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UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 1 JULY, 2018
In Barcelona in June 1996,
writers and NGOs drafted
the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights to
protect and promote the individual, societal and
national linguistic rights of users of endangered and
marginalised languages.
The idea originated with Francisco Gomes de
Matos of the Federal University of Pernambuco
(Recife, Brazil) in 1984. Trained in linguistics, language
teaching and law, he is now Professor Emeritus, and
a core member of Human Dignity and Humiliation
Studies. Gomes de Matos has long been concerned
with the rights and responsibilities of language users,
the legal implications for education, and applied peace
linguistics.
Article 10.2 of the Declaration “considers
discrimination against language communities to be
inadmissible, whether it be based on their degree of
political sovereignty, their situation defined in social,
economic or other terms, the extent to which their
languages have been codified, updated or modernized,
or on any other criterion.”
In the Caribbean where English is the official
language, there has been relatively little focus on
language rights outside of education. However, in
Haiti, Kreyòl became co-official with French in 1987,
and in Aruba, Papiamento became official in 2003.The
point to note is that there are many speakers of non-
official languages who possess a special, rich heritage
precisely because of the cultural uniqueness of their
language. Yet too many of them are discriminated
against or casually excluded from easy access to their
own country’s services or opportunities because they
do not speak the mainstream official tongue.
The UNESCORepresentative List of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage of Humanity (Masterpieces of the
Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity) includes
the culture and language of the Maroon Heritage of
Moore Town (Jamaica), and the Language, Dance and
Music of the Garifuna (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras
and Nicaragua). UNESCO has supported the UWI
Caribbean Indigenous and Endangered Languages
project, and the RDI Fund supports the Digital
Documentation of Heritage Languages of Trinidad
& Tobago.
The Society for Caribbean Linguistics (SCL) has
championed Caribbean linguistic rights for many
years. Prof Hubert Devonish, former SCL President
and Director of the Jamaican Language Unit (JLU)
and the International Centre for Caribbean Language
Research (ICCLR), was the principal organizer of the
Charter on Language Policy and Language Rights
in the Creole-Speaking Caribbean (Kingston 2011),
bringing together governors-general, educators and
more to discuss language rights, language policy and
planning.
In 2013, the Hilo Resolution (Hawai’i) focused on
the rights of native speakers and signers of languages
everywhere, and the need for proper representation
before governments. Many languages are minority
or minoritised languages, that is, they are in either in
the numerical or sociopolitical minority. The latter are
even majority languages, but marginalised. The users
of these languages are usually less socioeconomically
powerful than the speakers of their countries’ official
languages that usually have world status. The native
speakers of official languages are often in the numerical
minority yet have disproportionate privilege in
postcolonial countries.
The HiLo resolution and TT language groups
In T&T, there are historically four groups who fall
into the categories mentioned in the Hilo Resolution:
1) our autochthonous or indigenous peoples; 2) the
many monolingual (or varilingual) T&T English
Creole speakers (even if they are passively competent
and passively bilingual in Standard(ised) English); 3)
monolingual or bilingual speakers of our immigrant
heritage languages, and their descendants, and 4) the
deaf community.
The ancestors of all these groups have historically
been or are currently socio-economically subordinate
and underrepresented in terms of power sharing. The
Anglicisation Policy of themid-19th century, and other
less obvious policies, contributed in no small measure
to these issues, and to problems in education, the
pathway to economic sustainability and stability. Some
such language speakers and their descendants were
able to overcome these difficulties, but many others
have not. For some, their languages and cultures are
still being disrespected and belittled, misunderstood
and mishandled, or eroded and forgotten.
UNESCO celebrates International Mother
Language Day (IMLD) every 21 February. The 2018
theme was “Linguistic Diversity and Multilingualism
Count for Sustainable Development”. In his IMLD
address, Dr Michel Kenmogne of Cameroon, Director
of SIL International, poignantly noted:
“Over the years, I had the painful experience
of needing to deny myself and the language I spoke
at home in order to access education and to enjoy
better socioeconomic status. This is the tragedy of the
speakers of many of the lesser-known languages of the
world… However, the large majority of these people
end up living in the margins of society. They drop
out of the school system. They are the casual labour
workforce in their nations.”
Intangible linguo-cultural heritage should be
documented before the users of these languages suffer
or disappear. Like ecological loss, language loss and
culture loss are often irreparable. On the other hand,
like a balanced ecology where all species should be
protected if possible, all of our languages should be
treated respectfully, and documented for posterity.
It is important that all language groups be
researched and understood.This is so that every citizen
can be afforded the best of educational and professional
opportunities, and be fully assisted in the health and
legal systems.
Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights
The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights
supports the equal rights of all language users
(speakers and signers) throughout the world, especially
those users of endangered languages. All languages
are covered covered by the Declaration, including
ancestral and ritual languages.
Articles 23-30 of the Universal Declaration of
Linguistic Rights are of particular interest to the
Faculty of Humanities and Education of The UWI
(particularly Linguistics and Education). Article 25
focuses on “properly trained teachers, appropriate
teaching methods, textbooks, finance, buildings and
equipment, traditional and innovative technology”.
Article 26 notes that “All language communities
are entitled to an education which will enable their
members to acquire a full command of their own
language ... as well as the most extensive possible
command of any other language they may wish to
know.”
Article 27 includes our indigenous peoples and a
number of ethno-religious groups, and states that “All
language communities are entitled to an education
which will enable their members to acquire knowledge
of any languages related to their own cultural tradition,
such as literary or sacred languages which were
formerly habitual languages of the community.”
Our heritage languages are not only of the past;
they offer insight into who we are as a people today,
how we think, function and see the world. Our
languacultures, then and now, must be part of the
call for reparations, as they at the very heart of our
nationhood and selfhood.
Language and Social Justice in T&T
B Y J O - A N N E F E R R E I R A
LINGUISTICS
