from research to action: language policy in jamaica

Errol L. Miller

From research to action: l anguage policy in J a m a i c a

The central concern of this article is to examine ways in which language and language-teaching research carried out in the School of Education of the University of the West Indies (UWI) have 'influenced policies in the Ministry of Education, Jamaica, in the areas of language arts curriculum and textbook selection. The research being reviewed here began in 1964. In order to appreciate the problem that was pursued, it is important to understand the context in which i t arose.

Language and class

The upper and middle classes use a Jamaican standard of English as their normal mode of communication. The lower classes and peasantry speak Jamaican Creole. While Jamaicans of all social classes understand Creole, and whereas all members of the society, at some time, speak Creole, English is the official language of the country. It is the language of formal occasions, of the law courts, of the Church, of Parliament and of the school.

Historically speaking, English has been the

Errol L. Miller (yamaica). Professor of teacher education, University of the West Indies School of Edu- cation, yamaica. Member of the educational Research Review and Advisory Group ( R R A G ) , Canada.

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language of prestige, whereas Creole has been socially unacceptable. While the prevailing attitude has been to consider the use of Creole degrading, a growing number of cultural nationalists have advocated its study, recognition and legitimacy. This movement has two major groups of supporters: those who have studied the dialect and a small but in- fluential group of playwrights. The theatre has therefore become one place in which the use of Creole has been legitimized.

Standard English is the medium of instruction in schools at all levels of the educational system. Twenty to thirty years ago, it was not uncom- mon for teachers to punish children for the use of the vernacular in the schoolyard. It goes without saying that the use of Creole in classes was totally forbidden. At the same time, the vast majority of children in school, especially at the primary level, have been and are Creole speakers.

This meant that children entering school at age 6 or 7 brought with them the language of the home, Creole, but were confronted with the language of the school, English. To the child, this was a foreign language, but from the school came no compromise in bridging the gap between Creole and standard English. The child had to learn in English. The methodology used by teachers, even in teaching reading, was based on the assumption that the child was a native speaker of English; consequently, first-language

Prospects, Vol, XI, No. 3, I98I

From research to action: language policy in Jamaica

teaching techniques were the prevalent strategy in the schools. The books used in the teaching of English were readers published and prepared for English children. One popular series up to the I97OS was Blackie's Readers, published for Scottish children up to the I93OS.

English-language achievement

By whatever measure, English-language achievement in Jamaican society has been chronically poor. Dennis Craig states:

At GCE 'O' level, for instance, the failure rate in English for the region as a whole fluctuates between 7o and 8o per cent. This is bad enough, but the real size of the problem is revealed by the fact that these failures come from among those children who have been specially selected to go to high school to prepare for this very examination. Among the others who never get to high school and who, it must be remem- bered, form about 9o per cent of the age group, standards are even lower. One result in everyday life is the frustrating shortage of people available for employment in positions where ability to write clearly and accurately is needed. Another is the slow pace and the low level of efficiency of secretarial work. A third is the high proportion of people who are re- stricted to temporary posts until they pass English Language or other examination subjects in which English is a contributing factor, z

In the late I96OS the findings of several smaU studies indicated that about 5o-60 per cent of

t h e children at age I2, that is, at the top of the primary schools, were functionally illiterate. In I972, it was estimated that 4 ~ per cent of the population of Jamaica over 15 years old were functionally illiterate. The standard of func, tional literacy being used is that of a Grade IV level of reading. The fact of this low achievement has been a perpetual concern of edu- cationists, politicians and the public at large.

Nature of the research

The research described here was an attempt to provide an empirical base for improving both the learning and the teaching of standard English in Jamaican schools. Although involv- ing all levels of the educational system including primary and secondary schools and teachers' colleges, the focus was on the first three grades of primary school. The essence of the research was that of building a pedagogic bridge between the Creole language that the child brings to school and the standard English that the school desires to teach him. The main pillars of the bridge are: (a) respecting the child's language by encouraging the child to use Creole himself and exhorting the teacher to use Creole herself, where this is the appropriate mode, to com- municate with the child; (b) avoiding, in the early stages, those structures in standard English that have no counterpart in Creole; (c) gradually introducing the new English structures, first in a meaningful context orally, then through reading and written exercises, and finally con- solidating them by various drills.

