Some important comments on the use of Haitian Creole in Haiti,
an excerpt from an interview with André Vilaire Chéry
1

Emmanuel W. VEDRINE

Reference: an excerpt from a presentation by E. W. Védrine in French Guyana (Mai 2003):
“The use of An Annotated Bibliography On Haitian Creole of E. W. Védrine
as one of the important tools in the standardization of Haitian Creole ”

Ecoliers

Ecoliers.© P. Giraud

 

POINT #1.

Kreyòl in the schools --

Yes, it's mandatory for students of the 3 cycles of “Ekòl Fondamantal” (that is, from “first year” to “ninth year”) to learn to read and write Kreyòl. This is the theory. In reality, there are many situations presented according to the school: What are the social clients that attend it? Is it located in a rural milieu ? etc…

Theoretically speaking, Kreyòl is “the teaching language” for the first 3 years, with the exception to teach French (for instance, French oral communication is done in French since the first year). Beginning the forth year, the teaching language is French; that is: all the subjects are being taught in French. They continue to teach Kreyòl but as any other subject (“ langue d'apprentissage “ ).

As I've told you before, it does not happen the same way in all schools. In what they call grandes écoles (great schools), the teaching language is French (due to the clients who attend them). They continue with the teaching of Kreyòl through the forth – fifth or sixth year. Why? Because at the end of the sixth year (equivalent to the old “sètifika” level), all students with no distinction are going to take the “official exam” entitled Egzamen d Eta (the State Exam) in all subject areas, that also include Kreyòl. At this time, these schools have one / two hours of teaching Kreyòl weekly (practicing the orthography, reading and grammar). Not too much writing to do in Kreyòl.

There are many other schools, specially those hosting students from MILYE DEFAVORIZE, and that don't have teachers who are really fluent in French, so “the teaching language” is in Kreyòl, from the first to the sixth year. All the subjects are presented in Kreyòl by the teacher, and the students study their lessons in French because most of the schools' manuals are written in that language. But I must tell you that there is a great volume of manuals written in Kreyòl also, specially for the primary grades. I got this information from a reliable source. At Editions Deschamps, we have a team specializing only in the formation of teachers; they travel around the country to form teachers, whether it's in Port-au-Prince, the provinces or in the rural remote areas.

There is another particular case that we call cas mixte. That is the case of the LEKÒL NASYONAL DEFAVORIZE a religious congregation (Catholic) is in charge of. The clients of these schools are children who are “Kreyòl monolinguals”. Teaching is done in Kreyòl; the teacher repeats what was just said in French in order to give them some notions of French.

There are other schools where from the beginning of the third year, the teaching language is French; it's the students who should try their best to become adapted to it even if they don't have a sufficient mastery of the language.

POINT #2.

In what language do teachers speak in the classrooms? --

I've already answered this question. One thing that I can add is that this demarcation is not between private / public schools. Currently in Haiti, almost 85% of the scholarly education is given by the private sector. And when you say “private sector”, it's not something as a bloc. There is what is called les grandes écoles, in general, Catholic congregational institutions; there exit les bonnes petites écoles (the good small schools); there are those that have 1 or 2 level lower; there is what is called les écoles borlette. In the ‘écoles borlette', there also exists a bunch of under-categories, ‘til you find categories of schools that are functioning under an arbor or a tree. So, it's not an opposition private vs. public. It's rather to know in what category such and such school is located, who is are its social clients, what's the qualification level of the teachers, in particular in those that have to deal with the mastery of the French language, etc. As I've told you, there are schools where all the courses are taught in Kreyòl, even French courses.

A special case: at the university (level), there are many teachers who choose to teach their course in Kreyòl.

POINT #3.

The Official Creole Orthography --

We follow what's called the “official orthography” in all that it requires. All books or documents published by Editions Deschamps respect this orthography to the letter. Maybe only one exception is the issue or “apostrophe” that we don't use after groups such as <m ap > (m'ap) [I'm in the process of]; <sa k ap fèt ?> (sa k'ap fèt ?) [What's going on, what's happening], etc. Naturally, we observe a space to mark the elision or contraction. As of now in Haiti, I believe that most people who are using the official orthography observe that. They don't really use hyphen (-) either (e.g, < chèz la> instead of < chèz-la >…

POINT #4.

