work. They need professional help.

Lastly, and of paramount importance for a child to be able to learn to read, is the development of language. Parents need to communicate with their children as much as possible, beginning at birth with non-verbal communication. By the time a child is 4 years old, he has learnt the grammatical structure and a sufficient number of words to be able to converse in his mother-tongue. While there are children who are bilingual in Creole and Standard English, the many who speak only Creole face the difficulty of acquiring literacy in Standard English. Much research has been done on this by Dr. Meta Bogle and Dr. Beverley Bryan (UWI).


A bedtime story


 I agree that one of the best ways for children to learn Standard English is to hear written stories read to them out loud, preferably every day. However, I doubt whether the parents of our at-risk students are able or willing to do this. Many of them are completely overwhelmed by day-to-day problems, and see nothing wrong with raising their children in the same way that they were raised. Studies have shown that mothers like these can be helped by social support, such as was given by the Rural Caregivers Programme and the Rural Family Support Organization operating in Clarendon.


Illiteracy in Jamaica is a national problem—it impacts all of us. Whole communities need to be involved, not just parents and teachers. For example, in addition to providing books, volunteer ‘reading aunts, uncles, big sisters and brothers’ could be on hand to read to at-risk children. Service Clubs, Churches and NGO’s need to mobilize to give social, emotional and economic support to the neediest families. Drama groups could present role-play, showing preferred methods of parenting.

The parameters of the solution to the literacy problem are much wider than simply teaching children to read.

Volunteering at Chetwood Memorial Primary School



Chetwood Memorial Primary School

Since September 2011, I’ve been helping some grade 2 children with reading at Chetwood Memorial Primary School. This school was started by Fransiscan Sisters in what is now the church hall. The current school is also built on land belonging to the Catholic Church. It is a government primary school with 4 streams in each of grades 1-6 with about 45 children in each class. The school is located near the centre of Montego Bay and accommodates children from various social backgrounds. Although it is now one of the more sought after schools, there are 150 children who qualify for free lunches.
   I offered to help Grade 2, because those children who enter grade 2 below the reading level for their grade, are unable to follow the text-books on which Grade 2 work is based. The Principal, Mrs. Campbell was most appreciative of my offer, saying, “We need all the help we can get.” Seven children were referred to me and I met them in three groups for half an hour each, one day a week. I wanted to recruit other volunteers to come on other days, but as it turned out, there was only one, a young man from Montego Bay Community College, who chose this avenue for his voluntary service. He had a positive influence on the children and I noticed a real improvement after a week when he came every day.

New block housing the library and computer room

    My philosophy when teaching reading is to teach with kindness – to respect, pay attention to and show affection to my pupils – and to praise frequently. I’m not a reading specialist, but have devised my method of teaching reading from research and experience. Children should hear, say, look at, and write—these 4 activities for every letter, word and sentence, using a mix of phonics, and word and sentence recognition. I also try to emphasize meaning and that the purpose of reading and writing is to communicate.

In teaching phonics, I find out what letter sounds they know and start where they are. Most of them know the consonant sounds, but need revision. The vowels are more challenging, as they have so many variants. I start with the short vowel sounds using flash cards, rhyming words and words starting with the same consonant, followed by long vowel sounds, then sounds as in er-ir-ur (the rooster’s call) ‘aw’, ‘ar’, ‘ow’, or, ‘oo’ and ‘ew’.

For ‘look and say’ words, I use home-made flash cards, which I also use for revising consonant sounds and for games. I found that Pelmanism, a game recommended for such children, was too challenging for them. Also, games, such as sound Bingo, have to allow for all of them to win. They take losing very hard.

I take ‘look and say’ sentences from their reading books, Literacy 1-2-3 books, sentences I write myself and some the children speak or write. I start with sentences such as “What is your name?” and “My name is ….” Then we write the sentences on strips of card and cut them up into words. Their challenge is then to identify the words separate from the sentence. After a while they can use these words to make new sentences.

Was I successful in assisting these children in learning to read? Yes and no. Of the seven, three progressed at a faster pace. One girl reached the point where I thought it would be more beneficial for her to remain in her class. To her that was a punishment - she passively resisted by downing her tools, so I took her back. Two other boys gave me the most trouble, with mischievous behavior, especially when they were together. I’m still trying to persuade one of them that, yes, he can learn to read – he had demonstrated that he could, but his progress was slow. He told me that his father beat him because he couldn’t read. No wonder he has negative attitudes towards reading! One girl had such poor attendance that she made little headway; while another needed special help, which I’m not qualified to give. However, Ms. Brown, the grade 2 coordinator, was appreciative of my efforts which she thought had made a difference.

