TOWARDS FULL BILINGUALISM IN EDUCATION: THE JAMAICAN BILINGUAL PRIMARY EDUCATION PROJECT

摘要

This paper examines the attempts to address the rights of the speakers of Creole vernacular language varieties within the mainstream education system with a focus on the Caribbean. In particular the paper describes the Ministry of Education Youth & Culture (MOEYC) approved Bilingual Education Project (BEP) currently being piloted in Jamaica. The BEP and more recent research exploring the outlook of the general public towards the use of Jamaican challenge accepted notions of language attitudes toward speakers of vernacular languages and the learning and teaching of literacy skills at the primary school level. The results show that children in grades one and two of a government primary school acquire literacy in both Jamaican and English simultaneously and can readily distinguish between the two language varieties both orally and in writing. The objections to teaching in Jamaican raised in the past, such as lack of public acceptance and lack of a standard writing system need revisiting given both the success of the BEP and the shift in public opinion.