I t must be borne in mind that the research we are examining is basically the work of an individual who sometimes had helpers and not that of a research organization. This means that the enterprise is not a very sophisticated one. This does not in any way, however, detract from the significance and quality of the work done. I t is also important to recognize that there were three projects spread over a period of fourteen years, beginning in i964: (a) the Language Teaching Project, I964-66; (b) the Children's Language Project, t966--69; (c) the Mona Project, I969-75.

In the Language Teaching Project, the researcher worked more or less alone but was given a minimal amount of supervisory help in the schools by the Ministry of Education and teachers' college personnel. In the Children's Language Project, he worked alone. In the Mona Project, he worked with a team which had

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an average of about six full-time members and four part-timers. The first two projects involved a few schools. The Molla Project, however, carried out at the national level.

The overall aim was improvement in the standard of teaching and learning standard English in Jamaican schools. The more specific outcomes sought were as follows: To develop a new teaching strategy whereby

standard English could be taught to non- standard speakers combining elements of b o t h first- and second-language teaching techniques.

To use research as a main tool for achieving the objectives above by (a) disseminating the results of previous research; (b) conducting basic research in the development of the new teaching strategy; and (c) conducting basic research into the language of children, especially those in the early grades of the primary school.

To develop the support services necessary for the new model of teaching mentioned above. This would be accomplished by (a) developing materials for teachers and students; (lo) the in-service training of teachers in the new methodology; and (c) the involvement of the Ministry of Education officials and teachers' college personnel in these exercises, bearing in mind the important contributions that these personnel make to the operation of schools.

It was the researcher's intention to influence language-teaching methodology not only in Jamaica, but in the West Indies and beyond.

The Mona Project, funded on a larger scale, more recently, and with more visible impact, will form the central part of this discussion.

I n te rna t iona l f u n d i n g

In 1969, on behalf of the university, the Inter- faculty Committee on Linguistics submitted a grant request to the Ford Foundation for the

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financing of linguistics teaching in the university. With the decision of the Ford Foundation to assist the ~ university in the development of linguistics research and teaching, the Inter- faculty Committee on Linguistics received institutional recognition and status by being transformed into the Senate Sub-committee on Linguistics charged with the responsibility for administering the Ford grant.

The Ford Foundation accepted the six-year plan that was developed by the Inter-faculty Committee on Linguistics. It therefore made three two-year grants available to the university. The first grant, from 1969 to 1971 , was con- cerned mainly with staff development and the establishment of the teaching of linguistics within the university. The grants were provided for: graduate training for UWI faculty; teaching assistantships; teaching materials to support post-doctoral research; regional conferences on linguistics; workshops for schoolteachers; evaluation meetings; a visiting professor; and con ~ sultants to the UWI to advise on the establishment of linguistic units within the university.

The second grant, from 1971 to 1973, focused on research and materials production. It was called the Caribbean Language Research Pro- ject (CLRP), and had components on all three university campuses. The areas of research focused on were as follows: (a) surveys of language usage on which realistic norms for schools could later be based; (b) identification of speech differences that correlate with socio- economic variables; (c) descriptive analysis of Creole languages; and (d) study of language learning processes with special reference to the phenomenon of interference within Creole dialects and standard English.

For the purposes of this article, we are only interested in that segment of the project that was carried out at Mona which shall be referred to hereafter as the Mona Project. Grant funds provided were to be used for: A research programme director; research fellows mad assist- ants; graduate training for staff; consultants;


materials and equipment; s taff travel and meetings; and workshops in linguistics for teachers.

The third grant, from I973 to I975, was more or less a continuation of the second. The total funding came to $39o, ooo over six years.

T h e M o n a Project

The Mona Project had four components: (a) socio-linguistic research; (b)psycho-linguistic research; (c) research on teachers' language; and (d) the Language Materials Workshop.

The Ford grant allowed the employment of fuU-time personnel. However, because the grant was only for two years, it was not possible to employ people on a permanent basis.

The assembled team attempted work in the following areas: Linguistic variation in the speech of Jamaican

children. It is a well-known fact that akhough Creole is used throughout Jamaica, there are definite variations according to geographical areas. These variations were studied among children of between 6 and 12 years old.

