Introduction

In the Caribbean and specifically in Jamaica, the most accepted language for communication is that language left to us by our European colonisers. The pidgin that developed from the contact of the African slaves and European masters later developed into their own individual languages (or Creoles . They (the elite in society shun these languages as inappropriate or inade!uate for public and sometimes even private use. This notion is widely accepted by even those who can spea" nothing else but the Creole. It has fed belief that the use of the Creole, in Jamaica#s case $patois%, ma"es one inferior to the users of Jamaican &tandard English. This research serves to educate the minds of these $elite% and those not so fortunate but have adapted that way of thin"ing. It also serves to inform them of the reasons not to doubt the e!uality of the Creole to the official language, to remove the thought of the Creole being inferior or bad language, and to invo"e a sense of pride in one#s $nation language%( term used by the 'arbadian poet 'raithwaite . Research Questions: Do young people consider patois as bad language? Do people view Jamaican Creole as Jamaican Standard Englishs e ual? !as the language pre"udice#taught to us by our European colonisers# been passed on to this present generation and by what degree? Can the pre"udice be prevented $rom being perpetuated $or coming years?

Technical terms(
Indispensible) Absolutely necessary* vitally necessary +other tongue) ,ne-s native language* the language learned by children and passed from one generation to the ne.t

 Culture) All the "nowledge and values shared by a society Creole) A mother tongue that originates from contact between two languages /re0udice) A partiality that prevents ob0ective consideration of an issue or situation 1ialect) The usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people

2iterature 3eview
Creole according to the ,.ford English 1ictionary is a combination of European and African language. 2anguage is the spo"en or written form or way of communicating in a society. $The mother tongue is indispensable in all forms of progress of a community: psychological and intellectual balance of its members. If we continue to force the child, Martiniquais, to subject to a lifestyle in French at school and a Creole one at home, we will reinforce the process of collecti e irresponsibility plaguing the Martinique community ... a people who is reduced to practice its language only at home is condemned to face the death of its culture, of which this will only be the mirror reflection of an otherwise real agony.! "douard #lissant, writing about Creole in Martinique. 4e can embrace this statement made by Edouard 5lissant in the wider Caribbean and even more distinctly Jamaica. $+any sociologists argue, in fact, that without language, there can be no culture at all.% according to 2isa J. +cintyre in her boo", The /ractical &"eptic Core Concepts in &ociology, third edition. This definitely bac"s Edouard 5lissant#s statement $condemned to face the death of its culture%. ,ften times, our own dialect is pushed to the bac" burner and scoffed at. This may not seem li"e a big issue but it helps to destroy our culture. $4e "eep "nowledge from the ma0ority of people by denying them "nowledge in the language they use. There is something very wrong in saying to a human being, -2et me cut off your legs, and I will give you artificial ones, which will be perfect.- I-m saying let us wal" on our

own two feet...% says, 6gugi wa Thiong-o, 7enyan writer who initiated literature in his native 5i"uyu tongue. 2anguage is about identity, according to 2inton 7wesi Johnson in &amaica #leaner, 899:;<9;<=.>e says, $?or me, one of the defining characteristics of poetry is authenticity of voice, and my natural voice is the ordinary spo"en Jamaican language.% &tephanie Tame)1urrleman in &amaica #leaner, 899@;<8;<: in the article $The Ani!ue Jamaican Creole% states that, ,ne thing that became evident to her in time was that we as a people (Jamaicans fre!uently unconsciously perpetuate inherited and useless pre0udices if not forced to abandon them. &he further e.plained that she has learnt from her studies at the Aniversity of 5eneva that $ Jamaican Creole is not a -corruption- of a language, but a -languagein itself ...% . In other words, it is not bro"en or bad English. ?ew persons seemingly realiBe that what we now embrace as C&tandard EnglishC was in its infancy one of hundreds of the regional dialects spo"en in England, and li"e our /atois, went through similar rites of passage before a single form emerged, or was selected, as the standard. 4hat our linguistic e.perts have been urging all along is, we are now moving towards bilingual status. This prospect horrifies some of us to whom &tandard English is sacrosanct. The common CpatoisC (as an evolving language in its own right is seen by some as a threat to the preservation of CacceptedC &tandard English. Indeed, the pre0udice not disguised when &tandard English is referred to as CproperC English.

