Creole and English used as languages of instruction in bilingual education with Aboriginal Australians: some research findings

Abstract

Section A. Research design and procedures Research designThe principal intent of this study was to find out whether or not a bilingual program which uses Creole and English as languages of instruction facilitates the learning of both Standard English and Creole. An attempt was also made to discover whether the attitudes of year 3 students toward Standard Australian English speakers affect their learning of Standard Australian English.Beswick Reserve, Northern Territory, Australia, which is situated approximately 450 km southeast of the city of Darwin, was the site chosen for the study. 1 This district offered the opportunity to measure the oral language proficiency of Creole-speaking Aboriginal children schooled biUngually and monoUngually. Tests of language proficiency were administered to students from years 1,2, and 3, while an attitudes test was administered to year 3 students only.This study was cross-sectional in nature. At the time of the data collection, those students who were in year 3 of the bilingual school were beginning their fourth year of bilingual instruction; those in year 2 were beginning their third year of bilingual schooling; while those in year 1 were beginning their second year of bilingual instruction, all students having begun in preschool.The data were collected during the first term of the 1979 school year. The basic model of bilingual instruction adopted for use was that of partial bilingualism (see Fishman, 1976: 266), which seeks fluency and literacy in both the mother tongue and the second language, but restricts literacy in the mother tongue to certain subject matter related to the ethnic group and its own cultural heritage.Fuller details of statistical results summarized or referred to in this paper are presented in Murtagh (1979: chapters 3 and 4).

Early Vocabulary Development of Australian Indigenous Children: Identifying Strengths

“…After reviewing the available literature Hoff [22] recently argued that, given the obvious cultural, social, and economic benefits of bilingualism and the fact that many bilingual children begin school with levels of English proficiency that are an obstacle to academic achievement in standard educational programs, it is important that curricula and teaching practices are improved to meet the needs of children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, the findings of earlier research (e.g., [23][24][25]) and more recent Australian [26,27] and international [28][29][30] reviews identify many benefits that well-designed bilingual instruction can deliver and, conversely, the many downsides associated with English only education policies. Indeed it has been argued that there has been too much focus on "deficits" and a failure to see children's ability to speak an Indigenous language as a strength rather than a deficit [31].…”

Literacy in Pidgin and Creole Languages

“…Briefly, there have been rigorous evaluations of the bilingual programme using Kriol in Australia (Murtagh, 1982), the education reform using Seselwa in primary education in the Seychelles (Ravel & Thomas, 1985), and a pre-school programme teaching initial literacy in Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea (Siegel, 1997b). There has also been a study of teaching literacy in Haitian Creole to Haitian immigrants in New York (Burtoff, 1985).…”

Literacy in Melanesian and Australian Pidgins and Creoles

“…It started at the primary school in 1977 and reportedly is still going strong and supported by the community. Although there was some controversy in the 1980s about the role of traditional language revival in the program, it would be inaccurate to say it has not been a success, especially in light of the positive evaluation reported by Murtagh (1982) and the more recent developments outlined in annual government reports (e.g. Northern Territory Department of Education 1997).…”

“…One of the most thorough evaluations of an educational program using a pidgin or creole has been done in Australia by Murtagh (1982) on the use of Kriol in the bilingual program at Barunga, described above. The purpose of his study was "to find out whether or not a bilingual program which uses Creole and English as languages of instruction facilitates the learning of both Standard English and Creole" (1982:15).…”