WELL-KNOWN author, literary scholar and advocate of Jamaican culture, especially its language and musical expressions of reggae and dancehall, Dr Carolyn Cooper, has reiterated the call for bilingual education of English and Jamaican language in schools, while stamping her trademark wit and aplomb in delivering a provocative 8th Hilory Pamela Kelly Distinguished Lecture on the topic, ‘Whose Class Are You In? Language, Power, and Dis/Advantage in Jamaica’ recently.

The annual distinguished lecture hosted by the University of Technology, Jamaica’s (UTech) Language Training Research Centre (LTRC), Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies (FELS) pays homage to eminent language educator Pamela Kelly, university orator, and founder of the centre’s predecessor, the Self-Access Learning Centre, and provides a space for the presentation of new scholarship in the areas of academic literacy and language education.

Dr Cooper, professor emerita in the Faculty of Humanities and Education, The University of the West Indies, Mona, highlighted the implications of English versus Jamaican language as a marker of class and privilege, tackled the marked snobbery of some English speakers who “casually assume that they will be universally understood, even when they use expressions that are not at all common”, while harbouring prejudicial ideas about speakers of Jamaican dialect. Thus, Dr Cooper raised the question, “Whose class are you in?” sharing the anecdote of a young student who did not understand the formal language register of the question posed to him by his principal.

“I speculate if the principal had said, ‘whoffa class are you in?’ the child would probably have understood the mixture of English and Jamaican,” she expressed.

Dr Cooper advocated that urgent and greater attention be paid to language in Jamaica, especially at the primary level, stressing “we need to find new ways of teaching English, so that our success rate will be higher than it is now, and we must ensure that all students learn to distinguish between English and Jamaican.”

She pointed to inroads being made in this regard, highlighting the establishment of the Jamaica Language Unit at UWI, and praising the work of Kelly, and the Language Teaching and Research Centre at UTech. She called on the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information to institute programmes that would cater to students who speak only their mother tongue, in order to aid their understanding of their lessons.

Referencing the collection Auntie Roachy Seh by Louise Bennett, Dr Cooper indicated that many English speakers do not think of Jamaican as a bona fide language, but as a corrupt negation of English, an attitude that Ms Lou repudiates with the humorous rejoinder “dem shoulda call English language corruption of Norman, French and Latin and all dem tarrah language what dem say that English derive from.”

She shared some of the derisive responses she has received to her published newspaper columns, which she alternates between writing in standard English and the specialist writing system for the Jamaican language invented by Jamaican linguist Frederick Cassidy.

“Assumptions are made about your social class background, your intelligence, your very humanity, based on the language you use to express yourself,” she noted, adding that damaging attitudes such as these are entrenched in society, even in the face of evidence that the English language is not “pure”, being itself an amalgamation of Germanic and Romance languages, with many loan words, structures and vocabulary.

Dr Cooper also made note of the important contribution of the Twi language to Jamaican, remarking that the monolingual English colonisers, “trapped in the prison of congenital linguistic superiority” were outwitted by the inventive Africans, who disguised their own language in English. She underscored the importance of understanding this process of requiring conformity to one spoken language as cultural erasure, which she noted is “an essential element of the enslavement process,” and viewing the African response as an act of resistance.

Professor Shermaine Barrett, dean, FELS, in her remarks, expressed appreciation to Kelly for her “continued service to the university in the various hats you have worn over the years.” She also indicated that the celebration of Kelly’s legacy through the outlet of a lecture was fitting, highlighting that “academic forums, such as this lecture, form a vital part of the landscape of any university as they provide spaces for academic discourse, knowledge sharing and to encourage new ways of thinking.”

Dr Warrick Lattibeaudiere, director, LTRC, in his remarks, highlighted the tireless work of Kelly to improve language education at the university, noting her involvement in the creation of the Self Access Centre, the unit which served as the precursor to the LTRC. Dr Lattibeaudiere noted that the Self Access Centre showed students the pathway in grammar and other language related skills, and has helped to shape the lives and careers of many students, lecturers and others at UTech.

In her gracious response, Kelly expressed that she was “pleased and honoured to be once again participating in this annual lecture”. She also expressed gratitude to the staff and her colleagues at the faculty in continuing to host the annual event, noting the importance of examining issues in language and education.