Kreyòl and the Bernard Educational Reform --

In the beginning of the 80's, there have been many visible efforts that the government has done. That coincided with the creation of Institut Pedagogique National (IPN) and the launching of the “Bernard Educational Reform”. As you know, the integration of Kreyòl in the schools as teaching language and as subject is one of the week points of this reform.

At this time, many efforts that were taking place in the area of preparing teacher, working on teaching manuals and other pedagogical / teaching documents and its promotion in the media, etc. IPN started elaborating books (in Kreyòl) in many areas (e.g, PRE-APRANTISAJ, EVÈY, reading, grammar, math, etc). IPN does not exist any longer since ten years. On my side, I don't see a great effort to support Kreyòl really in the schools or in the media. Apart from some punctual or symbolic efforts. For example, this year, in the Baccalaureate Exam, the student will take their exam in Kreyòl in “certain subjects”. It's also true that there are many schools having a course in Kreyòl even in the highest secondary grades.

In the media, the radios mostly, since 89 <Kreyòl is king>, particularly for what is related to Politics (news, free antenna emissions, LIB TRIBIN...). Jean-Claude BAJEUX writes in his Anthologie / Mosochwazi : Le créole devient la langue de la politique, c'est l'une des révélations de l'après-7 février 1986 (Kreyòl has become the language of Politics, that's one of the revelations post February 7, 1986). That is quite right. It does prevent many Creole specialists to launch from time to time DES CRIS D'ALARME for the way they mistreat this language in the media (particularly on the radio). Pierre VERNET is one of the people who let his voice be heard from time to time against that. According to these people's point of view, it's mostly the “syntax” of the language that is threatened. What happen is that there are no efforts being done by the people who are using the language to respect the principles of the <internal structures> of the language. Since many of these people are also speakers of French, they have a tendency of plugging purely and only the French structure on the Kreyòl one. It's true that gives sometimes funny things (as a result). For example: “ poze l kesyon pou konnen sa l panse, li reponn...”. (cf. le français: Questionne / Interrogé sur le point de savoir ce qu'il en pense,il a repondu...> (ask him / her the question to know what he / she thinks, he / she answers) or “ Li frape pa yon polisye ”, < il a eté frappé par un policier > (He was hurt by a policeman). In short, in relaton to “quantity”, Kreyòl is certainly present in the media – the radios, but in relation to “quality”, that's something else.

This allows me to do another discussion on the issue of “normalization”. In the public administrations, it seems that the official orthography is still not being respected. During a talk that was held 3 or 4 weeks ago in Port-au-Prince at Université Quisqueya, there was a Haitian participant who witnessed what I was going to say. In a short text having 6 or 7 lines that he read in a public office, he underlined 20 mistakes.

Outside of the government, either in BANDWÒL for ads, signs, billboard, advertising…, people still don't respect the official orthography.

Note

André Vilaire CHÉRY, author of: Dictionnaire De L'évolution Du Vocabulaire Français En Haïti dans le discours politique, économique et social du 7 février 1986 à nos jours (Tome I & II).

 

Kèk kòmantè enpòtan sou itilizasyon kreyòl an(n) Ayiti,
estrè nan yon chita pale ak André Vilaire Chéry1

(Emmanuel W. Védrine)

Referans: moso nan yon prezantasyon E. W. Védrine nan Giyàn Fransèz (me 2003):
«L'utilisation de An Annotated Bibliography On Haitian Creole de E. W. Védrine
comme un des outils importants dans le cadre de la standartisation du créole haïtien»

PWEN 1.

Kreyòl nan lekòl yo --

Wi, l obligatwa pou elèv 3 sik (cycles) Ekòl Fondamantal yo (sètadi de «premye ane» a «nevyèm ane») aprann li ak ekri kreyòl. Sa a se teyori a. An reyalite, gen plizyè sitiyasyon ki prezante selon lekòl la: ki kliyantèl sosyal ki frekante l?, èske l nan milye riral?, elt...

