Language in Jamaica

Christie, Pauline

doi:10.1075/eww.25.1.16chr

Cited by 8 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…For some Jamaicans, sets of words like beer , bare and bear or where and wear are homophonous either as [be:r]/[we:r] or [bi e r]/[wi e r]; and this even in speakers who vary for example [e ∼ ie] elsewhere before other consonants. Christie (2003: 19) describes the former pronunciations as “hypercorrect”, an overuse of the [e] vowel in order to avoid the Creole diphthong, even as the distinction between beer and bear is the pattern in traditionally prestigious varieties like RP. With the back vowel, speakers can be distinguished by the surface vowel of an underlying /o/ in poor‐ type words – having either the vowels [o] or [].…”

Section: The Phonological Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrast and convergence in Standard Jamaican English: the phonological architecture of the standard in an ideologically bidialectal community

Irvine

2008

World Englishes

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The acrolect, in territories like Jamaica, is described in the literature in a number of ways -as "the local standard English" or as the theoretical upper end of the construct referred to as "the continuum". Data was collected from a sample of Jamaican speakers whose work prospects require use of Standard Jamaican English. The analysis reveals that phonological variation in Jamaican English is structured in such a way as to reflect the coexistence of Creole and English, in a speech community that values the speaker who can use both varieties. In a linguistic context that is characterized by continuous variation, use of some variables is crucial in defining the boundaries between Creole and English, thus establishing the variety the speaker is using. These I call "load-bearing phonological variables". I show that it is not the use of English variants per se that defines someone as speaking the acrolect; rather it is use of variants of these load-bearing variables.

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Section: The Phonological Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrast and convergence in Standard Jamaican English: the phonological architecture of the standard in an ideologically bidialectal community

Irvine

2008

World Englishes

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“…In contemporary Jamaica, however, these are still big ifs. (Christie, 2003: 64)But even if an orthography were recognized for NP [Nigerian Pidgin], there would still be the problem of getting government to commit funds to the development of materials in NP, especially in the face the present financial predicament and given the fact that most of Nigeria's other myriad languages are also yet to be developed in any sense of the term. (Elugbe and Omamor, 1991: 149)…”

Section: Implications For Future Developmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of orthographic standardization in Jamaican Creole and Nigerian Pidgin

Deuber¹,

Hinrichs²

2007

World Englishes

101

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Jamaican Creole and Nigerian Pidgin, both English-derived contact languages that coexist with standard English (StE) in their respective settings, are traditionally oral languages for which no orthographic standard has yet been established. Aided by a significant increase in written usage in computermediated communication (CMC), the past decade has seen tendencies towards grass-roots standardization in the orthography of these two languages. In this paper we (1) identify the dynamics of orthographic standardization for each of the varieties using corpora of CMC data (in particular e-mails and discussion forums posts), (2) discuss the differential results for the two varieties based on the different sociolinguistic situations of Jamaica and Nigeria, and (3) point to possible consequences for language planning in the two countries. We conclude that, without any state-driven initiative toward the standardization of Pidgin/Creole orthography, the gap between the orthographic systems usually recommended by linguists, or "experts" (cf. Sebba, 1998a), and the practices that are being established by "users" is likely to widen further.

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“…Nonetheless, there is some evidence to suggest that negative perceptions of the JC may be weakening (Bryan 2010). This change has accompanied an increased acceptance of the significance of the relationship between JC and culture (Christie 2003). Mervyn Alleyne (2005, p. 5) argues that JC 'is one of the main forces contributing to a distinct Jamaican culture and identity.'…”

Section: Language Ideologies In Jamaicamentioning

confidence: 99%

‘What’s in a name? The power of the English language in secondary school science education’

Lodge¹

2019

Cult Stud of Sci Educ

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The global dominance of the English language has led to intense debates with the emergence of studies of English as a lingua franca. These debates can be positioned along a continuum stretching from those who see the spread of English as a force of good representing progress and those who see it as a destructive force of globalisation. Between these two extremes are those who suggest that languages such as Creole and other 'hybrid' languages are essential in particular contexts, while also supporting the use of standardised English in others. Such debates are particularly salient in the context of Jamaica, where the official language and the language of instructions at all levels of schooling is Jamaican Standard English (JSE) but many of the people are first language speakers of Jamaican Creole (JC). Despite its valorisation, JC has not substantially challenged the prestige position of JSE in the Jamaican classroom. Such perspectives have been used to situate and position the English language as a hegemonic force that serves to reinforce inequalities in the teaching and learning of science. Against a background of the Creole-speaking environment in Jamaica, this paper investigates the dominance of English language in secondary school science. Participants were selected from five school types in Jamaica: junior high, private, technical, traditional and upgraded secondary. Data concerning students' and teachers' attitudes and opinions were collected using semi-structured interviews. The results suggest that, despite evidence that attitudes towards JC are changing, it was clear from the student and teacher interviews that JSE continued to dominate scientific discourse in Jamaican classrooms. Evidence of JSE as a hegemonic language was pervasively present throughout the discussions with the participants, with many supporting the use of JSE as the sole medium of instruction in science discourse. The argument that JSE speakers were more intelligent and more likely to be successful resonated with many participants and highlighted an ideological acceptance of the hegemonic order.

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Language in Jamaica

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Contrast and convergence in Standard Jamaican English: the phonological architecture of the standard in an ideologically bidialectal community

Contrast and convergence in Standard Jamaican English: the phonological architecture of the standard in an ideologically bidialectal community

Dynamics of orthographic standardization in Jamaican Creole and Nigerian Pidgin

‘What’s in a name? The power of the English language in secondary school science education’

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