The following table comes from 2anguage Education /olicy in the tension between &tandard Jamaican English and Jamaican /atwa% Table D( &ample 1istribution of stereotypes (6E<,999 4hich spea"er do you thin"( ?re!uency Is more /atwa @D intelligent English ==9 6either;'oth D8H Is more /atwa 8GD honest English 8@G 6either;'oth D=D Is more /atwa =H educated English =H< 6either;'oth D9G Is more /atwa D@H friendly English 8I9 6either;'oth DDD >as more /atwa @@ money English DH9 6either;'oth I9: Is more /atwa D99 helpful English 8H8 6either;'oth DIG
Figure 4: Language Awareness (JLU, 2005, p. 8)

(F @.@F =@.GF DI.:F D<F D9.IF DG.:F :.8F :<.@F D8.8F DH.GF 8=.8F D=F G.GF II.@F I:.=F D<.HF D<.<F D@F

This table evidences that &JE (English is much more fre!uently attributed to positive features than J/ (/atois is. ,stensibly, the respondents of this survey see spea"ers of &JE as more intelligent, more educated, and as having more money than J/ spea"ers have. ?irstly, this in parts, sure enough, reflects the socio)structural reality, since &JE is the official language of Jamaica and is the classical language of the political leaders and institutions of higher education. &econdly, the survey clearly shows traditional pre0udices li"e the connection between intelligence and language use. 3egardless of these clear impressions, $it appears that since the independence of Jamaica in <H:8 there has been a significant change in attitudes towards J/. Increasing linguistic research on creoles, the resulting establishment of creoles as languages, and the rise of positive attitudes towards J/, as a means of ethnic identity, socio)cultural e.pression,

and an economic factor, considerably lifted the image of J/ (cf. +oEJKC, 899<, p. G . In addition, it contributed to a pressure on the state to accommodate the use of J/ in a wider range of official conte.ts (cf. 1evonish, 899G, p. :8H , e.g. in school or court (cf. ?rancis, 899Ga L report on the training of J/ interpreters for assistance before the court .%

1ata Collection &ources

The 3esearcher used two ma0or 1ata Collection sources that are discussed further down. 1uring the data collection, the researcher was aware of the legal and ethical concerns regarding collection and even analysis. There was privacy concerning sub0ects and data and consent was sought from sub0ects. Muestionnaires were issued to si.ty (:9 individuals. Those to whom !uestionnaires were given had a wee" in which to complete it. At the end of that wee") the period ?ebruary <G to ?ebruary 8I, 89<<), only fifty (=o !uestionnaires were collected. These !uestionnaires served as the bul" of The 3esearcher#s primary sources of data. In addition, observations were made based on persons* attitude to the language, language registers used and by whom and how often. These observations were made in the classroom, on the bus, on the street, at home, and at church. The 3esearcher#s secondary sources came from 5leaner articles, te.ts and other boo"s. The web was a !uite helpful source but wisdom was used in the information ta"en. Communication 6otes from in 2ower &i. ?orm was also referred to. The 3esearcher even visited the 7ingston /arish 2ibrary. In conclusion, The 3esearcher did everything in his power to stay on the ethical and legal side of collection and analysis. 'e assured that the information presented in the research is all true and reliable.

/resentation of ?indings

$This chart shows the age groups of those individuals 4ho were given !uestionnaires.% %igure &('hows the age groupings of the fifty )ersons to whom *uestionnaires were issued.

age

%igure ': shows their se(

%igure (('hows the sector in which the +, persons who got questionnaires wor- in. %igure ):'hows the employment status of indi iduals.

%igure *: 'hould )atois be used for instruction in schools. %igure +:'hows what indi iduals thin- of patois. if it is a sla e language.

%igure ,: 'hows what indi iduals thin-. )atois should be used informally only.

%igure -:shows how often indi iduals 'pea- patois.

%igure .: )atois is a sign of illiteracy.

