THE education ministry has approved the experiment by a university team to teach children using Jamaican Patois and English in four primary schools, but appear to have no plans to adopt the strategy in the formal school system, no matter the results of the study.

In fact, education minister Maxine Henry Wilson implied in a Sunday Observer interview that too heavy a stress on Patois as a first language could hurt Jamaican children in the long run.

“We are open for views from persons, but we must be mindful that we are still in an environment where English is still the dominant language, whether broken or the Queen’s English,” said Henry Wilson.

“So, we have to be careful we do not rule ourselves out.”

Professor Hubert Devonish and his team of about 10 associate researchers are hoping to prove, through a four-year Bilingual Education Project (BEP), that instructing in the native tongue can lead to improved “performance and competence” in the content subject areas – that is, mathematics, science and social studies – and “fluency in language use of Patois and English.”

Devonish is with the Department of Language Linguistics and Philosophy at the University of the West Indies, but his team is drawn from across faculties of the university.

The project involves using Patois and English to teach students of grades one to four in the participating schools. Each English lesson is reinforced by the same lesson in Patois.

The language specialists have begun their experiment with the assumption that Jamaicans are bilingual.

The team is guided by a survey conducted by the department, which found that the majority of Jamaicans recognise Patois as a language, have declared themselves bilingual, and felt that ministers of government should deliver speeches in Patois to allow for better understanding of national issues.

According to the survey, 79.5 per cent of the respondents agreed that Patois was a language, with 68.5 per cent saying it should be Jamaica’s official language alongside English.

Additionally, 71 per cent of the population polled would prefer to have bilingual schools, with 78.6 per cent declaring themselves bilingual.

“Full bilingual education actually works out to children being better at both languages,” Devonish, BEP’s principal researcher, told the Sunday Observer.

The project, which is expected to run until 2008, was initially implemented at Hope Valley Experimental in Kingston and the Portmore-based Bridgeport Primary, but has since been introduced at the Rollington Town and St Peter Claver primary schools.

The project, said Devonish, was developed in the context of the Ministry of Education’s draft policy, which states that the ideal was to have a full bilingual education system.

He notes, however, that the policy says that such a system would not be possible in the Jamaican scenario.

The BEP project is meant to disprove that assumption.

“Once we recognised that, we decided that this was the right way and developed the project to show them (the Ministry) how they could do it,” he said.

“People the world over speak three, four different languages and Jamaicans are no different,” he added.

But Henry-Wilson, though acknowledging that while the new education policy speaks to some of the issues discussed by the researchers, was noncommittal about implementing bilingual instruction on a formal scale after Devonish’s project wraps up in 2008.

“They are doing some fieldwork through the formal education system and we would like to see whether in fact the views expressed are true, that is, whether they will prove that the students would be more productive,” said the education minister.

“But we must be mindful that English is a global language; Patois isn’t,” she added.

“India has their local dialect, but the country recognises the importance of speaking English,” she continued. “One of the assets we need to optimise is that we do have English as a formal language, it’s universal, and we need to ensure that our children are able to mine that advantage.”

Kay Osbourne, the general manager of the RJR Communications Group who recently emphasised the importance of delivering lessons in the official language, has softened her position somewhat, and now agrees that Patois could be useful in instruction.

But she still has some reservations.

“My own opinion is that using Patois as a means to engage students could be useful if the primary goal is to move the kids as swiftly as possible into competence in Standard English,” she said.

But while the debate rages on, Professor Devonish is content that the results of the project would put all concerns to rest.

He is not daunted by the fact that the native tongue, even today, is scorned by many. Neither does he appear too concerned about the ministry’s position that it could affect Jamaica’s comparative advantage in a world dominated by English speakers.

The professor and his team are intent on improving the competence levels of participating students who might not necessarily have problems reading English, but might be challenged to speak it fluently, and vice versa with their native Patois.

Professor Devonish is content that the results of the project will put all concerns to rest.

“Science, mathematics and all other subjects are taught in other languages; why not Patois?” he queries rhetorically.

“We would love to give the students an option. It is not about pushing it down the throats of all students, but we are working to make this a valid options for the students, teachers and parents,” he told the Sunday Observer.

In the meanwhile, the professor is hopeful that some funds will trickle in the project, as the only cash so far has been put up by his department.

The BEP team has translated several of the education ministry approved textbooks written in English for use in the project, and has provided training for participating teachers to ensure that they are comfortable with the pronunciation and delivery of written Patois.

“We have a great need in terms of book production and teacher training. the books are not coming out as quickly because we do not have the money and are just using creative means to get by,” said Devonish.

“In the medium to long term, we are looking for resources which could come from the ministry or the private sector to allow us to push this forward as an established, viable option,” he said.

martina@jamaicaobserver.com