A test programme for teaching foreign languages is on in 13 private and public schools, with plans to make the teaching of Spanish a regular part of lower school curriculum in a few years, education officials have said.

The Primary Spanish Pilot Programme (PSPP), in its second academic year, uses a mix of authentic Spanish speakers from Cuba and Jamaicans who are teachers of Spanish to deliver instruction.

The education ministry is selling the programme as a fillip to wider integration plans, saying foreign language competence is meant to strip down “linguistic barriers”, ostensibly, to trade and people movement across borders.

Guided by the Latin America and Caribbean Centre at the University of West Indies (UWI), and utilising a syllabus developed by the education ministry, the PSPP was first piloted in grades 1 and 4 in 2004, then continued in grades 2 and 5 in 2005.

Some students have caught on to the language, but some confess that they find the subject difficult.

“I think for the nouns and adjectives, it’s a little funny,” said 11-year-old Nicholas McFarlane, a grade 5 student at Jessie Ripoll Primary.

“I don’t understand why you have to put the noun before the adjective.”

However, Nicholas accepts that knowledge of Spanish could prove useful.

“Maybe if I travelled to a Spanish-speaking country and I wanted to get around or ask for something, it would be easier for me than if I didn’t know Spanish,” he said.

His classmate, Athena Phillips, also 11, is already thinking past primary school.

“I love learning Spanish because when I reach high school I will already know some of the language,” she said.

But some schools have opted not to wait on government to provide the teachers and instruction aid, and have introduced the subject to students, if only informally, Sunday Observer checks have found; even as educators involved in the pilot question government’s real commitment to the foreign language programme.

“We don’t have any CDs, multimedia charts or other aids to help us with the pronunciation and intonation of the words for the sake of the children,” said Melvyn Allen, Spanish teacher at Jessie Ripoll, one of the leading schools of its type in Kingston.

Allen, who is not formally trained in Spanish but has “a passion for it,” told the Sunday Observer shortly after completing a fifth grade class, that he also has a concern about some of the Spanish books available.

“We hear that some of the books on the market are not suitable for us (in Jamaica),” said Allen.

“In some of them, the language is not correct, so the ministry must be careful to select the ones that are relevant.”

The education ministry has acknowledged the resource constraints.

“I understand and appreciate where he is coming from in relation to resources,” said Dorrett Campbell, the ministry’s head of communication. “But we are progressing slowly with the technology,” she said optimistically, “especially in the primary schools.”

Much of the resources for Spanish instruction has been directed to other schools, she said.

“We have to prioritise right now, and much of the resources are being used to improve teaching and learning in the secondary schools.”

A teacher since 1974, broken only by a seven-year job with food conglomerate GraceKennedy in the 1990s, Allen uses his own techniques to hold the interest of his young charges.

Armed with a bag of clothes, he holds up one garment for the students to identify – en Espanol, of course.

“Que es esto?” (What is this?) he asked, holding up a skirt.

“Es una falda,” (It is a skirt) a boy replies correctly, after three attempts.

“De que color?” (What colour is it?) Allen asks.

“La falda es azul,” (The skirt is blue), the students reply in unison.

After going through a few more items in his ‘wardrobe’, Allen launches into a game of ‘Simon dice’ (Simon says).

The syllabus he uses is crafted by the education ministry and is based on a framework curriculum provided to member countries by the Caricom secretariat.

The 15-member Caricom bloc includes mostly English-speaking nations, whose foreign policies tend to favour stronger relations and emerging trade ties to dominant Spanish-speaking Latin American countries such as Venezuela, Mexico, and Colombia, and long-time friend Cuba.

Martha Corbett Baugh, officer in the Ministry of Education with responsibility for Spanish, said at the primary level the emphasis is placed on understanding, listening and speaking Spanish.

“Each grade has established levels of competency to illustrate the achievements of the students,” said Saudi Baugh, in a ministry release. “Grades 1 to 3 students are expected to utilise basic penmanship and understand basic graphics in Spanish. Grades 4 and 5 students should exercise discrete allocation of writing in the foreign language.”

Allen also tries to sensitise his students to the importance of the subject.

“Before I started the lessons, I gave them an assignment to find out about the romance languages. Based on their research they found out that they include Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and others,” he said.

“I also let them know that (some) of Jamaica’s neighbours are Spanish-speaking countries, including a few Caribbean countries.

Spanish is widely used in the United States and a number of Spanish-speaking investors are building hotels in Jamaica, so we need to get on board to learn Spanish, as we are going to need it.”

So enthusiastic is Allen about Spanish that he wants to be released from his other duties teaching regular classes and visual arts.

“There is some dialogue going on between the school and the ministry,” he said of his request.

Allen is one of three Jamaicans involved in the primary school pilot, which also has nine Cuban teachers.

Cuba has provided four instructors under a cooperation agreement, while the other five were already residing in Jamaica.

“The teachers in the cooperation programme mostly focus on teaching conversational Spanish,” said Campbell, adding that more Cubans are being recruited for the language programme for the next academic year, which starts September.

Another school in the programme, Discovery Bay All Age in St Ann, has a Spanish teacher from Cuba.

“The smaller ones do better than the bigger ones,” Anna Quiroga said of the students she teaches in grades one, two, five and six.

In her third year of teaching at the St Ann school, Quiroga is nearing the end of her contract in Jamaica.

“I like Jamaica very much. The only problem is there is too much violence here,” she said.

“But I love the people, and they love me too.”

The holder of a master’s degree in Russian and English from Camaguey University in Cuba, Quiroga says her classes, which have as many as 40 students each, are too big, making instruction difficult.

“In Cuba there are 20 children in one class – half of what I have here,” she said.

Quiroga has tried exposing the wider community to Spanish by

having her students perform at churches and other functions.

Her charges have also participated in the National Spanish Festival, winning several trophies and medals.

Quiroga supplements books from the ministry with her own collection of songs on CD from Cuba and games in Spanish from the school’s computer lab.

She tries to speak as much Spanish in class as possible, but says sometimes she has to explain in English.

“But they understand me,” she said of the students, “and they learn very well.”

Quiroga took 10 of her students to Iona Preparatory – another school in the Spanish pilot – on June 8 for a ‘Spanish Day’ celebration, an activity encouraged by the education ministry, which has also advised the schools to form Spanish clubs.

Baugh has suggested that schools invite native speakers of Spanish to visit their schools for even wider exposure to the language.

The International Affairs and the Spanish officers in the education ministry are also wooing support from visiting the Spanish-speaking embassies to garner their support for the programme.

Campbell said the responses have been encouraging, but refused to give details.

editorial@jamaicaobserver.com

Schools in the Spanish language pilot

Kingston and St Andrew:

Jessie Ripoll Primary

Mona Preparatory

Ardenne Preparatory

St Hugh’s Preparatory

Shortwood Practising Primary and Junior High

St Catherine:

Naggo Head Primary

St Jago Cathedral Preparatory

Bridgeport Primary

St Ann:

Discovery Bay All-Age

Iona Preparatory

St James:

Mount Airy All-Age

Manchester:

Bethabara Primary and Junior High

Mizpah All-Age