French and Underdevelopment, Haitian Creole and Development Educational Language Policy Problems and Solutions in Haiti*
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The Creole Origins Hypothesis
OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRSTPROOFS, Tue Jan 20 2015, NEWGEN Chapter 2 The Creole Origins Hypothesis JOHN R. RICKFORD 2.1 Introduction In a rarely cited introduction1 to a reprint of his two classic creolist articles (Stewart 1967, 1968), Stewart (1970) noted that a “disagreement” had surfaced among participants at a Conference on Social Dialects and Language Learning held in Bloomington, Indiana, in summer 1964:2 Beryl L. Bailey and the author took the position that American Negro dialects prob- ably derived from a creolized form of English, once spoken on American plantations by Negro slaves and seemingly related to creolized forms of English which are still spoken by Negroes in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean. Bailey and the author held the opinion that, although most American Negro dialects have now merged enough with white speech to preclude their still being considered truly creole dialects, the apparent survival of some creole features in many of them was a likely explanation of their more unique (vis-à-vis white speech) structural characteristics. … [But] some of the participants had already come to a quite different set of conclusions.… In their view, there never was any pidgin or creole stage through which the English spoken by early American Negro slaves might have passed. Instead, the acquisition of colonial English by Negro slaves on the early North American plantations was believed to have been both rapid and successful, so that within one or two generations American Negro speech evidenced the same inventory of structural features as white speech. (1970, 352; emphasis added) This is probably the earliest documented evidence we have of a creolist/Anglicist con- troversy among linguists about the origins of African American Vernacular English (AAVE),3 with their respective positions summarized in the italicized parts of Stewart’s quotation. -
Culture Haiti
\. / '• ,-') HHHaitiHaaaiiitttiii # l~- ~~- J;,4' ). ~ History ' • The native Taino Amerindians inhabited the island of Hispaniola when discovered by Columbus in 1492 and were virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. • In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola, and in 1697, Spain ceded the western third of the island to the French which later became Haiti. • The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean, but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. • In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'Ouverture. After a prolonged struggle, Haiti became the first black republic to declare its independence in 1804. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. • After an armed rebellion led to the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004, an interim government took office to organize new elections under the auspices of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Continued violence and technical delays prompted repeated postponements, • Haiti inaugurated a democratically elected president and parliament in May of 2006. • Immigration: Immigrants to the US encounter the problems and difficulties common to many new arrivals, compounded by the fact that the Haitians are "triple minorities": they are foreigners, they speak Haitian Creole that no one else does, and they are black. • Results from Census 2000 show 419,317 foreign-born from Haiti live in the U.S., representing 1.3 percent of the total foreign-born population of 31.1 million and 0.1 percent of the total population of 281.4 million. -
Background on Haiti & Haitian Health Culture
A Cultural Competence Primer from Cook Ross Inc. Background on Haiti & Haitian Health Culture History & Population • Concept of Health • Beliefs, Religion & Spirituality • Language & Communication • Family Traditions • Gender Roles • Diet & Nutrition • Health Promotion/Disease Prevention • Illness-Related Issues • Treatment Issues • Labor, Birth & After Care • Death & Dying THIS PRIMER IS BEING SHARED PUBLICLY IN THE HOPE THAT IT WILL PROVIDE INFORMATION THAT WILL POSITIVELY IMPACT 2010 POST-EARTHQUAKE HUMANITARIAN RELIEF EFFORTS IN HAITI. D I S C L A I M E R Although the information contained in www.crcultureVision.com applies generally to groups, it is not intended to infer that these are beliefs and practices of all individuals within the group. This information is intended to be used as a basis for further exploration, not generalizations or stereotyping. C O P Y R I G H T Reproduction or redistribution without giving credit of authorship to Cook Ross Inc. is illegal and is prohibited without the express written permission of Cook Ross Inc. FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Cook Ross Inc. [email protected] phone: 301-565-4035 website: www.CookRoss.com Background on Haiti & Haitian Health Culture Table of Contents Chapter 1: History & Population 3 Chapter 2: Concept of Health 6 Chapter 3: Beliefs, Religion & Spirituality 9 Chapter 4: Language & Communication 16 Chapter 5: Family Traditions 23 Chapter 6: Gender Roles 29 Chapter 7: Diet & Nutrition 30 Chapter 8: Health Promotion/Disease Prevention 35 Chapter 9: Illness-Related Issues 39 Chapter 10: Treatment Issues 57 Chapter 11: Labor, Birth & After Care 67 Chapter 12: Death & Dying 72 About CultureVision While health care is a universal concept which exists in every cultural group, different cultures vary in the ways in which health and illness are perceived and how care is given. -
