Caribbean Language Issues, Old & New


Book Description

CaribbeanLanguage Issues Old and New was conceived as a tribute to ProfessorMervyn Alleyne-who is widely acknowledged as a pioneer in thefield of Caribbean language-on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. A wide variety of issues are dealt with: phonology, syntax, discourse, creole genesis, language problems in education, among others. Some authors re-visit topics on which Alleyne himself has written, building his insights in many cases, while others explore areas which had not been investigated previously. This work provides access to recent research by Caribbean scholars, and goes some way towards filling a gap, particularly in its usefulness to students of linguistics and teachers of English. At the same time, the uninitiated reader who decides to explore its pages will not be unrewarded, since the the style is simple and direct and the content, for the most part, not highly technical.




Handbook of Research on Cross-Cultural Approaches to Language and Literacy Development


Book Description

With rapid technological and cultural advancements, the 21st century has witnessed the wide scale development of transnationalist economies, which has led to the concurrent evolution of language and literacy studies, expanding cross-cultural approaches to literacy and communication. Current language education applies new technologies and multiple modes of text to a diverse range of cultural contexts, enhancing the classroom experience for multi-lingual learners. The Handbook of Research on Cross-Cultural Approaches to Language and Literacy Development provides an authoritative exploration of cross-cultural approaches to language learning through extensive research that illuminates the theoretical frameworks behind multicultural pedagogy and its myriad applications for a globalized society. With its comprehensive coverage of transnational case studies, trends in literacy teaching, and emerging instructive technologies, this handbook is an essential reference source for K-20 educators, administrators in school districts, English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, and researchers in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). This diverse publication features comprehensive and accessible articles on the latest instructional pedagogies and strategies, current empirical research on cross-cultural language development, and the unique challenges faced by teachers, researchers, and policymakers who promote cross-cultural perspectives.




Codeswitching on the Web


Book Description

Based on a corpus of private email from Jamaican university students, this study explores the discourse functions of Jamaican Creole in computer-mediated communication. From this participant-centered perspective, it contributes to the longstanding theoretical debates in Creole studies about the 'Creole continuum'. This book will likewise be useful to researchers of computer-mediated communication, the use and development of non-standardized languages, language ecology, and code switching. The central methodological issue in this study is code switching in a written medium, a neglected area of study at the moment since most literature in code switching research is based on spoken data. The three analytical chapters present the data in a critical discussion of established and more recent theoretical approaches to code switching research. The fields of research that will benefit from this book include pragmatics and discourse analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, Creole studies, English as a world language, the study of language in computer-mediated communication, and linguistic anthropology.




The Bloomsbury Handbook of Caribbean and African Studies in Education


Book Description

This handbook covers the history, policy, practice and theories of African and Caribbean education and promotes the sustainability of socio-cultural beliefs, values, knowledge and skills in the regions. Africa and the Caribbean share commonalities of the geopolitical and historical dominance by European empires and colonialism and aftereffects of anti-blackness in the global trade in enslaved persons. Indigenous religious, cultural, and ethnic currents in Africa are echoed in the Caribbean along with a strong infusion of Asian and other ethnic influences. The handbook shows how educators in both regions are grappling with Western education eclipsing indigenous epistemology and contributes to important debates and discourses including culturally relevant teaching, decolonization, critical race theory, Africana studies, Black emancipation, the African diaspora, Bi-cultural experiences, and the climate emergency. It is organized into three sections covering past issues that frame education in Africa and the Caribbean; the present challenges and opportunities of Education in the regions; and future opportunities for education post-2020.




Issues in the Study of Pidgin and Creole Languages


Book Description

The content of this book is concerned with various issues at stake in Creole studies that are also of interest for general linguistics. These include the general issue of Creole genesis and of the accelerated linguistic change that characterizes the emergence of these languages as compared to ordinary cases of linguistic change, the problem of the development of morphology in incipient Creoles, the problem of the validity of data in linguistic analysis, the issue of multifunctionality as regards the concept of lexical entry, the question of whether Creole languages are semantically more transparent than languages not known as Creoles, the issue of whether Creole languages constitute a typologically identifiable class and the problem of the interaction between the processes involved in the emergence and development of Creole languages. The purpose of this book is to present the major debates that are currently taking place in the field of Creole studies; evaluate the arguments against data (mainly drawn from Haitian Creole); and address the issues at stake within the framework of new paradigms. The various positions on each issue are summarized on the basis of a thorough review of the literature.




Variation in the Caribbean


Book Description

The study of linguistic variation in the Caribbean has been central to the emergence of Pidgin and Creole Linguistics as an academic field. It has yielded influential theory, such as the (post-)creole continuum or the 'Acts of Identity' models, that has shaped sociolinguistics far beyond creole settings. This volume collects current work in the field and focuses on methodological and theoretical innovations that continue, expand, and update the dialog between Caribbean variation studies and general sociolinguistics.




English, But Not Quite


Book Description




Social and structural aspects of language contact and change


Book Description

This book brings together papers that discuss social and structural aspects of language contact and language change. Several papers look at the relevance of historical documents to determine the linguistic nature of early contact varieties, while others investigate the specific processes of contact-induced change that were involved in the emergence and development of these languages. A third set of papers look at how new datasets and greater sensitivity to social issues can help to (re)assess persistent theoretical and empirical questions as well as help to open up new avenues of research. In particular they highlight the heterogeneity of contemporary language practices and attitudes often obscured in sociolinguistic research. The contributions all focus on language variation and change but investigate it from a variety of disciplinary and empirical perspectives and cover a range of linguistic contexts.




Creoles in Education


Book Description

This volume offers a first survey of projects from around the world that seek to implement Creole languages in education. In contrast to previous works, this volume takes a holistic approach. Chapters discuss the sociolinguistic, educational and ideological context of projects, policy developments and project implementation, development and evaluation. It compares different kinds of educational activities focusing on Creoles and discusses a list of procedures that are necessary for successfully developing, evaluating and reforming educational activities that aim to integrate Creole languages in a viable and sustainable manner into formal education. The chapters are written by practitioners and academics involved in educational projects. They serve as a resource for practitioners, academics and persons wishing to devise or adapt educational initiatives. It is suitable for use in upper level undergraduate and post-graduate modules dealing with language and education with a focus on lesser used languages.




The acrolect in Jamaica


Book Description

An ability to speak Jamaican Standard English is the stated requirement for any managerial or frontline position in corporate Jamaica. This research looks at the phonological variation that occurs in the formal speech of this type of employee, and focuses on the specific cohort chosen to represent Jamaica in interactions with local and international clients. The variation that does emerge, shows both the presence of some features traditionally characterized as Creole and a clear avoidance of other features found in basilectal and mesolectal Jamaican. Some phonological items are prerequisites for “good English” - variables that define the user as someone who speaks English - even if other Creole variants are present. The ideologies of language and language use that Jamaican speakers hold about “good English” clearly reflect the centuries-old coexistence of English and Creole, and suggest local norms must be our starting point for discussing the acrolect.