QUIZ: The Charter for Language Policy and Language Rights in the Creole-speaking Caribbean [Part Two]

Consider the list of individual and collective language rights below:

Article 3

This Charter considers the following to be inalienable personal rights, which may be exercised in any situation:

– the right to be recognized as a member of a language community;

– the right to the use of one’s own language both in private and in public;

– the right to the use of one’s own name;

– the right to interrelate and associate with other members of one’s language community;

– the right to maintain and develop one’s own culture.

– the right to appropriate speech and language therapy in the event of a citizen suffering from language disorders.

This Charter considers that the collective rights of language groups may include the following, in addition to the rights attributed to the members of language groups in the foregoing paragraph, and in accordance with the conditions laid down in Article 2.2:

– the right for their own language, culture and history, to be taught;

– the right of access to cultural services;

– the right to an equitable presence of their language and culture in the communications media;

– the right to be addressed, to receive attention and feedback in their own language: from government bodies and in socioeconomic relations.

Study each scenario below and identify which rights above are being violated in each case and by whom. Briefly explain your choice.

Teacher Sandra makes every effort to model good English speech for her Grade Three class. But some of her students continue to speak a basilectal Creole variety. Teacher Sandra feels that she is not achieving anything with them. One day she gets angry and shouts at the children, telling them to shut up and speak English. (required)

Teacher Mark teaches grade 4 in a school where children from different backgrounds attend. He is uncomfortable with the fact that the children tend to segregate themselves in the yard during playtime. He believes that he needs to encourage them to mix more. He therefore makes a rule for his class that children who come from the same communities must not play together at break time. (required)

Rushane and his family have emigrated from Guyana to the U.S. Rushane speaks fluent Guyanese Creole but is not very versed in spoken English. Rushane’s parents enroll him in the local primary school. The teachers there have never been told that Rushane comes from a Creole-speaking country. Also, Rushane’s mother filled out the registration form indicating that his first language is English. Rushane fails his English entrance test and is put into special education for children with learning disabilities.(required)

Mr. Alexander, the Principal of a private school finds that his school is becoming popular because the students there are getting good results in the Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (SSEE). When the school first opened, only the children of a small English-speaking elite attended. Now, Mr. Alexander finds that children from different backgrounds are enrolling and that they do not speak English very well. Fearing for the school’s reputation, he makes a rule that children who cannot speak English well must be charged a higher fee for compulsory English classes.(required)

Email address(required)

END OF QUIZ. THANK YOU FOR TAKING PART

Share this:

Like this: