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Language policy and planning in St. Martin
Rhoda Arrindell
Thank you to the organizers for the invitation and for putting together this platform to continue the discussion and find solutions for what I believe is a critical aspect in our development as a people in this Caribbean space, which we have not resolved adequately. I regret that due to work-related responsibilities, I am unable to participate fully in the deliberations, but from the menu of presentations, I imagine that they will be more than just food for thought. I wish all participants and organizers much success in the way forward and pledge my support in whatever way I can.
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First permit me to offer a caveat
When I speak of St. Martin, I am referring to the entire islandnation, but for the purpose of the discussion here, in the context of the territories represented at this conference, I will hone in on the southern part of the island, which is often referred to as the ‘Dutch’ part. Be mindful, though, that it is not a term that I use in reference to St. Martin, as I do not identify with, and equivocally denounce any reference to or notion of a Dutch (or French) St. Martin or Dutch Caribbean. I say this relative to the concrete, material history of St. Martin and out of respect for the sovereignty of the Caribbean and Caribbean people.
Steve Biko couldn't have said it better when he said ‘The most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.’
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What is language policy?
A language policy is by definition a deliberate attempt to manipulate an individual's or community's use of a language or languages. Oftentimes, this attempt is made explicitly through legislation and other regulations.
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The purpose of language policy
When language policies are put in place, they are done so for particular purposes. One way to gauge language policies is to look at the effectiveness and efficiency of the decisions being made. Another area to examine is that of agenda. Thus whose agenda is being promoted? And by agenda, I am not only referring to the educational agenda, but also the question ofwhat social and/or political agenda is being served with a specific policy.
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Language policy and identity
A people's language is one of the most salient symbols of their identity, as language and culture are inextricably linked. This means then that the medium of instruction used in education becomes a powerful tool in transmitting and maintaining the language and culture of the people.
When a people's language is negated and replaced by another language as instruction medium in the schools, the children become alienated from their culture and identity, destroying important aspects of their culture and identity. Research has shown that when this happens, the subsequent generations are deprived of important cultural values that are necessary to fashion their ownidentity. This puts the people in a state of schizophrenia, as Fanon would argue. Because they have developed a sense of dependency and inadequacy, becoming devoid of the values to their own heritage, they now embrace and appropriate the cultural values of the colonizer, even when these new values contribute to the disappearance of their own cultural heritage. This is what is also referred to as internalized oppression because the colonizing, dominant force has convinced the subordinate group that they and their language are inferior, and the subordinate group internalizes this and acts accordingly.
Commenting on their research related to medium of instruction policies in (former) colonial states, Tollefson and Tsui state the following:
‘In former colonial states, the colonial language was adopted as a medium of instruction by a small number of schools and made available to an exclusive group of indigenous people. This exclusive group joined the elite of the society who had access to power, wealth, and status, and acted as auxiliaries to the colonizers and as brokers between the colonizers and the colonized.... Consequently, formal education was made available by colonial governments through the indigenous languages (to a greater of lesser extent), either as an alternative, or as a transitional medium of instruction. No matter whether the colonial language or the indigenous languages were used, the goal remained the same - to subjugate the colonized.’ (pg. 3)
While the situation in the Dutch colonies in the Caribbean might have been somewhat different in that the medium of instruction was (initially) not different across schools and, therefore, made available to all students, the goal was no different. And similarly, the indigenous languages in the colonies were treated as uncivilized, backward, inferior, etc. The consequence has been that the speakers of these languages have internalized these beliefs about themselves and their languages, to the point of shame and shun....,
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in turn participating in their own oppression through their actions in a number of areas.
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A CASE IN POINT: Example in SXM of values disappearing: spelling...
Today, while the St. Martin people continue to maintain the oneness of the island and the people, there are those, especially in administrative and policy areas, who intentionally promote division among the people. While the people of St. Martin have traditionally used the English spelling for the island's name, they insist on changing the name to the Dutch spelling, even in cases where it makes no sense (i.e. St. Martin Day).... So ingrained that... students today do not recognize the traditional, spelling with English, but rather with French.... Even the names of institutions like the University of St. Martin have become corrupted...
Then there are those who impose and others who accept the imposition of terms for the St. Martiner such as ‘Dutch Caribbean’ or speak of St. Martiners as having a ‘kingdom identity.’