Teyorikman, kreyòl se «lang anseyman» pou 3 premye ane yo, sof pou anseye fransè (pa egzanp, communication orale française fèt depi premye ane a an fransè). Apati katriyèm ane a, lang anseyman an se fransè; sa vle di tout matyè yo anseye an fransè. Yo kontinye anseye kreyòl men kòm nenpòt ki lòt matyè ( langue d'apprentissage ).

Kòm mwen t ap di w, sa pa pase konsa vre nan tout lekòl. Nan sa yo rele grandes écoles yo, lang anseyman an se fransè (an fonksyon kliyantèl ki frekante yo). Yo repouse (kontinye) anseyman kreyòl la vè katriyèm – senkyèm ou ankò sizyèm ane. Poukisa? Paske alafen sizyèm ane a (ekivalan ansyen klas «sètifika»), tout elèv endistenkteman pral pase «egzamen ofisyèl», kididonk «Egzamen d Eta» nan tout matyè, sètadi an kreyòl tou. Ansmoman la, lekòl sa yo gen inè /dezè anseyman kreyòl pa semèn (aprantisaj grafi, lekti, gramè). Pa tèlman gen pwodiksyon ekri an kreyòl.

Gen anpil lòt lekòl, sitou sa ki resevwa elèv «milye defavorize» yo, e ki pa gen pwofesè ki twò metrize lang fransè a, «lang anseyman» an se kreyòl, soti premye ane pou rive sizyèm ane, ekivalan ansyen klas sètifika. Toutes les matières sont exposées par le maître en créole, et les elèves étudient les leçons en français, car la plupart des manuels sont redigés dans cette langue. Men fò m di gen bon kou manyèl ki redije an kreyòl tou, sitou pou premye klas yo. Enfòmasyon sa yo, mwen pran yo lan bon ti mamit. Lan Editions Deschamps, nou gen yon ekip ki espesyalize l lan fòmasyon sèlman, ki deplase atravè tout peyi a pou fòme mèt, keseswa Pòtoprens, an pwovens ou lan zòn riral ki pi lwen yo.

Gen yon lòt cas de figure nou ta rele mixte. Se ka lekòl nasyonal defavorize yon kongregasyon relijyez (katolik) ap dirije. Kliyantèl lekòl sa yo se timoun ki «kreyolofòn inileng». Anseyman an fèt an kreyòl, mèt la reprann sa l sot di a an fransè pou l ka ba timoun lan kèk nosyon fransè.

Gen lòt lekòl, kote apati twazyèm ane, lang anseyman an se fransè, se elèv la ki pou degaje pou l adapte menmsi li pa gen yon metriz sifizan nan lang lan.

PWEN 2.

Nan ki lang pwofesè yo pale nan saldeklas?--

Mwen deja reponn plizoumwen kesyon sa a. Yon bagay mwen ka ajoute, sèke demakasyon an se pa ant lekòl prive / lekòl piblik. An(n) Ayiti aktyèlman, prèske 85% (pousan) nan edikasyon eskolè, se sektè prive ki bay li. E lè ou di «sektè prive», se pa yon bagay an blòk. Gen sa yo rele grandes écoles yo, an jeneral etablisman kongreganis katolik; gen les bonnes petites écoles; gen sa ki 1 ou 2 nivo pi ba; gen sa yo rele écoles borlette yo; lan ‘écoles borlette' yo, gen yon bann lòt sou-kategori ankò, jiskaske ou jwenn kategori lekòl k ap fonksyone anba tonèl oubyen pyebya. Donk se pa yon opozisyon prive / piblik. Se pou konnen pito nan ki kategori tèl lekòl sitiye l, ki kliyantèl sosyal ki frekante l, ki nivo kalifikasyon pwofesè yo, an patikilye nan sa ki gen pou wè ak metriz lang fransè, elt. Kòm mwen te di w, gen lekòl kote tout kou yo fèt an kreyòl, menm kou fransè yo.

Yon ka espesyal: nan inivèsite, gen anpil pwofèse ki chwazi fè kou yo an kreyòl.

PWEN 3.

Òtograf ofisyèl la --

Nou suiv sa yo rele «òtograf ofisyèl» la lan tout sa li mande. Tout liv oubyen dokiman Éditions Deschamps soti respekte òtograf sa a alalèt. Yon sèl ti eksepsyon petèt, se kesyon apostwòf nou pa anplwaye apre de gwoup kòm <m ap >(m'ap); <sa k ap fèt ?>(sa k'ap fèt ?), elt. Natirèlman, nou obsève yon espas blan pou make elizyon an oubyen kontraksyon an. Aktyèlman an(n) Ayiti, mwen kwè se sa pifò moun k ap itilize òtograf ofisyèl la fè. Yo pa vrèman itilize tire (<tiret>) nonplis : < chèz la>, olye: < chèz-la >…

PWEN 4.

Kreyòl ak Refòm Edikatif Bernard la --

Nan kòmansman ane 1980 yo, te gen anpil efò trè vizib Leta te fè. Sa te kowenside ak kreyasyon Institut Pedagogique National (IPN) ak lansman «Refòm Edikatif Bernard la». Kòm ou konnen, entegrasyon kreyòl la nan lekòl kòm lang pou anseye ak kòm lang pou aprann se youn nan pwen fò refòm sa a.

Nan epòk sa a, te gen anpil efò ki te fèt nan domèn fòmasyon pwofesè, elaborasyon manyèl eskolè ak lòt materyèl pedagojik / didaktik, promosyon nan medya, elt. IPN te kòmanse elabore liv (an kreyòl) nan anpil domèn (pre-aprantisaj, evèy, lekti, gramè, matematik, elt. IPN pa egziste ankò depi prèske dizan. Bò kote pa m, mwen pa santi yon efò dyanm pou soutni kreyòl la vrèman nan lekòl oubyen nan medya a. Apa kèk efò <ponctuels> ou senbolik. Pa egzanp, ane sa a, nan bakaloreya, elèv yo ap ka konpoze an kreyòl «nan sèten matyè». Se vre tou, gen anpil lekòl ki mete yon kou kreyòl menm nan grandes classes segondè yo.

Lan medya yo, lan RADYO sitou, depi 86, <kreyòl se wa>, sitou pou sa ki konsène POLITIK (nouvèl, emisyon antèn lib/ lib tribin...). Jean-Claude BAJEUX ekri nan «Anthologie / Mosochwazi» l la: le créole devient la langue de la politique, c'est l'une des révélations de l'après-7 février 1986. Se trè jis. Sa pa anpeche anpil espesyalis kreyòl lanse tanzantan des cris d'alarme pou jan yo maltrete lang sa a nan medya yo (radyo sitou). Pierre VERNET se youn nan moun ki rele anmwe tanzantan. Selon pwennvi moun sa yo, se sitou «sentaks» lang lan ki menase. Sa k pase, pa gen ase efò bò kote moun k ap sèvi ak lang lan pou yo respekte prensip <òganizasyon entèn> lang lan. Kòm anpil nan moun sa yo frankofòn tou, yo gen tandans <plake> pirman -e- senpleman estrikti fransè a sou kreyòl la. Se vre ke sa ba w pafwa de bagay dwòl. Pa egzanp: <poze l kesyon pou konnen sa l panse, li reponn...>. (cf. le français: Questionne / Interrogé sur le point de savoir ce qu'il en pense,il a repondu...>. Oubyen: Li frape pa yon polisye>, < il a eté frappé par un policier >). An rezime, kote «kantite», kreyòl la trè prezan lan medya - radyo yo, men kote «kalite», se yon lòt pèdemanch.

Sa pèmet mwen fè yon lòt ti rale sou kesyon «nòmalizasyon» an. Nan administrasyon piblik yo, sanble òtograf ofisyèl la pa toujou respekte. Pandan yon kolòk ki te fèt sa gen 3 ou 4 semèn konsa nan Pòtoprens ( Université Quisqueya ), gen yon entèvenan ayisyen ki notè sa m pral di la a. Lan yon ti tèks ki te gen 6 ou 7 liy, li te li nan yon biwo piblik, li te relve plis pase 20 fot.

