A language policy

WHEN the Ambassador for France was recently presenting his credentials, he indicated that the French Government could arrange teacher exchanges in English and French and also the granting of scholarships to French language teachers in the secondary schools, so that they could perfect their teaching skills and knowledge of the language.

This generous offer was appreciated by educationists. This offer by the ambassador has resuscitated the question of an educational language policy for Guyana. Until much after Independence, the foreign languages usually taught in the secondary schools were Latin and French. Latin was regarded as an “intellectual” language, since a great number of Latin usages came to be integrated in English Law and also because of the influence of Latin on the English Language. Actually, almost all words expressing abstract concepts in English are derived from Latin directly, or from Latin through French. And French, from the 16th century was the language of culture and the lingua franca of Europe.

After World War II, western education systems dropped Latin from their curriculula and French became less important since English replaced it as the world’s lingua franca. Both Latin and French fell out of the secondary school curriculum and from the late 1970s was haltingly replaced by Spanish as the second language in the schools. This trend was partly caused by many more Guyanese visiting Venezuela and Cuba and residing in those countries, and the fact that Guyana had begun to think of itself as part of the South American world.

Since the Lethem region is now developing and there is a growing Brazilian linguistic influence among the local population, many of the secondary schools countrywide have begun to introduce Portuguese in their curricula. At present, therefore, what obtains as foreign language teaching is confined to Spanish and to a growing degree, Portuguese. But the integration of these languages into the secondary schools curriculum is adventitious and not the result of conscious planning. Guyana therefore needs to have a conscious foreign language policy in its education system as most countries have.

Although Guyana is fortunate to have English as its national language as well as the world lingua franca and as such makes communication with the rest of the world easier, it is a small country with neighbours who speak Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and French. For commercial and political reasons, it would enhance friendly relations with the neighbours if Guyanese spoke their languages. Foreign languages to be studied in a country’s educational system are chosen not merely because of their economic or political value.

There are cultural reasons as well. French, for example, is a great language of culture and its literature is one of the richest in the world. Several countries of Africa have French as their national language and they, like French Guiana, Haiti and Quebec in the Americas have fertile French-oriented cultures. If Guyana is able to reach out to these francophone countries in their own language, relations are bound to be closer and warmer.

The Amerindian languages are an important part of Guyana’s cultural heritage and every effort should be made to keep these languages alive. The neighbouring countries have large contiguous indigenous populations and our indigenous population could be the basis of closer “familial” relations with these countries.

There has been some demand by African groups for the teaching of Swahili and this could strengthen our relations with Africa, especially the eastern countries of that continent. Hindi-Urdu is the language of religion of a very sizable percentage of Guyanese and has a wide cultural influence through Bollywood films and Indian soaps and by live performances. Hindi-Urdu should be taught in those regions, which wish it and should be brought into the national system, absorbing the Hindi schools.

Suriname, which has a similar linguistic milieu to Guyana has long had a national language policy where Dutch is the national language and Hindi and Creolese are officially recognised as Sranami Hindi and Sranam Tongo. Guyana’s language policy should be plural in its approach. The various regional educational authorities should ascertain the non-English language the population wish to be taught and some or all the schools in that Region would teach that language. In all of this, it should be emphasised that English will continue to be the National Language.

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