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Language policy (history) over the years in SXM
One area where this internalized oppression remains evident today is in the explicit school language policies in these territories, with St. Martin a clear example, as I've just shown. In St. Martin, the first-ever recorded formal instruction in either part of the island, which presumably would have been accessible to only a select group of people was given by the Methodists through an English-speaking minister in AD 1816. A course in Dutch would come late in 1843 and, in 1851, Dutch instruction. Instruction in French took place in 1849. Eventually, it is claimed, French-speaking teachers were imported from Guadeloupe for schools in the North. By the 1920s English had become the working language of the schools in the territory. It was not until 1933 that Dutch was introduced as the language of instruction in schools in the South. However, growing dissatisfaction with academic results led the island territory's administration to again opt for English as language of instruction in 1976. In 1987, when the Netherlands Antilles parliament pronounced the official languages of instruction in the Netherlands Antilles, in justifying its policy, it explained that, with regard to English in the Windward Islands:
‘Up until the Second World War it was customary to maintain English as the language of instruction up to the fourth grade (and) only thereafter to switch over to Dutch. Sometime thereafter it was decided to implement Dutch as language of instruction in 1976 with the experiment ‘English in the first two grades
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of elementary school and Dutch subsequently.’ This experiment did not fully live up to expectations.’ (pgs. 40-41, LCI).
Not only did the experiment not live up to expectations, but because of the political agenda, the language of instruction issue remained in flux in St. Martin (vacillating between English and Dutch, but in reality a sort of defacto bilingual education) until 2000, when in the Netherlands Antilles, mother-tongue education was introduced for the new educational approach, FBE (Foundation-Based Education, or basisvorming in Dutch). This meant that in St. Martin, the official language of instruction would be English. However, growing discontent from within the community (primarily in Curacao) prompted the then minister, Omayra Leeflang, to reverse this definitive decision, leaving language of instruction up to the individual school boards. In St. Martin, English was maintained as the language of instruction for public schools, and three (Catholic) school boards opted to use Dutch in some of their schools and English in others. However, with the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, the authority to decide on this matter fell into the hands of the Minister of Education. In the subsequent five years, with three different ministers, the language policy position has remained inconsistent, mainly due to the political agenda.
Language, as one of the most important elements of culture, remains for us until today an unfinished agenda we are still grappling with in our education system and in our daily expressions. The major languages spoken in St. Martin are English, Spanish, French-lexified Creole, French, Dutch, and Papiamentu respectively. By the time they get to grade school, most, if not all, St. Martin children have already acquired the popular English-lexified vernacular, called S'Maatin English.
Dutch and French are relegated mostly to schools, the judicial systems, and other areas of public administration. As the island-nation continues to engage in discussions on national identity, attitude toward language is also a part of that discussion, and at the very heart of the debate is the status of the St. Martin vernacular. Driven by notions of ‘properness,’ there are those who hold the position that the St. Martin language should be avoided at all levels of formal communication, but that's a matter for a later discussion.
But beyond the transmission of cultural values, policies about language of instruction also determine which groups get access to social, economic, and political opportunities and which groups are excluded, especially when they are cloaked in an educational system that by design caters to producing a small, elite group. Here we are today, after more than 400 years of Slavery and colonialism, and the education system in St. Martin has not produced one local judge. It has failed to produce sufficient teachers, lawyers,
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doctors, administrators, economists, engineers, and other professionals needed for the further development of the island. Yet we continue to import these professionals from particularly the Netherlands and France.
Then suddenly, as if it were a surprise to some folks, we read in the media on October 14 of this year that:
‘WILLEMSTAD - The Dutch Caribbean Court of Justice wants more local judges. Of the 45 that are now in its service, a quarter is from the islands, according to the report of the Evaluation Committee Judicial Kingdom Laws.
However, the funds to achieve this are currently not available. The joint court must also consider the position of the Dutch language within law enforcement. All legislation is in Dutch, but that language is not the most spoken among the population. The committee says that Papiamentu (ABC-islands) or English (SSS-islands) should be used where possible.’ The Daily Herald, Wednesday, October 14, 2015, pg. 19
Worse yet, of the ‘quarter’ of island judges mentioned in the article, not one is from St. Martin. When I read this, I asked myself, ‘How could people who sow corn be surprised at the harvest that they don't get peas? But I also pose to you the following questions: Why are only certain positions, at certain companies, advertised in Dutch?’ Why aren't newspapers printed in Dutch? Why aren't sales advertised in Dutch?
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Language policy as it stands in the school system
The ‘contradictions at work in the consciousness,’ as George Lamming calls them, run deep, affecting all levels of society, from the common man and woman in the villages to those in the halls of government. The fact that, in St. Martin, there are those who continue to invoke the historical and political associations and varying degrees of dependency in relation to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of France as reasons for maintaining Dutch and French respectively as the languages of instruction in our schools is a clear indicator of the policy makers' internalization of their oppression. In their quest to be ‘Dutch’ and ‘French’ and associated with all things French and Dutch, policymakers ignore the very obvious fact that language has power, and the one who names a thing defines it, in other words, has dominion over it. Language also reflects perception of self and perception by others. If naming is power, and names for the same thing has different values within different cultural contexts, then it is imperative for the people of St. Martin and the Caribbean to ensure that they, and not outside forces, determine who has the power over them and
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their cultural spaces. Peter Roberts underscores this point when he writes that:
‘Assertion of identity is not a spontaneous proclamation of sameness for its own sake. The need for a conscious assertion of identity arises out of a perceived erosion of identity or a threat of loss of identity through loss of life, property, privilege or home. In history it has often been accompanied by a call to arms. Accordingly, it is seldom a bottom-up explosion of sentiment, but more often a top-down infusion of spirit and motivation. It is part of the portfolio of leaders rather than the natural expression of followers. Assertion of identity is political in intent and may either follow or precede actual experience of identity.’ Pgs. 190 - 191, LCI.