Andeyò Leta, swa se lan bandwòl pou piblisite, ansèy, ekrito, reklam..., moun yo pa toujou respekte grafi ofisyèl la.

Nòt

André Vilaire CHÉRY, otè: Dictionnaire De L'évolution Du Vocabulaire Français En Haïti dans le discours politique, économique et social du 7 février 1986 à nos jours (Tome I & II).

(© E W. Védrine)

Some important comments on the use of Haitian Creole in Haiti,
an excerpt from an interview with André Vilaire Chéry
1

Emmanuel W. VEDRINE

Reference: an excerpt from a presentation by E. W. Védrine in French Guyana (Mai 2003):
“The use of An Annotated Bibliography On Haitian Creole of E. W. Védrine
as one of the important tools in the standardization of Haitian Creole ”

POINT #1.

Kreyòl in the schools --

Yes, it's mandatory for students of the 3 cycles of “Ekòl Fondamantal” (that is, from “first year” to “ninth year”) to learn to read and write Kreyòl. This is the theory. In reality, there are many situations presented according to the school: What are the social clients that attend it? Is it located in a rural milieu ? etc…

Theoretically speaking, Kreyòl is “the teaching language” for the first 3 years, with the exception to teach French (for instance, French oral communication is done in French since the first year). Beginning the forth year, the teaching language is French; that is: all the subjects are being taught in French. They continue to teach Kreyòl but as any other subject (“ langue d'apprentissage “ ).

As I've told you before, it does not happen the same way in all schools. In what they call grandes écoles (great schools), the teaching language is French (due to the clients who attend them). They continue with the teaching of Kreyòl through the forth – fifth or sixth year. Why? Because at the end of the sixth year (equivalent to the old “sètifika” level), all students with no distinction are going to take the “official exam” entitled Egzamen d Eta (the State Exam) in all subject areas, that also include Kreyòl. At this time, these schools have one / two hours of teaching Kreyòl weekly (practicing the orthography, reading and grammar). Not too much writing to do in Kreyòl.

There are many other schools, specially those hosting students from MILYE DEFAVORIZE, and that don't have teachers who are really fluent in French, so “the teaching language” is in Kreyòl, from the first to the sixth year. All the subjects are presented in Kreyòl by the teacher, and the students study their lessons in French because most of the schools' manuals are written in that language. But I must tell you that there is a great volume of manuals written in Kreyòl also, specially for the primary grades. I got this information from a reliable source. At Editions Deschamps, we have a team specializing only in the formation of teachers; they travel around the country to form teachers, whether it's in Port-au-Prince, the provinces or in the rural remote areas.

There is another particular case that we call cas mixte. That is the case of the LEKÒL NASYONAL DEFAVORIZE a religious congregation (Catholic) is in charge of. The clients of these schools are children who are “Kreyòl monolinguals”. Teaching is done in Kreyòl; the teacher repeats what was just said in French in order to give them some notions of French.

There are other schools where from the beginning of the third year, the teaching language is French; it's the students who should try their best to become adapted to it even if they don't have a sufficient mastery of the language.

POINT #2.

In what language do teachers speak in the classrooms? --

I've already answered this question. One thing that I can add is that this demarcation is not between private / public schools. Currently in Haiti, almost 85% of the scholarly education is given by the private sector. And when you say “private sector”, it's not something as a bloc. There is what is called les grandes écoles, in general, Catholic congregational institutions; there exit les bonnes petites écoles (the good small schools); there are those that have 1 or 2 level lower; there is what is called les écoles borlette. In the ‘écoles borlette', there also exists a bunch of under-categories, ‘til you find categories of schools that are functioning under an arbor or a tree. So, it's not an opposition private vs. public. It's rather to know in what category such and such school is located, who is are its social clients, what's the qualification level of the teachers, in particular in those that have to deal with the mastery of the French language, etc. As I've told you, there are schools where all the courses are taught in Kreyòl, even French courses.

