DOCUMENT RESUME ED 214 406 TITLE Teaching English to Haitians
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 214 406 TITLE Teaching English to Haitians. Refugee'Eduction Guide. General Information Series #26. INSTITUTION Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington,D.C. Language and Orientation Resource Center./ SPONS AGENCY Office of Refugee Resettlement (DHHS), Washington, D.C. PUB ,DATE Sep 81 GRANT 98-P-10002-3-01 NOTE 54p. 0. LANGUAGE English; Haitian Creole EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *English (Second Language); *Haitian reole; *Haitians; *Interference (Language);*Lesson Plans; Morphology (Languages); Phonology;S coed Language Instruction; Syntax ABSTRACT Three types of information usefulo English as a Second Language teachers of Haitianrefugees are p ovided: (1) a discussion of the Haitian educationalsystem.and f reasons for the high illiteraty rate; (2)an explanation of the 1 nguage situation in Haiti where the official language isFrench, and he native language of most of the population is HaitianCreole; and (3) a sketch of the phonetic system and pronunciation problemsfor Haitians learning English. The last part of the bookpresents an analysis of the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Haitian Craoleand 19 English pronunciation lessons with notes. (AMH) ************k************************ ********************************* * Reproductions supplied by EDRS * * a e the best that can be made from the origi al document. * ************************************ ********************************** Refugee Education Guide General Information Series#26 TeachingEnglish to Haitians Language and OrientationResource Center U.S. DEPARTRIENT OF EDUCATION Center for AppliedLinguistics NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS 3520 Prospect Street,NW CENTER (EPIC) MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY , kX. This documenthas been reproduced as Washington DC 20007 received from the person or organization onginating it. (800) 424-3750 (toll-free) 0 Minor changes have been madeto improve reproduction quaky. Vis-nitue-Ai (800) 424.3701 (toll-free) Points of view or opinions stated inthis docu (202) 298.9292 (in ment do not necessarily represent official NIE TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Washington, D.C.) position or poky. INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." September 1981 Teaching ESL to Haitians Introduction The Center for Applied Linguistics has had three purposes in mind in the development of this Guide. First, the Center staff wants to provide informa- tion on the current Haitian educational system and the status of literacyas found among Haitian adults in Haiti. Next, the staff would like to give a brief overview of the language situation in Haiti, as wellas an all-too- sketchy of Haitian-Creole-- in particular its pronunciation and some of its major syntactic features. Finally, the staff would like to provide teaching materials which deal with the particular pronunciation problemsHaitian students might hove in learning English.We feel that such information will be of use in making both the learning and teaching of Englishas a second language to Haitians more efficient and enjoyable. Education and Literacy in Haiti As is common throughout Latin-America, the Haitian educational system is modeled on the French system as this was developed during thiscentury. The Haitian system uses Standard French as its medium of instruction. Since most Haitians speak Haitian-Creole as a first language, the language ofthe school is different from the language'of the home. The Haitian educational system makes it mandatory that all children entering the system acquire French as quickly as possible. The traditional Haitian educational system has ignored Haitian-Creole until fairly recently. Some of the public schools, as well as some of the private ones, have started to teach literacy in Haitian-Creole. This is based on the sound notion thatone can best learn to read in one's mother language first. Despite this belated recognition of the home language within the school curriculum, the use of a language foreignto the child enter- ing the school system imposes a very heavy burdenen the child. Such lingustic problems probably contribute to a rather high dropoutrate among Haitian chil- dren. The Haitian educational system is highly developed.The system has pro- duced writers, poets, aud scholars of internationalrepute. However, as is common throughout much of Latin-America, the educational system isset up to serve the needs of an urban elite. Despite the many admirable qualities of the Haitian educational system, the sad truth is that itserves only a small frac- tion of all Haitians. The end result of this is mass illiteracy in Haiti. Around 20% of all adult Haitians are estimatedto be literate. Most