From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Gleaner
Letter of the Day - English our second language
published: Sunday June 29, 2008
The Editor,
Sir:
Just challenging those who keep harping on the fact that our Jamaican Patois is difficult to read, and those others wringing their hands over the high illiteracy statistics. Follow me carefully: Consider the fact that children communicate in some language form before, somewhere around age six, they begin to learn the rules to read or write that same language through exercises where they also listen and communicate with others.
Read the whole letter here.
_____
KADENE PORTER
kadene26@hotmail.com
Showing posts with label literacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label literacy. Show all posts
Monday, April 13, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
JG - Patois, Bible and translation
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Gleaner
Patois, Bible and translation
published: Sunday June 22, 2008 R. Anthony Lewis, Contributor
The perennial 'patois' debate is on again, triggered this time by a Jamaica Observer news report on June 16, of a $60 million project to translate the Bible into the Jamaican vernacular. As one of the few who have studied and written on translation and creolisation, with an emphasis on Jamaican Creole, I feel impelled to enter this debate.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"One of the consequences of translation on a language is its standardisation.
Because of the history of European Christian colonisation of much of the world, this process has been achieved primarily through biblical texts.
Notwithstanding the necessary and apropos post-colonial critique of the evangelising-cum-civilising mission of colonial Christianity, in many developing countries, particularly in Africa, Bible translation has played a significant role in transforming hitherto unwritten languages into tools of literacy and education."
&
"One spinoff of this missionary activity was the strengthening of local languages.
Because of the variety of text types present in the Bible - from poetry and song to wisdom sayings and dream narratives - its translation into any language provided a point of reference for language use in a variety of text contexts.
These and the wide range of vocabulary necessary for translation stretched the language, forcing it to convey a wider range of ideas and concepts.
This link between translation and language standardisation has a long history.
One has only to look at the work of the Reformation translators, particularly that of Martin Luther, chief reformer and, according to Daniel Baggioni, 'language maker'.
Luther's work was an essential departure point in a Europe-wide quest to break free from the stranglehold of Catholic Latin over people whose first languages were vernaculars akin to our Creole."
Jamaica Gleaner
Patois, Bible and translation
published: Sunday June 22, 2008 R. Anthony Lewis, Contributor
The perennial 'patois' debate is on again, triggered this time by a Jamaica Observer news report on June 16, of a $60 million project to translate the Bible into the Jamaican vernacular. As one of the few who have studied and written on translation and creolisation, with an emphasis on Jamaican Creole, I feel impelled to enter this debate.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"One of the consequences of translation on a language is its standardisation.
Because of the history of European Christian colonisation of much of the world, this process has been achieved primarily through biblical texts.
Notwithstanding the necessary and apropos post-colonial critique of the evangelising-cum-civilising mission of colonial Christianity, in many developing countries, particularly in Africa, Bible translation has played a significant role in transforming hitherto unwritten languages into tools of literacy and education."
&
"One spinoff of this missionary activity was the strengthening of local languages.
Because of the variety of text types present in the Bible - from poetry and song to wisdom sayings and dream narratives - its translation into any language provided a point of reference for language use in a variety of text contexts.
These and the wide range of vocabulary necessary for translation stretched the language, forcing it to convey a wider range of ideas and concepts.
This link between translation and language standardisation has a long history.
One has only to look at the work of the Reformation translators, particularly that of Martin Luther, chief reformer and, according to Daniel Baggioni, 'language maker'.
Luther's work was an essential departure point in a Europe-wide quest to break free from the stranglehold of Catholic Latin over people whose first languages were vernaculars akin to our Creole."
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
JO - Patois Bible... waste of time and money
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Observer
Patois Bible... waste of time and money
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Dear Editor,
I am dismayed at the number of people who believe that it is a good idea to translate the Bible into patois. Could someone please tell me what would the purpose of this be? If this is to legitimise patois as a language, then this move would be redundant as patois is generally accepted as a bonafide language by many linguistic scholars.
Read the whole letter here.
Snippet(s):
"What the proponents seem to be overlooking is that if one can't read English then definitely one will not be able to read patois!"
"There is no Jamaican alive that can read patois and yet cannot read English!"
&
"It would therefore be a total waste of time and money to translate the Bible into patois on the belief that illiterate individuals will benefit from written patois."