A special case: at the university (level), there are many teachers who choose to teach their course in Kreyòl.

POINT #3.

The Official Creole Orthography --

We follow what's called the “official orthography” in all that it requires. All books or documents published by Editions Deschamps respect this orthography to the letter. Maybe only one exception is the issue or “apostrophe” that we don't use after groups such as <m ap > (m'ap) [I'm in the process of]; <sa k ap fèt ?> (sa k'ap fèt ?) [What's going on, what's happening], etc. Naturally, we observe a space to mark the elision or contraction. As of now in Haiti, I believe that most people who are using the official orthography observe that. They don't really use hyphen (-) either (e.g, < chèz la> instead of < chèz-la >…

POINT #4.

Kreyòl and the Bernard Educational Reform --

In the beginning of the 80's, there have been many visible efforts that the government has done. That coincided with the creation of Institut Pedagogique National (IPN) and the launching of the “Bernard Educational Reform”. As you know, the integration of Kreyòl in the schools as teaching language and as subject is one of the week points of this reform.

At this time, many efforts that were taking place in the area of preparing teacher, working on teaching manuals and other pedagogical / teaching documents and its promotion in the media, etc. IPN started elaborating books (in Kreyòl) in many areas (e.g, PRE-APRANTISAJ, EVÈY, reading, grammar, math, etc). IPN does not exist any longer since ten years. On my side, I don't see a great effort to support Kreyòl really in the schools or in the media. Apart from some punctual or symbolic efforts. For example, this year, in the Baccalaureate Exam, the student will take their exam in Kreyòl in “certain subjects”. It's also true that there are many schools having a course in Kreyòl even in the highest secondary grades.

In the media, the radios mostly, since 89 <Kreyòl is king>, particularly for what is related to Politics (news, free antenna emissions, LIB TRIBIN...). Jean-Claude BAJEUX writes in his Anthologie / Mosochwazi : Le créole devient la langue de la politique, c'est l'une des révélations de l'après-7 février 1986 (Kreyòl has become the language of Politics, that's one of the revelations post February 7, 1986). That is quite right. It does prevent many Creole specialists to launch from time to time DES CRIS D'ALARME for the way they mistreat this language in the media (particularly on the radio). Pierre VERNET is one of the people who let his voice be heard from time to time against that. According to these people's point of view, it's mostly the “syntax” of the language that is threatened. What happen is that there are no efforts being done by the people who are using the language to respect the principles of the <internal structures> of the language. Since many of these people are also speakers of French, they have a tendency of plugging purely and only the French structure on the Kreyòl one. It's true that gives sometimes funny things (as a result). For example: “ poze l kesyon pou konnen sa l panse, li reponn...”. (cf. le français: Questionne / Interrogé sur le point de savoir ce qu'il en pense,il a repondu...> (ask him / her the question to know what he / she thinks, he / she answers) or “ Li frape pa yon polisye ”, < il a eté frappé par un policier > (He was hurt by a policeman). In short, in relaton to “quantity”, Kreyòl is certainly present in the media – the radios, but in relation to “quality”, that's something else.

This allows me to do another discussion on the issue of “normalization”. In the public administrations, it seems that the official orthography is still not being respected. During a talk that was held 3 or 4 weeks ago in Port-au-Prince at Université Quisqueya, there was a Haitian participant who witnessed what I was going to say. In a short text having 6 or 7 lines that he read in a public office, he underlined 20 mistakes.

Outside of the government, either in BANDWÒL for ads, signs, billboard, advertising…, people still don't respect the official orthography.

Note

André Vilaire CHÉRY, author of: Dictionnaire De L'évolution Du Vocabulaire Français En Haïti dans le discours politique, économique et social du 7 février 1986 à nos jours (Tome I & II).

 

Emmanuel W. Védrine
E. W. VEDRINE CREOLE PROJECT, Inc.
P.O.Box 255110
Dorchester, MA 02125-5110 (U.S)
evedrine@hotmail.com, e_vedrine@yahoo.com