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The
analytical section
By
Debbie Harris, Contributor
THIS
WEEK we will be assessing the language
situation in some of the territories
of the Caribbean. In order to be fully
prepared for the examination you do
need to know what languages are spoken/used
in each territory. It is imperative
that you understand the relationship
between the different language varieties
used within each territory. Below
is a table with some valuable information
about these territories; study the
table closely and then answer the
questions which follow. These questions
are taken from past examination papers.
| COUNTRY |
LANGUAGE
SITUATION |
OFFICIAL
LANGUAGE
|
MASS
VERNACULAR |
MINORITY
LANGUAGES
MINORITY
VERNACULAR |
MAJOR
SECOND LANGUAGE |
LANGUAGE
PLANNING
ACTIVITY |
| Cuba |
Monolingual |
Spanish |
Spanish |
------ |
------ |
------ |
| Dominican
Republic |
Monolingual |
Spanish |
Spanish |
Some
English --- |
------ |
------ |
| Puerto
Rico |
Monolingual |
Spanish |
Spanish |
----- |
English |
------ |
| Barbados |
Monolingual |
English |
English |
------ |
----- |
------- |
| Jamaica |
Continuum |
English
|
English
Creole |
------ |
------ |
Growing
awareness of the Creole as months
tongue and symbol of national
identity |
| Guyana |
Continuum |
English |
English
Creole |
------ |
Hidi
Bhojpuri Amerindian |
Same
as Jamaica |
| St.
Kitts & Nevis and Monserrat |
* |
English |
English |
------ |
------ |
-------- |
| Antigua
& Barbuda |
* |
English |
Local
Dialects |
------- |
------- |
------- |
| Belize |
Multilingual |
English |
English
Creole |
Spanish
Mayan Garifuna |
------- |
Creation
of Bilingual population in English
and Spanish |
| Trinidad |
Multilingual |
English |
(post
creole)
English |
French
Creole Spanish Bhojputri
Hindi Chineese
|
------ |
-------- |
| Grenada |
Dying
Bilinggualism |
English |
English
(infulenced by French Creole)
French Creole rapidly/ reeding |
------- |
-------- |
------- |
| St.
Lucia |
Bilinggual |
English |
French
Creole |
-------- |
-------- |
Incipient
standardi-zation of French Creole |
| Dominica |
Bilinggual |
English |
French
Creole |
|
|
|
| Haiti |
Diglossic |
French |
French
Creole |
------ |
------ |
Advanced
standardi-zation of Haitian |
| Guadeloupe
& Martinique |
Diglossic |
French |
French
Creole |
English |
------ |
Incipient
standardi-zation |
| St.
Thomas |
Bidialectal |
English |
English |
French
Patois |
------- |
------- |
| Curacao |
Monolingual |
Dutch |
Dutch |
---- |
------- |
------- |
| Aruba
& Bonaire |
Bilingual |
Dutch |
Papiamentu |
Dutch,
English, Spanish |
-------
|
------- |
| British
Virgin Islands |
Monolingual |
English |
English |
-------- |
------- |
----- |
Key
* Language Situation unknown
The
following are questions which appeared
on the Paper 01, May 1999.
Caribbean
Territories Grouped according to Language
Situation
| Group
A |
Group
B |
Group
C |
Group
D |
Group
E |
Group
F |
| Jamaica |
Trinidad |
St.
Lucia |
Martinique |
Aruba |
Belize |
| Barbados |
Grenada
|
Dominica |
Guadelope |
Curacao |
|
| Antigua |
|
|
|
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1.
Explain any FOUR of these linguistic
groupings to a person unfamiliar with
the Caribbean area. (4 marks)
2.
Identify FOUR ways in which a language
other than the official language spoken
in any ONE of the territories shown
in the table, differs from English.
(4 marks)
3.
Explain why a non-standard English
speaker in Group B may experience
difficulties in learning English.
4.
A man from Group C is planning a Caribbean
tour.
(a)
Name ONE territory listed in the table,
where he may have difficulty communicating
in the language spoken there. Give
ONE reason for your answer. (2 marks)
(b)
Name ONE territory where he may experience
no difficulty communicating in the
language spoken there. Give ONE reason
for your answer. (2 marks)
SUGGESTED
ANSWERS:
1.
A person who is unfamiliar with the
Caribbean area would have to be told
that:
*
Territories in Group A have English
as their official language and an
English Creole.
*
Territories in Group B have English
as their official language and an
English Creole with remnants of French.
*
Territories in Group C have English
as their official language and have
both French and English Creoles.
*
Territories in Group D have French
as their official language and have
a French Creole.
*
Territories in Group E have Dutch
as their official language and have
a Dutch Creole (Papiamentu)
*
Territory in Group F has English as
the official language and Amerindian
languages.
2.
The following would reflect the ways
in which the languages differ:
Use
of concord (subject and verb agreement)
Use
of the passive voice
Pluralization
of nouns
Formation
of tenses
Syntactic
structures; double negatives, serial
verbs etc.
Pronoun
replacement
Use
of modifiers
Omission
of initial and final consonants
Vocabulary
3.
A non-standard English speaker in
Group B may experience difficulties
in learning English because of the
fact that where an English-based creole
exists many Creole speakers perceive
the language they speak to be English.
In addition, the two languages share
some elements of structure and vocabulary
which may lead to confusion.
4.
(a) Aruba and Curacao are two territories
in which a man from group C may have
difficulty communicating. The reason
is that in these territories Dutch
and Papiamentu are spoken, but neither
is spoken in his territory.
(b)
Martinique and Guadeloupe are two
territories where he may experience
no difficulty communicating. The reason
is that both French and English are
spoken in these territories and they
are also spoken in his homeland.
I
trust you got these or similar answers
to the given questions. You can find
more relevant information in The West
Indians & Their Language by Peter
Roberts as well at http://encyclopedia.caribseek.com/Caribbean_Population_and_Languages/
Until
next week, walk good!
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