%igure &/: 'hows how often indi iduals 'pea- 'tandard "nglish

%igure && 'hows if )atois is easier to speathan 'tandard "nglish

$igure &':shows which ma-es indi iduals Feel more comfortable

%igure &): 'hows. patois 'hould become jamaica%s first language

Interpretation of ?indings
?ifty persons received !uestionnaires. Twenty)two (88 males and twenty)eight (8G females. The larger age groups were individuals in their teens and twenties* which totalled more than half (=:F . This is important, as these are the young people. Their view on this matter is most important, as they will lead our society in the coming years. The number of students and the number of employed interviewees both totalled 88 with the unemployed totalling 0ust si. (: .this is interesting as si. (: of the interviewees were above the age of fifty (=9 very close to retirement age. The 3esearcher has reasons to believe that five of those are truly retired leaving 0ust one person out of a 0ob for whatever reason. &i.ty)four percent of those employed admitted to wor"ing in the private sector. 4hen as"ed if they believe that patois is a slave language only one person was adamant that it was. This person stated that they strongly agreed that patois is a slave language. Thirteen of the respondents simply agreed that it was while in contrast fourteen disagreed with twenty)two seriously denouncing that thought saying they strongly disagree. The use o$ patois in schools $or instruction seems to cause some controversy. +ost of the respondents strongly disagreed but not by a far margin with others strongly agreeing that, it should be so. A tiny few disagreed with the others maybe <9 or so agreeing. 0atois should be used in$ormally only had D:F strongly disagreeing with that motion and 88F disagreeing. This leaves a total difference of <:F when compared to the 8F that strongly agrees and the I9F that merely agrees with patois remaining in the informal arena. A vast ma0ority disagrees with the suggestion that patois is a sign o$ illiteracy1 The greater number of respondents strongly disagreed with only one strongly agreeing. Ten (<9

persons admitted to spea"ing Creole $occasionally% with D8 individuals claiming that they spea" it !uite $often% and only G saying they $always% do. 4hen as"ed the inverse !uestion <G say they occasionally spea" Jamaican &tandard English 8< say the often do with only H claiming that its always used by them. 4hen they were to say whether patois is easier to spea2 than Standard English3 there were no reservations so an area chart was used to present this. As e.pected by The 3esearcher an absolute ma0ority strongly agrees that patois was easier 88 and 8< agreeing that it is. The remaining seven (@ persons of the fifty who received !uestionnaires disagreed and strongly disagreed si. (: and one (< respectively. The 3esearcher must say he was blown away by this one. 8: of the persons who were interviewed felt more comfortable with &tandard English. Twenty)four (8I admitted that patois filled that col. 4ith a tiny difference of two (8 , it is astonishing that more people find patois easier but feel more comfortable with &tandard English. The results to this last !uestion are rather intriguing. Should patois become Jamaicas $irst language? ?our persons strongly disagreed, <G 0ust disagreed leaving a total of twenty)two (88 individuals. ?ifteen (<= persons strongly agreed to this notion and <D simply agreed ma"ing a sum of 8G persons.

1iscussion of ?indings
The 3esearcher has found this research to be !uite refreshing in the information it brought forth, from the literature review, the presentation and the interpretation of findings. This research has opened The 3esearcher#s understanding of the language situation in Jamaica. &ome commonalities were found between the literature review and the data findings. ?or instance in the evaluation of which language (patois;J&E the respondents felt more comfortable with most of the respondents say they felt more comfortable with the &JE which would be described) by 2anguage Education /olicy in the tension between &tandard Jamaican English and Jamaican /atwa% ) as a traditional language pre0udice passed down. >owever, these same respondents said that patois is easier to spea" than J&E in %igure &&. This is because according to &tephanie Tame)1urrleman in &amaica #leaner, 899@;<8;<: $ one thing that became evident to her in time was that we as a people (Jamaicans fre!uently unconsciously perpetuate inherited and useless pre0udices if not forced to abandon them% In the data findings a vast ma0ority of respondents declared that patois is not a slave language this fact can be supported by &tephanie Tame)1urrleman (899@ in &amaica #leaner, who e.plained that she has learnt from her studies at the Aniversity of 5eneva that $ Jamaican Creole is not a -corruption- of a language, but a -language- in itself ...% . In other words, it is not bro"en or bad English neither is it 0ust merely $slave language%. In %igure ,3 we find that =GF of the respondents disagreed with patois being a slave language and I8F agree that it is. This finding correlates so well with this statement from the */anguage "ducation )olicy in the tension between 'tandard &amaican "nglish and

&amaican )atwa: !uoted from the literature review) $it appears that since the independence of Jamaica in <H:8 there has been a significant change in attitudes towards J/. Increasing linguistic research on creoles, the resulting establishment of creoles as languages, and the rise of positive attitudes towards J/,% The 3esearcher would li"e to shed light on one difference found between the 2iterature 3eview and the 1ata ?indings. The table shown in the literature review formulated in (899= shows that at that time, out of a sample group of <999 @D persons (@.@F thought that the spea"ers of Jamaican patois were more intelligent, ==9 (=@.GF thought the standard English spea"ers were more intelligent. 4hen my research was done with a group of fifty (=9 persons a vast ma0ority disagreed that the use of patois was a sign of illiteracy. +y research was done si. (: years later so it may be argued that things has really changed since. In addition it could also be argued that my target group of fifty (=9 is smaller than the thousand (<999 targeted in the earlier research.

