Dear Editor,
WITH reference to the television programme which was done by final-year students from the Language and Society II, Berbice Campus, which was aired on April 23, 2019 in Georgetown and on May 14, 2019 on NCN, we are here to advocate for Guyanese creole to be implemented in schools curricula. Guyanese creolese is our mother tongue and is used to express feelings and is essential for everyday communication. It is a valid language just like any other language.

Occasionally, teachers tend to shun students when they speak creolese in the classroom, especially in the English class. They have a tendency of insisting that the students should speak “properly,” which is to speak the standard English. As such, we as teachers lower students’ self-confidence when we insist that they should speak “properly.” These children may never make an attempt again to express how they feel or even to answer a question in class. This can be one of the contributing factors towards the high rate of school drop-outs, simply because the children cannot speak standard English.
There are numerous ideas discussed in the television programme to promote the legitimacy

of local creolese as a language. To begin, we need to get away from the notion that creolese is not a language. Although it borrows words from English and other languages, it is still regarded as a bona fide language. All languages borrow lexical items and/or concepts from other languages without becoming any less of a language. For example, from English, French borrowed “weekend” and Spanish borrowed the concept of “perros calientes,” literally dogs hot for “hot dogs.” Similarly, English has borrowed a vast number of words from other languages, such as souvenir (French), dope (Dutch), piano (Italian), yogurt (Turkish) and so forth.

Additionally, the linguistic systems of English are quite distinct from those in Guyanese creole, again establishing that creolese is not a ‘broken’ or ‘substandard’ dialect of English – for example, English requires a bound inflectional morpheme [s] to express pluralisation, which can be realised as /s/ as in ‘cats’, /z/ as in ‘dogs’, /iz/ as in ‘boxes’, and many other irregular forms; however, to express plurality, Guyanese creole employs a free morpheme [dem] as in ‘di daag dem’ (the dogs), or in some instances, plurality is implied via context and not via an overt marker, as in ‘tuu daag’(two dogs).

In addition, Guyanese creolese can be considered a language, since it has a unique and colourful vocabulary. For example, the English word ‘frog’ is translated in creolese to be ‘krapo,’ especially by the older folk. Likewise, the creolese word ‘pikni’ is used to refer to ‘child/children.’ These lexical variations should be appreciated and accepted. It should be noted also, as demonstrated in the spellings of the words in creolese above, that this language has its unique orthography, distinct from the English system. Local creolese employs a phonemic writing system, where one sound is represented by one symbol. To illustrate, where English has the symbol [c] in words such as “cent” or “crib,” the creolese writing system would use /s/ and /k/ respectively. Similarly, where the sound /i/ is

represented with different symbols in English, as demonstrated in words such as igloo, eat, village, badly, and so forth, in local creolese, all similar sounds are written using the same symbol. Again, the vowel [a] in English, has different sounds in words such as ‘all’, ‘ape’, ‘apple’; which would be represented in the creole writing system as separate symbols.
Moreover, the several varieties of Guyanese creolese are mutually intelligible to almost all Guyanese, especially the ones residing in Guyana. Therefore, we can safely say that this language creates camaraderie among Guyanese and is a mark of culture and identity.

Further, despite English being Guyana’s official language, Guyanese creole is used daily to communicate in our homes, offices and even in schools and places of worship. In most cases, English is used only when it is absolutely necessary. This solidifies the fact that creolese is indeed a language in its own right, and it is not inferior to English or any other language. However, many people remain ignorant of this linguistic fact. For example: when a child is asked about his or her native language, the response is almost always English.

Also, when filling in spoken language in the child’s cumulative card at school, most teachers use English as the learners’ spoken language. Most importantly, if Guyanese creolese is not accepted as a language, inclusive education cannot be realised completely.  Many students do not understand instructions when given in English and have to be instructed using their mother tongue, Guyanese creole. Moreover, numerous studies, supported by several UNESCO conventions and declarations, have proved the values of mother-tongue education for general cognitive development. Being educated in your mother tongue is a basic human right, which should be free from any discrimination or marginalisation; thereby allowing students to feel a sense of belonging, while creating a motivating, learning environment where students can participate and express themselves freely.

The Guyanese creole language should not be defined by the perception that people have of it, but it should be defined by the same factors that classify other languages as languages.

As such, creolese should not be condemned by the negative perception that it has been assigned, but it should be recognised for its effective use in communication among many other factors which makes it a language. Furthermore, we should have more awareness programmes, so that all Guyanese can become aware that creolese is a language and efforts should be made to teach its linguistic systems in schools from the nursery to the tertiary levels. We must educate the nation as a whole that creolese is unique, it is our heritage and tradition. It is who we are as a nation and we should not be ashamed of it; rather, we should all embrace it and let it take its rightful place at the top along with English. After all, full bilingualism (being literate in both English and Guyanese creole) is always superior to monolingualism. We should therefore not ridicule, marginalise or discriminate against others who speak creolese. Let us feel free to express ourselves in speech and writing, using our mother tongue, no matter where we are. As teachers, with the mission to educate the nation, we challenge you to be proud to speak up, speak Guyanese creolese everywhere!
Regards
Teacher/Students of ENG3204 (Language and Society II), 2018/19
University of Guyana, Berbice Campus