French and underdevelopment, Haitian Creole and development

Abstract

This article argues that Haiti’s French-dominant school system is an impediment to the nation’s development, whereas Haitian Creole-dominant education will lay the foundation for long-term development. In that Caribbean country, 95% of the population is monolingual in Haitian Creole while the portion that additionally speaks French does not exceed 5% with an additional 5–10% having some receptive competence (Valdman 1984: 78; Dejean 2006). Even though French is the language of the school system, as many as 80% of Haiti’s teachers control it inadequately and only a minority of students completes school (Dejean 2006). Economic, historical, sociolinguistic, and demographic factors are a part of the explanation for Haiti’s low educational achievement. Another important but often ignored factor iseducational language policy. Data on educational language policy compared internationally show that the use of a second language in schools correlates with high illiteracy rates and poverty (Coulmas 1992). I reject arguments in favor of maintaining French-dominant education in Haiti (Lawless 1992; Youssef 2002; Francis 2005; Ferguson 2006, etc.) because the resources for it are woefully lacking. I argue that the progressive promotion of Haitian Creole throughout Haitian education will lead to improved learning, graduation, and Creole literacy, in addition to a more streamlined and coherent State, economy, and society (Efron 1954; De Regt 1984; DeGraff 2003; Dejean 2006). As Haiti rebuilds after the earthquake of January 12th, 2010, aid workers, government employees, and researchers who get involved in the recovery also unsuspectingly perpetuate French, English, and Spanish hegemony in development work (DeGraff 2010). The long history of suppressing Haitian Creole and promoting French in education and administration — and French, English, or Spanish in development work — form underlying obstacles in the nation’s struggle to produce an adequate class of educated citizens, to achieve universal literacy, and to make socioeconomic progress.

The Role and Effectiveness of the Haitian Diaspora in the Development of Haiti

“…In the current constitution, however, both Creole and French are recognized as official languages, but the constitution did not prescribe which should be the language of instruction (Hebblethwaite, 2012). Given the constitution of 1978 calls…”

“…Such efforts were nevertheless neglected and became worse during the Duvalier era due to his political persecution that caused many qualified teachers to leave Haiti (Salmi, 2000). Haitian public schools adopted the curriculum of France that prioritizes a teacher-centered approach instead of a studentcentered approach (McNulty, 2011;Luzincourt & Gulbrandson, 2010;Piasentin, 2016) where teachers tend to lecture to passive students who are likely to memorize instead of understand the contents (Hebblethwaite, 2012). "The systems are marked by the influence of the more centralized French system, where the administrative civil service takes a more prominent role in the running education system" (Johnson, 2006, p. 685).…”

“…French-dominant instruction language should be prioritized (Hebblethwaite, 2012). Youssef (2002) argues that "modern communications have evolved to a level such that we need a language of maximum communicability, and there is a need for Caribbean people to embrace both varieties of language, the Standard and the Creole, as their own" (p. 185).…”

“…Youssef (2002) argues that "modern communications have evolved to a level such that we need a language of maximum communicability, and there is a need for Caribbean people to embrace both varieties of language, the Standard and the Creole, as their own" (p. 185). They advocated that French could help avoid a condition of isolation that Creole education might have created (Hebblethwaite, 2012).…”

“…Despite the majority of the population, which includes professional and social classes, displaying their preference for Creole speaking (Efron, 1954;Lofficial, 1979;Dejean, 1993), and despite the Haitian minister of education, Joseph Bernard, advocating for educational reform in favor of Creole-dominant language instruction, Dejean (1993) asserted that when it comes to international trade, formal education, government speaking in official occasion, and literature, French is still considered the preferred language (Hebblethwaite 2012). In the current constitution, however, both Creole and French are recognized as official languages, but the constitution did not prescribe which should be the language of instruction (Hebblethwaite, 2012).…”