Creoles and educational policy

Abstract

There are issues in Creole studies that intersect with first-and second-language acquisition, historical linguistics, language policy, language pedagogy, and postcolonial politics. One such issue is the language of instruction in countries and communities where Creole languages coexist with their respective lexifier languages, such as Jamaica, Barbados, Mauritius, Réunion, and Martinique, to name only a few examples. Thanks in part to the efforts of linguists and anthropologists since the 1960s, Creole languages have gained legitimacy in several countries, and have been gradually introduced in education. In this article, I review two recent volumes focusing partially or exclusively on the role of Creole languages in education. The first volume, edited by B. Migge, I. Léglise, and A. Bartens, describes and evaluates educational programs recently implemented in different countries and territories. The second volume is dedicated to Haitian Creole, with several contributions focusing on the use of Haitian in the education system. Migge et al.: Creoles in Education: An appraisal of current programs and projectsThis volume provides detailed case studies on various types of programs that have been implemented in Creole-speaking societies. Overall, the volume is a welcome contribution since it provides very detailed information on various types of initiatives, as well as an objective evaluation of the success (or failure) of these programs in achieving their objectives. The editors also did a very good job at summarizing the main issues in the introductory chapter, which provides an excellent overview