Language variation of teachers in training. This study, apart from describing the language of teachers' college students, also attempted to look at the educational implications both for the teaching of these students in college as well as their professional activities within the school as teachers. Whereas previous operations had assumed the competence of the teacher in language, this study attempted to describe this competence empirically.

Psycho-linguistic research in which an attempt was made to develop a language and cognition test. This was a performance test which attempted to describe concepts that Creole- speaking children had mastered, as well as to identify gaps. Research in this area had implications outside language teaching. For example, it had been discovered previously that if Creole speakers were shown a picture

of a car wrapped around a tree and asked to say something about the tree, they would never say that the tree had been hit by the car--they would always begin by saying something about the car. It was discovered that in Creole there is no passive voice; the mode of conception is to concentrate on the thing that acts and not that which is acted upon. This has significant implications, for example in science, where many concepts relate to things that are acted upon and not simply things that are active.

The Language Materials Workshop. The intention here was to develop educational materials for the classroom situation arising from the research that had been conducted previously, as well as the research in progress. The workshop worked on the following materials: (a) Grades 1-3 for primary; (b) college English for teachers' college students; (c) Grade Io and I I language materials.

The component of the Mona Project that had the greatest influence on policy was the Language Materials Workshop, and it is relevant to study in detail the relationship of the language materials workshop to the Ministry of Education and the way in which research was brought to bear upon the materials that were produced.

The Language M a t e r i a l s W o r k s h o p

From the early I96OS, university educators and researchers in the field of language teaching have been criticizing both the methodology and the books being used in language teaching in schools. The director of the Mona Project, Craig, clearly demonstrated this point with research, and he had in fact developed alterna- tive strategies and materials.

The Island Readers series, which had been used in schools for several years, was based on the look-and-say method and used first- language teaching approaches. The Publications Branch therefore set up a special committee to

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review the series. The committee held three meetings and recommended to the ministry that the publishers of the Island Readers series be asked to revise the series and incorporate in it some of the approaches and strategies that had been researched and worked out in the local situation.

The Ministry of Education had discussions with the publishers, who were reluctant to carry out this revision. The ministry therefore decided that the Island Readers series should be phased out. Almost simultaneously with this decision came the suggestion that the Language Materials Workshop be supported by the ministry to produce materials for Grades I-3.

The commissioning of the Language Ma- terials Workshop was a Publications Branch decision which, in fact, inaugurated the policy of the Ministry of Education of using locally based materials wherever possible in the schools. It should also be noted that, though a Publi- cations Branch decision, it had far-reaching curriculum implications. The language arts materials to be developed by the Language Materials Workshop would, in fact, define the language arts curriculum in primary schools in Grades I, 2 and 3.

The development of Grade 1 -3 materials

Early in t973, Mrs Peggy Campbell, a secondary-school teacher who had both talent and experience in writing educational materials, was employed by the Language Materials Workshop as the writer for the Grade z- 3 materials.

The pattern of work that developed was as follows: the researchers and CampbeU would meet and develop scope and sequence charts which would define the topics and structures to be covered each term in areas such as reading, writing, listening and speech. Next, they would determine the exercises to be

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done. Campbell would then write up lesson plans etc. on the exercises that were agreed on. The entire group would meet again and go through the material written by Campbell, word for word. Campbell would then rewrite, and the researchers would recheck the written materials. The material would then be dupli- cated and sent to thirty-five pilot schools, which had been selected in conjunction with the Ministry of Education for the testing and trial of the materials. Along with the pupils' materials and teachers' guides, questionnaires would be sent to the teachers, who would use the materials and make detailed comments which would be returned to the Language Materials Workshop. After analysing the test results and feedback from teachers in the pilot schools, further rewriting would be done which the group as a whole would vet very closely. The revised materials would then be sent out to the schools for further testing in the following year. In addition to the above, the writer met the teachers from the pilot schools twice per term in speciaUy organized workshops at the university.

This pattern was found to be extremely time-consuming and was simplified to an agree- ment on the essence of what was to be done, following which the writer produced her inter- pretation to be checked by the researchers. The material was tested and then revised. While this ensured the transformation of research findings into the language materials, it was a slow and tedious process. The writer observed that while it was a stimulating exercise inteUectually, it was a painful and fatiguing process.