Health Status of Haitian-Americans
Faradia Pierre | Stanford University | June 6, 2012 Health Status of Haitian-Americans I. Introduction economically assimilated3. The participant demographic can be summarized as follows: Individuals of Haitian descent in the . 52% younger than 35 years of age United States face economic, linguistic, and . 28% annual income of <$10,000 cultural barriers to integration into American . 4% annual income of >$40,000 society that affect their health care access, . 78% had not completed high school health care utilization, and health outcomes. 11% completed college For demographic recording purposes, Haitian- . 96% foreign-born Americans are frequently categorized as . 45% naturalized citizens African-American, which hides the cultural, . 70% lived in U.S. ≤ 11 years behavioral, and environmental diversity . 52% insured between populations of African descent including diet, religion, migration experiences, Health Profile of Haitian Americans education, language, and health beliefs and The preventative care study showed that practices2. A review of available literature on approximately 37% of Haitian immigrants in Haitian-American health will be discussed to the study population did not have annual better understand what is known about the physicals; those with under 18 years of age heath status of Haitian-Americans, their most likely to have had one, those who spoke experienced barriers to care, and possible English poorly less likely to have had one, and policy interventions to address the needs of this 10% failing to receive care for their chronic population. health conditions over the past year3. Self- identified health issues included joint problems, II. Background & Research Findings vision problems, hypertension, arthritis, and diabetes3. Saint-Jean and Crandall suggest that Migration the types of health conditions facing this 2000 U.S. -
Earlier Caribbean English and Creole in Writing
Earlier Caribbean English and Creole in writing Bettina Migge & Susanne Mühleisen University College Dublin/University of Bayreuth In research on Creoles, historical written texts have in recent decades been fruitfully employed to shed light on the diachronic development of these languages and the nature of Creole genesis. They have so far been much less frequently used to derive social information about these communities and to improve our understanding of the sociolinguistics and stylistic structure of these languages. This paper surveys linguistic research on early written texts in the anglophone Caribbean and takes a critical look at the theories and methods employed to study these texts. It emphases the sociolinguistic value of the texts and provides some exemplary analyses of early Creole documents. 1. Introduction Research on Caribbean English-lexicon Creoles has made use of early textual docu- ments collected by missionaries (cf. for instance, Oldendorp 1996 [1767–1768], 2000 [1777]; cf. also Mühlhäusler 2001), planters (e.g. Leslie 1740; Lewis 1834; Long 1970 [1774]), travellers (e.g. Nugent 1907 [1802]; Sloane 1707) or fictional accounts by writ- ers (e.g. Scott 1833). Historical written texts continue to be an important source for shedding light on earlier stages of creolization (e.g. Arends 1995a, 1995b; Arends & Perl 1995; Baker & Bruyn 1999), the diachronic development of Creoles as well as on structural features and variation within a particular variety. The size of text cor- pora varies greatly within the Caribbean: while there is a very substantial collection of earlier texts on Sranan Tongo, Saamaka and Negerhollands (cf. Arends 2002: 50). Textual documentation of other early Caribbean Englishes and Creoles is less prolific and consists of diverse text types – from short quotations of speech contained within travel accounts of outsiders to whole texts written in Creole by insiders. -
12 English Dialect Input to the Caribbean
12 English dialect input to the Caribbean 1 Introduction There is no doubt that in the settlement of the Caribbean area by English speakers and in the rise of varieties of English there, the question of regional British input is of central importance (Rickford 1986; Harris 1986). But equally the two other sources of specific features in anglophone varieties there, early creolisation and independent developments, have been given continued attention by scholars. Opinions are still divided on the relative weight to be accorded to these sources. The purpose of the present chapter is not to offer a description of forms of English in the Caribbean – as this would lie outside the competence of the present author, see Holm (1994) for a resum´ e–b´ ut rather to present the arguments for regional British English input as the historical source of salient features of Caribbean formsofEnglish and consider these arguments in the light of recent research into both English in this region and historical varieties in the British Isles. This is done while explicitly acknowledging the role of West African input to forms of English in this region. This case has been argued eloquently and well, since at least Alleyne (1980) whose views are shared by many creolists, e.g. John Rickford. But the aim of the present volume, and specifically of the present chapter, is to consider overseas varieties of English in the light of possible continuity of input formsofEnglish from the British Isles. This concern does not seek to downplay West African input and general processes of creolisation, which of course need to be specified in detail,1 butrather tries to put the case for English input and so complement other views already available in the field. -
