The purposes of this network are:
- to provide a forum for dialogue about variant-language issues in
education,
- to provide a network of information about pidgins, creoles, and other
stigmatized varieties,
- to raise educators' awareness of issues of pidgins, creoles, and other
stigmatized varieties, thereby increasing understanding of variant-language issues to
promote appropriate practices and programs in schools.
Descriptions of each variety will include its background or origin, the
attitudes surrounding the use of the variety, salient linguistic features, some of the
literature and classroom uses, and bibliographic information and other references.
|
Pidgins and Creoles
A pidgin is a new language which develops in situations where speakers of different
languages need to communicate but don't share a common language. The vocabulary of a
pidgin comes mainly from one particular language (called the "lexifier"). The
early "pre-pidgin" is quite restricted in use and variable in structure. But the
later "stable pidgin" develops its own grammatical rules which are quite
different from those of the lexifier.
Once a stable pidgin has emerged, it is generally learned as a second language and used
for communication among people who speak different languages. Examples are Nigerian Pidgin
and Bislama (spoken in Vanuatu).
When children start learning a pidgin as their first language and it becomes the mother
tongue of a community, it is called a creole. Like a pidgin, a creole is a distinct
language which has taken most of its vocabulary from another language, the lexifier, but
has its own unique grammatical rules. Unlike a pidgin, however, a creole is not restricted
in use, and is like any other language in its full range of functions. Examples are
Gullah, Jamaican Creole and Hawai`i Creole English.
Note that the words "pidgin" and "creole" are technical terms used by
linguists, and not necessarily by speakers of the language. For example, speakers of
Jamaican Creole call their language "patwa" (from patois) and speakers of
Hawai'i Creole English call theirs "Pidgin."
Incorrect or just different?
Even though pidgins and creoles are distinct languages, people often think of them as
varieties of the lexifier because of their apparent similarity in vocabulary. So, for
example, most of the words in Jamaican Creole come from English, so people think of it as
a variety of English, even though it has very different grammatical rules and many of the
words have developed different meanings.
One reason for pidgins and creoles being stigmatized is that people think of them as
"incorrect" versions of the lexifier. For example, some people consider Jamaican
Creole to be just "corrupted English." What these people don't realize is that
Jamaican Creole has its own grammatical rules. The rules aren't incorrect - they're just
different.
Different varieties of language have different rules which are followed by their speakers.
For example, in British English, you can say, "I haven't any money," but not in
American English. (You'd have to say, "I don't have any money.") We don't think
one way is right and one way is wrong - just that they're different.
Other stigmatized varieties
Other varieties of language differ from the standard variety normally used in the media
and taught in the schools. They have some different pronunciations and vocabulary and some
different grammatical rules. These varieties are also stigmatized as being
"incorrect" rather than being thought of as just different. They include the
regional dialects, minority dialects and indigenized varieties.
Regional Dialects are spoken in particular areas of a country. Some examples are
Appalachian English in the USA and Newcastle English in Britain.
Minority Dialects are spoken by members of a particular minority ethnic group. Examples
are African American English in the USA and Aboriginal English in Australia.
Indigenized varieties are spoken mainly as second languages in ex-colonies with
multilingual populations. Examples are Indian English and Singapore English.
Classroom Tips
1. Use literature written in the variety: short stories, poems, dialogue. Some activities
for students:
- read passages out loud
- compare ways people talk with ways it's written,
- suggest ways of making the writing more authentic,
- discuss the spelling system.
2. Play music with lyrics in the variety (or have students bring in examples to play).
Activities:
- write out the lyrics,
- compare spelling systems,
- discuss the language used (its authenticity, etc.)
3. Accommodation: Let students use their home variety in various classroom activities:
- any classroom discussions,
- role-playing
- writing in journals, or in literature (short stories, poetry, drama),
- acting out plays with dialogue in the variety.
4. Have students discover the grammatical rules of their home variety. Some activities for
students:
- trying to translate passages (poems, instructions, etc.) into the variety,
- creating lessons for teaching someone the variety,
- making up a test in the variety (e.g. with acceptable and unacceptable sentences)
|