Curriculum Development Thrust

In z972 the new government made curriculum reform at the primary level, the flagship of its programme of educational change. The Cur- riculum Development Thrust (CDT) became the first programme implemented by the new


government. The Minister of Education invited a broad-based working party consisting of sixty practising primary and secondary teachers from across the island, other educators and a few eminent citizens in different fields to define functional education in Jamaica.

The working party was divided into four groups, each asked to work on the problem as a whole on their own. They were asked t o

describe the outcome of nine years of education as follows: (a) what should pupils be able to do as a result of nine years of education (skills); (b) what should pupils know about as a result of nine years of education (knowledge and insights); (c) how should pupils feel as a result of nine years of education (attitudes). The base document for the Curriculum Development Thrust put forward the following strategies: That the programme would be implemented in

the following way: 1973, Grades I and 6; 1974, Grades 2 and 7; 1975, Grades 3 and 8; 1976, Grades 4 and 9; 1977, Grade 5.

That consultation would continue with the working party and with teachers at the various grade levels in order to determine what skills, knowledge, insights and attitudes should be developed at each grade in the light of the new goals set.

That members of the working party and teachers at the various grade levels would be asked to say how they would know and what they would take as evidence that the pupils at the particular grade level had achieved the learning described.

That full-time ministry officials would be assigned to CDT to implement the programme in Grades I and 6 in the first year, and in the succeeding years according to the rhythm described. This plan was approved by Parliament and the appropriate funding provided.

Although the decision to commission the Language Materials Workshop to produce the language arts materials for Grades 1-3, the ministry funded the Language Materials Work-

shop through the budget of the Curriculum Development Thrust. CDT also assisted the Language Materials Workshop with the testing of the materials in the schools. It should be noted that the overall curriculum for Grade I and the Grade I language arts materials were being developed simultaneously under different managements. At first a problem was created for two reasons: (a) the workshop could not cope logistically with the production of materials for 8oo schools; (b) the pace and style of the two operations were different. CDT has the character of a mass movement while the workshop was part of a research operation. A solution was developed which had two essential components: (a) The Language Materials Work- shop had the sole responsibility for developing the language arts curriculum and materials for Grades 1-3; (b) CDT would take responsibility for incorporating that material into the overall curriculum being developed for Grades 1-3. I t also undertook the logistical responsibility of producing the materials for all schools.

Product ion of Grade 10 and 11 mate r ia ls

In 1974 junior secondary schools were expanded from three to five years, increasing the percent- age of the 12-17 age-group in school to 5o per cent.

In May 1974, tests by the ministry revealed that a significant number of the Grade 9 students were functionally illiterate. On the other hand, there was a significant minority with advanced skills. It was therefore decided to divide the Grade IO language and communication programme into three sections: the prefunctional, the functional and the continuing level. It was decided to commission the Language Materials Workshop to develop materials for the functional and continuing levels because a pre-packaged remedial programme

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was purchased by the ministry for the prefunctional group. In June I974, two part-time writers were assigned by the Ministry of Edu- cation to the Language Materials Workshop to work under the supervision of Craig in producing the Grade xo materials. It was decided in I975 to appoint a full-time writer, who was assigned to develop the materials for the functional group, while a part-time writer was re- tained for the continuing level. A similar process was used to the one for Grade z-3 materials.

From the start, this was a high-pressured operation. Units were late in production. Great emphasis was placed on getting materials in the hands of the students, since an individualized format Of instruction was used. Consequently, the teachers' guides accompanying the students' materials usually went out late and would reach the teachers after the Students had covered the materials in their booklets. Although feedback was built into each unit and the writers did receive comments from students and teachers, there was no testing in the schools, and there was no opportunity to incorporate the feedback into any revision of the unit in the light of the school experience.