Republic of Haiti
Coor din ates: 1 9 °00′N 7 2 °2 5 ′W Haiti Haiti (/ heɪti/ ( listen); French: Haïti [a.iti]; Haitian ˈ Republic of Haiti Creole: Ayiti [ajiti]), officially the Republic of Haiti (French: République d'Haïti; Haitian Creole: Repiblik République d'Haïti (French) [8] [note 1] Ayiti) and formerly called Hayti, is a Repiblik Ayiti (Haitian Creole) sovereign state located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican Republic.[11][12] Haiti is 27 ,7 50 square kilometres (10,7 14 sq mi) in Flag Coat of arms size and has an estimated 10.8 million people,[4] making it the most populous country in the Caribbean Motto: "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" (French)[1] Community (CARICOM) and the second-most "Libète, Egalite, Fratènite" (Haitian Creole) populous country in the Caribbean as a whole. The "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" region was originally inhabited by the indigenous Motto on traditional coat of arms: Taíno people. Spain landed on the island on 5 "L'union fait la force" (French) [2] December 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher "Inite se fòs" (Haitian Creole) Columbus across the Atlantic. When Columbus "Union makes strength" initially landed in Haiti, he had thought he had found Anthem: La Dessalinienne (French) [13] India or China. On Christmas Day 1492, Columbus' Desalinyèn (Haitian Creole) flagship the Santa Maria ran aground north of what is "The Dessalines Song" 0:00 MENU now Limonade.[14][15][16][17] As a consequence, Columbus ordered his men to salvage what they could from the ship, and he created the first European settlement in the Americas, naming it La Navidad after the day the ship was destroyed. -
Vodou Songs in Haitian Creole and English. Benjamin Hebblethwaite
Book Reviews 461 Vodou Songs in Haitian Creole and English. Benjamin Hebblethwaite. Phila- delphia PA: Temple University Press, 2011. xi + 366 pp. (Paper US$ 39.95) Chiefly a catalog of traditional songs central to Vodou, the “hereditary religion and philosophy” of Haiti (p. 299), this book lays Haitian Kreyòl lyrics side-by-side with English translations.1 The six-hundred-plus songs are grouped by collection; collectors include prominent figures known for their ethnographic work between 1920 and 1950, such as Jacques Roumain, Werner Jaegerhuber, Jean Price-Mars, and Harold Courlander, as well as a refugee who immigrated to the United States as a teenager during the mid-1990s. In addition, Hebblethwaite contributed ten song texts collected in 2000. While song lyrics comprise two-thirds of the text, the book also offers a 98-page dictionary of Vodou terms covering individual spirits (the lwa), rites, and ritual elements of practice and performance. The first chap- ter provides a rapid gloss of the “world of Vodou songs,” including descrip- tions of Bondye (God) and the lwa, Vodou priests and priestesses, and sacred spaces and objects. Drawing on lyrical excerpts, Hebblethwaite also attempts to demonstrate how common themes such as syncretism, ethics, and the ancestors are treated in the Haitian song tradition. An appendix offers a systematic explanation of Kreyòl grammar based on syntactical guidelines explicated by Michel DeGraff (2007) and illustrated using Kreyòl phrases drawn from song lyrics reproduced in the book. Outside of archival holdings, Vodou Songs may provide the largest col- lection of Vodou song texts accessible to English-speaking audiences. -
Drapo Vodou: Sacred Standards of Haitian Vodou
UC Santa Barbara UC Santa Barbara Previously Published Works Title Drapo Vodou: Sacred Standards of Haitian Vodou Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5mc5w4g2 Journal Flag Research Quarterly, 2(3-4) Author Platoff, Anne M. Publication Date 2015-08-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California FLAG RESEARCH QUARTERLY REVUE TRIMESTRIELLE DE RECHERCHE EN VEXILLOLOGIE AUGUST / AOÛT 2015 No. 7 ARTICLE A research publication of the North American Vexillological Association / Une publication de recherche de Drapo Vodou: Sacred l‘Association nord-américaine de vexillologie Standards of Haitian Vodou By ANNE M. PLATOFF* Introduction The field of vexillology is, by nature, a multidisciplinary one. It is difficult to understand the significance of an individual flag or group of flags without exam- ining the context within which those objects were created and are used. This paper will present a case study of a multidisciplinary investigation of one type of flags. Haitian Vodou flags (drapo Vodou) are little known to vexillologists, but have been studied by scholars in the fields of art, anthropology, African-American studies, and other disciplines. An investigation of prior scholarship from these areas demon- strates that this category of flags is not only significantly different than the flags usually examined by vexillologists, but they also have much to teach us about the study of flags as a multidisciplinary exercise. There are several books that are focused on Vodou flags. Patrick Arthur Polk, a prolific researcher on the topic, has produced a colorful and informative book titled Haitian Vodou Flags (1999). In his book, Polk summarizes information compiled in the preparation of his Ph.D. -