Jamaica Observer
Patois Bible... waste of time and money
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Dear Editor,
I am dismayed at the number of people who believe that it is a good idea to translate the Bible into patois. Could someone please tell me what would the purpose of this be? If this is to legitimise patois as a language, then this move would be redundant as patois is generally accepted as a bonafide language by many linguistic scholars.
Read the whole letter here.
Snippet(s):
"What the proponents seem to be overlooking is that if one can't read English then definitely one will not be able to read patois!"
"There is no Jamaican alive that can read patois and yet cannot read English!"
&
"It would therefore be a total waste of time and money to translate the Bible into patois on the belief that illiterate individuals will benefit from written patois."
Thursday, February 12, 2009
JO - The cassava satire
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Observer
The cassava satire
Bishop HOWARD GREGORY
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Ever since Agriculture Minister Christopher Tufton made his famous speech in which he advocated the return to the cultivation of cassava as a response to the global increases in the price of basic food items, and what is being characterised by many as an impending global food crisis, there is hardly a social gathering in which one does not hear some kind of joke or punchline which centres on cassava cultivation and consumption.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"It may very well be that people see this as a return to a stage of national development which we have long outgrown and to which there is no desire to return, a hasty and ill-conceived idea which lacks appropriate thought and supporting scientific research before being articulated, or it is one of those uncomfortable realities with which we are confronted and for which laughter becomes the way to cope.
What is clear, however, is that the rise in prices is a current reality, a food crisis looms, and any meaningful response on the part of our Government and nation must involve a return to local agricultural production for domestic consumption of which the cassava may be a central element or a symbol of our local staple foodstuff.
To that extent, the cultivation of cassava may not be a laughing matter."
"(E)ven as we treat the call to cassava cultivation as a source of comic relief, it may really have in it the making of a tragedy."
"(O)ne of the things which frustrate the attempts of the church to respond to those who are most in need is the spirit of entitlement on the part of those who are not the most needy and who often help themselves to the supplies intended for the needy.
This is not unlike the response of civil society to any goods and services which the government provides for the poor and needy."
"(I)t must be acknowledged that in many instances there are certain attitudinal blocks which one must overcome if one is to see social interventions being effective."
&
"Attitudinal issues are also present among a generation of youth who say that they will not work for "slave wages", meaning that they will not work for anything that comes close to the minimum wage.
At the same time, many of these individuals are the ones who, when asked what they can do readily respond, "Me can do anything, sir."
This is usually another way of saying they have no skill and often are challenged where literacy is concerned."
Jamaica Observer
The cassava satire
Bishop HOWARD GREGORY
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Ever since Agriculture Minister Christopher Tufton made his famous speech in which he advocated the return to the cultivation of cassava as a response to the global increases in the price of basic food items, and what is being characterised by many as an impending global food crisis, there is hardly a social gathering in which one does not hear some kind of joke or punchline which centres on cassava cultivation and consumption.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"It may very well be that people see this as a return to a stage of national development which we have long outgrown and to which there is no desire to return, a hasty and ill-conceived idea which lacks appropriate thought and supporting scientific research before being articulated, or it is one of those uncomfortable realities with which we are confronted and for which laughter becomes the way to cope.
What is clear, however, is that the rise in prices is a current reality, a food crisis looms, and any meaningful response on the part of our Government and nation must involve a return to local agricultural production for domestic consumption of which the cassava may be a central element or a symbol of our local staple foodstuff.
To that extent, the cultivation of cassava may not be a laughing matter."
"(E)ven as we treat the call to cassava cultivation as a source of comic relief, it may really have in it the making of a tragedy."
"(O)ne of the things which frustrate the attempts of the church to respond to those who are most in need is the spirit of entitlement on the part of those who are not the most needy and who often help themselves to the supplies intended for the needy.
This is not unlike the response of civil society to any goods and services which the government provides for the poor and needy."
"(I)t must be acknowledged that in many instances there are certain attitudinal blocks which one must overcome if one is to see social interventions being effective."
&
"Attitudinal issues are also present among a generation of youth who say that they will not work for "slave wages", meaning that they will not work for anything that comes close to the minimum wage.
At the same time, many of these individuals are the ones who, when asked what they can do readily respond, "Me can do anything, sir."
This is usually another way of saying they have no skill and often are challenged where literacy is concerned."
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