Computer Lab

      Fortunately, Chetwood has a modern computer lab and an Academy of Reading programme, which they use with children in grade 3 and up. Children who haven't yet learnt to read get a second chance, and those who are already reading use it to improve their literacy skills.

A mural on the stairway

Why did I choose to volunteer to help children with reading? For some time, I’ve been pondering the causes of high illiteracy rate in Jamaica, and its social effects. Can we as citizens do anything to improve literacy? Since retiring, I’ve had a number of pupils wanting help with reading, and I wanted to see children in the school setting. My observations confirmed my view that children learning to read
    1. need individual attention every day (although I wasn’t able to commit to that, and their teachers aren't able to give that either), and
    2. need encouragement, praise and affirmation.
Together, we can fill these needs. I started with a new group of grade 2 students today. If any of you reading this would like to help, please let me know.
   Children also need access to plenty of books at their reading level. This presents a logistical challenge but is not impossible to achieve.

   The other vital ingredient in the reading recipe is motivation. Children who want to learn to read will (as long as they have no specific learning disability), but unfortunately many who lack this vital ingredient will not. While we can contend that improving literacy levels will lead to a more educated society, and improve the standard of living for all, some of the very families who want to improve their status, don't have the reading culture necessary to inspire their children.

from Book Community Board by Lucia Luz

Presenting Books donated by #1 Love Medusa Reunion



At Mt Alvernia Prep with Mrs. McPherson, Principal and Mrs. Frazer

 In July, persons visiting for Jamaica 50, donated copies of Delroy in the Marog Kindom to the school they used to attend, or another school of their choice. Now that the new school year has started, I had an incentive to arrange visits to schools to deliver the books. My first stop was Mount Alvernia Preparatory School where I presented books donated by Richard Lam and Robert Chin. There I talked to teachers about their book club and the problems that Jamaican and Caribbean authors have in getting their books known about and into schools.


With Mrs. Forrester

 On Thursday,  Sep 6, I visited St. James Preparatory School, where I read to Grade 6 from Delroy in the Marog Kingdom. The childen obviously enjoyed the excerpts and were full of questions. I presented to their teacher, Mrs. Forrester, the copies donated by Karen Lue and Audrey Tenn.

With Mrs. Dalley

The following day, which was being celebrated as International Literacy day, I read to grades 5-5 and 5-6 at Corinaldi Avenue Primary School. They too enjoyed the reading and I was sorry I didn't have more time to spend with them. I presented to Mrs. Belinda Dalley, Literacy Specialist, the book donated by Justin Lue.

Mr. Jones receiving a book

Monday, Sept 10, saw me at Barracks Road Primary School, where I spoke to the students at assembly about the importance of reading. I presented to Mr. Jones, Principal, the book donated by Pam Morris. After the presentation I visited all five grade 1 classes, each with forty-five students (down from fifty the previous year!). My message to them was that they should (1) read as much as they could; (2) study their spellings and (3) ask for help if needed. A few years ago, I would have put less emphasis on spelling, but given the inconsistencies of spelling and pronunciation in the English language, I have realized that studying spellings is a reliable way of learning to decode words, which after a period of time a child will recognize instantly.  However, it's not much use telling a child to study spellings if, when he gets home, he can't decipher the words on the list. Hence my suggestion to ask for help.
   I spoke for about ten minutes to each class, but even for that short time, I was unable to hold all their attentions. I don't think I had the attention of some of them at all. It was the first time I had been asked to give a 'pep-talk' to six-year-olds. In hindsight, I think it would have been better to read them a short story, with props, to illustrate that reading is to be enjoyed, and have a short Q & A session.  Given the number of children who have to be accommodated in limited space, I don't think the teachers have much option but to teach the children in the way that they do, but for some of the boys, this is clearly not best way to interest them in education. More opportunity for free movement and hands-on activities might suit them better.
   The final presention, for the time being, was made by Mrs. Fay Chin to Mrs. Campbell, Principal of Chetwood Memorial Primary School. This is the school where I volunteer to assist with reading - more about that in another post.

Mrs. Fay Chin donating my book to Mrs. Campbell at Chetwood.

Teaching English as a Second Language to Jamaican Children

I’m no linguist, so I can’t put forward an academic argument to support the moot that Jamaican patois, or creole, is a separate language from English, but my own experience tells me that it should be treated as such. If I attempted to speak patois, any Jamaican would recognize instantly that I am a not Jamaican by birth.

When I first arrived in Jamaica to teach, I couldn’t understand patois speakers, some of whom took delight in exploiting my ignorance. After about 6 months, I was able to follow some conversations, but I was strongly discouraged from attempting to ‘speak bad’, especially with my students who needed to learn correct English. As patois is difficult to learn and my attempts to speak it were greeted with peals of laughter, I gave up trying. More helpful people pointed to what I should listen for in patois, such as ‘oonu’ for ‘you’ plural, and the use of ‘dem’ after a noun to make it plural.

