context, English is the language of respectability; the language of schooling. And because girls tend to do better at school than boys, then English becomes feminised … The whole culture of school has become associated with femininity …”
Merris Murray, executive director at the National Council on Education, has found that there is, in fact, a characteristic resistance of Jamaican boys to learning, particularly in respect to English.
Murray said that learning in the Jamaican education system is expected to take place with the assistance of the English language, and the resistance to learning manifests in terms of how they view Jamaican Creole as opposed to the Jamaican English.
“ Jamaican boys have increasingly resisted schooling as“ girlish”. This hard image, which has been embraced by the Jamaican male not only contributes to the resistance to school but is also directly linked to the creole language which is generally spoken by males. This practice has placed the boys in an increasingly disadvantageous situation, given that English is our instructional language.”
Language use as performance
Davids said Jamaica has historically been a site of linguistic battles between the English Language and Jamaican Creole. This often takes place on an individual basis.
“ Many of our students, especially those from creole-speaking backgrounds are left scarred linguistically and have developed a warped sense of self-definition as they try to reconstruct and make sense of their language space and identity.”
She explained that, because there is a struggle to conform and speak in English, the relationship between some individuals and the language is strained.
Professor Kouwenberg said one way in which Jamaican men deal with this strained relationship with English is to resort to speaking only patois, because it allows for them to be‘ rude’. She explained that this rudeness is not arbitrary. It is a cry for help.
She shared that though it is not unusual for there to be expectations in schools that dictate behaviour and how students are to respond in the learning environment, the problem is that the expectations are all tied to the use of English.
“ If you want to do well in school, you have to meet this whole set of expectations. It may be difficult for Jamaican children to meet these expectations when they are comfortable speaking creole and not comfortable speaking Jamaican English … If you find it difficult speaking Jamaican English because you are not comfortable with the level that is expected, what are your options? One option is to try really hard, pay close attention to what happens on the board, pay attention to the teacher and show the teacher that you’ re really trying. Another option is to try and steer attention away from language by behaving badly …”
However, Professor Cooper explained that it is the construction of the English Language, in addition to its association with the culture
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