Conclusion 2imitations and 3ecommendations

In conclusion we find that Jamaican Creole is in no sense a bad language or bro"en English. It is seen as such by those to whom the plantation pre0udice has been passed down. +any persons today are becoming more comfortable with the language* it is spo"en on bothe formal and informal occasions. Eg. The +anatt commission of en!uiry, it#s noticed that those attorneys and politicians at sometime switched to the basilect. &o people today from all wal"s of life liberally use the language There were many limitations in trying to get this piece together. The 3esearcher faced problems of e.pense* bus fare, printing !uestionnaires, internet cafe, and printing the pro0ect itself. 4hen the researcher sought persons to fill out the !uestionnaires many refused, and some never returned it. The researcher travelled to different institutions) A4I, ATEC>) in order to get the perspective of those learned persons. I would recommend however, that more !ualitative and !uantitative research be done. /eople should be taught )especially young people)

'ibliography
2isa J. +cIntyre. (899: . The /ractical &"eptic Core Concepts in &ociology (Third edition . +c5raw)>ill. /hillip A. 'utcher. Cassidy, ?. 5., <H@<a. Jamaica Tal". Three >undred Jears of the English 2anguage in Jamaica. 'asingsto"e;2ondon( +acmillan Education 2td. Cayol, 1., 899G. /atois or Jamaican CreoleN 3eport in The Jamaica 5leaner, June 8H, 899G. ,nline( http(;;www.0amaica)gleaner.com;gleaner;899G9:8H;news;newsI.html (9D.9=.89<9 J2A, 899=. The 2anguage Attitude &urvey of Jamaica. 1ata Analysis. Jamaican 2anguage Anit, 1epartment of 2anguage, 2inguistics K /hilosophy, ?aculty of >umanities K Education, Aniversity of the 4est Indies, +ona. ,nline( http(;;www.mona.uwi.edu;dllp;0lu;pro0ects;3eportF89forF892anguage F89AttitudeF89&urveyF89ofF89Jamaica.pdf (9<.9=.89<9 Angus &tevenson. (8998 . The 2ittle ,.ford English 1ictionary (eight edition . Anited &tates. ,.ford Aniversity /ress Inc., 6ew Jor" 2inton 7wesi Johnson. (899: .2anguage as identity. &amaica #leaner, 899:;<9;<= >ubert 1evonish. (8998 . 2anguage rights, 0ustice and the constitution. &amaica #leaner, 8998;9<;8@ &tephanie Tame)1urrleman. (899@ . E.ploring the uni!ue Jamaican Creole. &amaica #leaner, 899@;<8;<: 5eof 'rown. (899G . /atois as language or bro"en English. &amaica 0bser er, 899G;@;9I 1aniel Jett"a. (89<9 . The language situation of Jamaica,2anguage Education /olicy in the tension between &tandard Jamaican English and Jamaican /atwa >ilary Term. 1r. John >arris

Appendi.* Muestionnaire
Questionnaire
1. sex male female

2.

Age

13-19 20-30 31-40 41-50 above 50

3. Work status

student emplo ed unemplo ed

4. !f emplo ed" #$%&$ se&tor do ou #ork %n'

publ%&

pr%vate

5. (ato%s %s a slave language

strongl agree agree d%sagree strongl d%sagree

). (ato%s s$ould be used for %nstru&t%on %n s&$ools strongl agree agree d%sagree strongl d%sagree

*. (ato%s s$ould be used %nformall onl strongl agree agree d%sagree strongl d%sagree

+. (ato%s %s a s%gn of %ll%tera& , for unedu&ated persons strongl agree agree d%sagree strongl d%sagree

9. -o# often do ou speak pato%s'

never o&&as%onall often al#a s

10. -o# often do ou speak .tandard /ngl%s$' never o&&as%onall often al#a s

11. (ato%s %s eas%er to speak t$an /ngl%s$ strongl agree agree d%sagree strongl d%sagree

12. W$%&$ makes ou feel more &omfortable'

.tandard /ngl%s$ pato%s

13. (ato%s s$ould be&ome 0ama%&a1s f%rst language strongl agree agree d%sagree strongl d%sagree