The Historic Inability of the Haitian Education System to Create Human Development and Its Consequences
City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 10-2014 The Historic Inability of the Haitian Education System to Create Human Development and its Consequences Patrick Michael Rea Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/463 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] The Historic Inability Of The Haitian Education System To Create Human Development And Its Consequences By Patrick M. Rea A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Liberal Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts, The City University of New York 2014 © 2014 Patrick M. Rea All rights reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Liberal Studies in satisfaction of the thesis requirement for the degree of Masters of Arts Laird Bergad, PhD. ____________________________9-15-14 Laird____________________________________ Bergad, PhD. Date Thesis Advisor Matthew Gold, PhD. ____________________________9-15-14 Matthew____________________________________ Gold, PhD. Date Executive Officer The City University of New York iii Abstract The Historic Inability Of The Haitian Education System To Create Human Development And Its Consequences By Patrick M. Rea Advisor: Professor Laird Bergad, PhD. This study aims to evaluate the role that a lack of literacy and education has played in Haiti’s historic and presently low level of human development. -
Public Financing of Education in Haiti 2010-2018
PUBLIC FINANCING OF EDUCATION IN HAITI 2010 -2018 December 2018 This publication was prepared by SSG Advisors d.b.a. Resonance for the United States Agency for International Development. This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development by SSG Advisors d.b.a. Resonance through USAID Contract # AID-OAA-M-14-00024. This report was prepared by: Resonance 1 Mill Street, Suite 201 Burlington, VT 05401 Resonance Contact: Carrie Conway Project Director Tel: (802) 735-1169 Email: [email protected] Public Financing of Education in Haiti, 2010-2018 INDEPENDENT REPORT December 2018 DISCLAIMER The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. Table of Contents Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................................................. i Acronyms............................................................................................................................................................................. ii I. Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 II. Context and background of the sector ................................................................................................................... 4 III. Strategic Education -
New Insights Into Primary Education in Haiti
New Insights into Primary Education in Haiti Since 2015, IEA (the International Association for the Assessment of Educational Achievement) has been working closely with the Haitian Ministry of National Education (MENFP), the Haitian Institute of Training in Educational Sciences (IHFOSED), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to support education in Haiti by building capacity in their assessment system. Building on the first findings for the 2017 National Evaluation, this report presents further analysis of the data collected from about 60,000 Haitian fourth-grade students in nearly 2,000 schools. The data were gathered through comprehensive achievement tests in mathematics, French and Creole. Alongside the assessments, extensive contextual information was collected from students, teachers, and school principals through questionnaires. Main Findings: The Learning Environment • Students learning in non-public schools perform significantly better than those in public schools across all subject domains. • An orderly school environment in Haiti, as in many countries around the world, is strongly associated with higher educational outcomes. Students in schools where the principal reported none or few behavioral problems achieved significantly higher outcomes in all three subjects. • Fourth-grade students in Haiti are about one year older on average than in many other countries around the world. This is likely related to very high rates of grade repetition in Haiti, where about half of the students reported to have already repeated a grade. • Grade repetition doesn’t seem to be an effective measure for improving learning, especially as départements with relatively high achievement have lower repetition rates, and vice-versa. Addressing this issue by focusing on limiting grade repetition and measures to prevent dropouts may be an effective way to mitigate the adverse effects of over-age children in primary school and beyond.