One of the many Ladybird books available today 

My next patois lessons came when my daughter started school. “She talks such nice English,” said the teacher after her first day. It was the last day she spoke such nice English for a while, but she gradually learnt the usefulness of both forms of communication. I subsequently started my own prep school, where I became fascinated by the process by which children learn to read.

There was no alternative to teaching reading in standard English. I used the Ladybird books and a mix of phonics, whole words and sentences. I made a point of listening to every child reading every day and keeping careful records of their progress. I remember the day when a little boy looked at the words in his book, then the picture and said, “See de bud deh”, when what was written was “Look at the bird.” He had seen the words before and been told what they were, but had translated them.


Today's Ladybird books are more multicultural than in the past


Further patois lessons came when I was teaching communication at Montego Bay Community College. Early in the course came a unit on Jamaica’s two languages, which I confess to not teaching very well. It was not until I retired and started writing stories with dialogue in patois that I felt I needed to know more. For the first story I wrote, I had my daughter correct my patois, but when I sent it to Joanne Johnson, in Trinidad, her first response was ‘Tame the patois.’ When doing an online course at UCLA and subsequently being part of an online critique group, the readers told me they couldn’t understand parts written in patois. It would be pointless to write books with dialogue comprehensible only to Jamaicans, and expect an international readership. As a compromise, I write my dialogue in non-standard English. This lets me off the hook in relation to improving my patois for the purpose of writing dialogue.

So, if patois is a separate language from English, and is the only language spoken by many pre-school children, doesn’t it stand to reason that English is their second language?

In his article ‘Stop demonising Patois -From a semi-lingual to a bilingual Jamaica’ in the Sunday Gleaner, August 26, 2012, Hubert Devonish professor of linguistics and coordinator of the Jamaican Language Unit, UWI, Mona, mentions a project undertaken by that Unit:

“In the Jamaican situation, a fully bilingual or dual-education programme would involve the use of both Jamaican and English as languages of education, in the same roles, side by side. This is what took place in a Ministry of Education-sanctioned Bilingual Education Project run in a Corporate Area primary school between 2004 and 2008 by the Jamaican Language Unit. Textbooks for mathematics, social studies, science and the language arts were translated into Jamaican. These were made available alongside the textbooks written in English….. The pupils learnt to read and write in both languages.” (my italics).

(Does he mean that non-readers were taught to read in both patois and English, or were they first taught to read in patois? I would welcome an opportunity to see material they used to teach reading.)

A fully bilingual programme as designed by Dr. Devonish would involve the preparation of a great deal of material and the training of thousands of teachers, which is not likely to happen any time soon. Furthermore, the suggestion of teaching children in patois has given rise to a flare-up of protest on the talk shows and in the print media.
There are other possible methods of teaching a second language, including ‘complete immersion’ in which all subjects are taught in the second language. There are schools in other countries where all students, who come from different language backgrounds, are taught in one language. In French-speaking parts of Canada, some children, whose home language is English, attend schools where all classes are in French.

What is the difference between this method and what obtains in Jamaican schools, where all classes are taught in standard English? I submit that it is in how children and teachers perceive the home language. The child who speaks only patois may be told he ‘talks bad’. He thinks he is talking the same language as his teacher, but is given the impression that there is something wrong with the way he expresses himself, thus lowering his self-esteem. An English-speaking child in a French-speaking school in Canada would not be given the impression that his mother tongue is inferior. I think from the outset, it should be explained to children that patois is their home language, the language they use to talk to their friends, the language of music lyrics and so on. The school language, English, is another way of expressing ideas, and is the language of books, of business and commerce, of science and engineering and which is spoken by hundreds of millions of people the world over.

Philip Clarke

Philip Clarke, lecturer in Communication Studies at Montego Bay Community College, carried out research into why some students of above average intelligence performed so poorly in CSEC English. He found that there was a link between how students feel and how they learn English – sensing that their home language, patois, was regarded as inferior lowered their self-esteem. He also found that they resented English, which they regarded as the language of the colonialists and oppressors. They saw the use of patois is an act of resistance by dub poets and singers. They regarded English as a subject to be studied rather than means of communication which they needed to master. His remedy for these attitudes was to include patois in his classes and then to focus on teaching them how to communicate effectively and appropriately. He also recommended that strategies be designed so that teachers in a creole-speaking environment can effectively teach students to communicate, be proud of who they are and have a love of learning.

This I feel should be the substance of our discussion on this subject, with the emphasis on how to teach communication, not on whether patois is a separate language from English.