of the literate Haitians are concentrated in the urbanareas of Haiti. The majority of newly arrivedHaitians in the United States are probablyilliterate, since most of these Haitianscome from rural areas. Keep in mind that fora Haitian to become literate inthe past has meant that he has hadto learn a second lan- guage (French). Difficult as it is to become literate in one'sown language, the task of doingso in a second or foreign language complicatesthe task. Teaching nonliteratestudents to read English requires specialconsideration and the reader is advised to consultthe LORC Guide to Teaching ESLto Nonliterate Adults. Nonliterate Adults The Haitian educational system begins withKindergarten and continues through a thirteenthyear in high school. French is the instructionallanguage and mandatory competitive examinations are required at the 12th and 13thgrades. Students mustpass the 12th grade.examination to proceed to the 13thgrade. Successful performanceon the 13th grade examination allows the studentto at- tend college. High schoolprograms are designed on subject-tract lines,e.g., science curriculum, pre-literaturecurriculum, etc. Information is usuallypresented in a lecture formataccording to a prescribed schedule. Learning is primarily by rote and exactrepetition; analysis or synthesis of informationis not ex- pected. Obedience to the teacheris required. As school is notcompulsory, many children from less affluentfamilies work rather than attend school. The literacy rate in Haiti is very low andis one of the factors contributing to the economic disparitybetween Haitians. SinCe most of the Haitian refugees that havecome to the United States in recent years lack muchformal education, ',SL teachers willbe faced with the task of instructing two basic groups ofindividuals: (1) Haitiansnot possessing any educational skills and only capableof signing theirnames and performing simple arithmeticcomputa- tions (addition and subtraction); (2) Haitians havinghad four to six years of schooling and whomay be able to write a basic sentence with all thenecessary grammatical components tin French]. However, ESL teachers shouldbear in mind that the majority of Haitians arriving in theUnited States of late will most likely beclassified as nonliterate. The Language Situation inHaiti The official language ofHaiti is French. This is the language thatis used in the schools and colleges, the courts andfor most functions ofthe -2- 4 government. The most widely spoken language in Haiti isHaitian-Creole. Haitian-Creole isspoken as a first language by most Haitians andis generally used by most /Haitians(including those who also speak French) in informalsit- uations. French/ is acquired through formal instruction. Thus, if a Haitian has not had/any formaleducation, it is probable that he will know littleor no French. / Indeed, the sign of an educated individualin Haiti is his/her ability toispeak French. Haitian-Creole (HC) is generally not written,although there now/existsan offical orthography for it and such an orthographyis being taught in/ some of thepublic and private schools. The language situationin Haiti has been describedas 'diglossic'. This means that Haitiansociety em- ploys t o languagesbut assigns different functional roles to thetwo languages. This is not a unique situation. Many minority language communities in theUnited States/are diglossic. For example, Navajo-speakers typically speak Navajoat home and at tribalmeetings, but speak English in conjunction withbusiness out- side the tribal setting. To be a viable member of the Navajo tribe,you have to sneak Navajo as wellas English. In fact, many Europeancountries were diglossic until fairlyrecently. Latin was used in theschools, churches and courts, while localvernaculars (essentially unwritten forms of locallanguages) were used fo-7 more informal purposes (such vernacularsas Spanish, French, Mitch, German, English,etc., in time became official languageson their own and displaced Latin). At one point, England was triglossic, since it usedLatin in the churches andthe universities, Fr3,,ch in the courts(both law and royal) and English formore humble activities. The role of Frenchis an important in Haiti. one The range of fluencyin French ranges from Haitianswho sped( French as well as any Frenchman to individuals who have but a smatteringof it. the prestige of Given French in Haiti,undoubtedly some Haitians might beinclined to claim a far greaterdegree of French fluency than might bewarranted. That someone might want to claima far greater amount of French thancan be justi- fied testifiesto the great prestige accorded French inHaiti. French has had such great prestigein Haiti that'it has just aboutoverwhelmed Haitian-Creole. Indeed, HaitianCreoleis often regarded in rather negativeterms. Part of this negative connotation comes fromnegative connotation attached