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Proposed Language Policy for St. Martin
Diversity is a St. Martin reality, and from the inception of modern society, multilingualism has been a defining characteristic of the St. Martiner. This characteristic should be reflected in a national education policy, which should encompass a national language policy that is flexible and progressive to allow for adaptation as the St. Martin society evolves. The national language policy should be guided by four ideals: linguistic diversity, ease of communication, improved language proficiency, and academic excellence.
The premise of the national language policy should be that all of St. Martin's children should be allowed to maintain their heritage language and at the same time be provided with access to effectively acquire other languages and achieve academic success. Therefore, the objective of the national language policy should include, elementally, the promotion of multilingualism, as a historically reoccurring aspect of the St. Martin culture and respect for all languages used by St. Martiners in their daily communication.
Consequently, St. Martin's national language policy should declare English as the national language and language of instruction for all of St. Martin's schools. English and Dutch in the South and French in the North should be maintained as official languages. In this way, English, Dutch, and French would be given equal treatment in the provision of public services to all residents. In addition to English as the language of instruction, all schools - elementary and secondary - should teach French and Dutch as mandatory subjects, giving all of St. Martin's children the opportunity to be proficient in these languages.
In a sound national language policy, schools in the South would be required to write their own school language policies and thus be able to choose the direction or approach they favor to ensure proficiency in their students, and the administration in the North should
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use its competencies in the current situation to influence the school language policy of the French Republic where it concerns the Collectivity of St. Martin.
Considering the importance of tourism - and increasingly transshipment trade, financial transactions, and telecommunication services - to the St. Martin economy and the plurilingual characteristic of St. Martin, the national language policy should outline how government would actively seek to explore and promote areas for language tourism, including, but not limited to, language tours, training and hiring of language experts, and publishing of multilingual guides to St. Martin and other destinations. Furthermore, the language policy should establish a language education and research center to conduct research and improve language learning and teaching in St. Martin, focusing on material development, learning and teaching research, and professional development of educators. The implementation of English as language of instruction in all schools in St. Martin should be done gradually over a period of years so as to allow all schools the opportunity to put in place the necessary infrastructure. In the meantime, qualified teachers should be hired, or competent teachers already in the system should be trained in language education - both in first- and foreign-language instruction.
[St. Eusatius has started off on a good path......]
The only way to reverse this internalized oppression is by revamping the education system and instituting a system that is more conducive to St. Martin's position and development in the Caribbean region, and one that will produce the caliber of citizens that can compete on the global stage. We must change the narrative about us, and, in so doing, we must change the language we use to narrate our own stories.
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Conclusion
Whereas there are areas in the Caribbean that are often referred to as having a ‘post-colonial’ reality, for the people of St. Martin, colonialism is an ongoing experience, reflected most notably in institutions of education, government, and the judiciary. To date, students in St. Martin are still compelled to endure education in languages that do not offer them opportunities to realize their full potential. Furthermore, St. Martin legislators continue to churn out legislation in languages that the majority of residents do not speak or understand, and accused persons are tried in courts of law in languages that are completely foreign to them or which they have very little comprehension while it is against natural justice for any people to be judged in a language which is not theirs.
As I've shown, it is so that the educational and language policies of a given country will reflect not just decisions about language, bur
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also decisions about a host of other social factors, including national identity. While St. Martin is still legally a territory, held captive in the Dutch and French colonial regimes, as Lasana Sekou asserts in his writings, part of the struggle today is for policymakers and those in authority to come up with decisions that reflect the nation's identity.
In formulating these decisions, policymakers should determine which combination of the people's language and the other official languages would provide students with effective subject-content and second-language skills that would guarantee success in higher education and/or employment. Policymakers must also understand and acknowledge that as long as the language of the St. Martin people is not THE language used to transmit knowledge in all areas, but particularly in the schools, the minds of St. Martin's children and subsequent generations will remain in the hands of their oppressors, with the consequence being the demise of the St. Martin cultural heritage.
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References
| Arrindell, R. Language, Culture, and Identity in St. Martin. House of Nehesi Publishers. St. Martin. 2014. |
| Roberts, P.A. ‘Language, Race and Ecology,’ unpublished manuscript, 2006. |
| Sekou, L.M.S. ‘True St. Martin Diversity Does Not Embrace Colonial Divisions,’ World Tourism Day Supplement, The Daily Herald, 2009. |
| Tollefson, J. and A.M. Tsui. Medium of Instruction Policies: Which Agenda? Whose Agenda? Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004. |
Rhoda Arindell uit St. Maarten had een sterke voorkeur voor onderwijs in het Engels met Nederlands als vreemde taal
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