Although the ministry organized several sem- inars with the teachers in new secondary schools to give feedback to the implementation team and t h e writers, the writers were usually absent from those meetings because of the pressure to

p roduce new materials on time. There was no training for the teachers, who were unaccus-

t omed to this new semi-self-instruction methodology, calling for them to operate with a part of a class at any one time. The fuU-time writer observed that on several occasions, because of pressure to produce materials to be placed in the hands of students, units had to be sent to the ministry before the revision was completed. This meant that improvements to draft units recognized and identified in the Language Materials Workshop sometimes were not in- corporated into the finished product because of the pressure to meet deadlines.

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Mater ia ls for the Engl ish- language programme in teachers" colleges

In i97 I, there was a conference of teacher educators at the School of Education which discussed the problems consequent upon the expansion of the colleges, and the reduction of the period of training to two years. It was noted then that approximately 4 ~ per cent of the students graduating from teachers' colleges had not achieved a satisfactory level of personal competence in English language, but that because of the great need for teachers they had been given their certificates. This situation was regarded as highly undesirable and disturbing. The low standard of language competence of significant numbers of new students in the colleges was blamed for this condition. In I972, a new principal was appointed to Mico College and was given a mandate for sweeping changes in the college. O n e of the first areas that was tackled was that of the teaching of English.

It was decided that a member of the Enghsh Department of the college would be released and assigned to work with the Language Ma- terials Workshop to produce a course designed to correct some of the basic deficiencies of first-year students.

In addition to the tutor's guide and student workbook, a diagnostic test was developed which was administered to all students entering Mico in I973. Those diagnosed as weak by the test were then placed in special small groups and were taught the course designed by the Language Materials Workshop. After the experience of teaching the course in the academic year 1973/74, the programme was then significantly revised. There was marked improvement in the level of performance of the Mico students at the end of the first year of trial.

The Language Materials Workshop then produced a standard course, which has now been called 'College English' and which is used


at Mico and several other teachers' colleges for students who are weak in English on their entry to college.

C r i t i c a l a s s e s s m e n t

Eight events and factors appear to have been critical in creating a climate for the research which subsequently influenced policy. I. The consistency of a local researcher. 2. Intervention by the Ford Foundation. 3. The continuous diffusion and dissemination

of research results. 4. Linkages between researchers and technical

staff of the Ministry of Education. 5. Political mandate for change. 6. Timing: the decision to phase out the Island

Readers series, the introduction of the Cur- riculum Development Thrust; and the establishment of the Language Materials Workshop all occurred simultaneously.

7. The availability of a problem-solving ap- paratus.

8. The university base of the research. The facts in this case suggest that policy and research-based activities have different styles. This is manifestly clear in the simultaneous development of the Grade 1- 3 materials for the language arts curriculum by the workshop and the development of the global curriculum for primary schools by the ministry. It is also highlighted in the differences in approach between the development of the Grade 1- 3 and that of the Grade IO and II materials. Policy formulation often has a crisis character

which virtually dictates pragmatism, whereas research tends to idealism.

Policy requires action that applies to all schools. Research works with a sample of the population. For example, while CDT worked with all 8oo primary schools, the Language Materials Workshop worked with thirty-five and eventually reduced this to nine.

Policy requires urgent, immediate and instant

responses. The demand is for action now, if not before. There is great impatience. On the other hand, research has a futuristic approach. It tolerates present inconsistencies and incon- veniences with the faith that these will be solved and resolved in the future. It makes a trade-off between present difficulties and future solutions.

Policy proceeds with little reflection or evaluation. Critical evaluation can bring the policy into question and defeat enthusiasm. On the other hand research checks and counter- checks intself. Critical self-evaluation is the life-blood of the process.

Policy tends to be rapidly paced. A lot of ground is covered in a relatively short time. On the other hand, research tends to be time- consuming and slow.

Because of the difference in style, there is potential tension at the interface between policy and research unless the timing is right. The prior existence or the formation of links between researchers and policy-makers constitutes an important stage in the interface of research policy.

In the period under review, the Ministry of Education had a rather open way of making decisions. For example, it invited the partici- pation of personnel from outside the ministry to review the Island Readers series. This gave greater scope for links to be made with practising teachers and others to influence the decisions made. One would not argue that if these links had not existed the interface would not have been possible, but certainly the operations would have been more difficult and the process itself would have been slowed even if the same results were ultimately achieved. The personal contacts between researchers and policy-makers appear to have enhanced the process.

Where the Ministry of Education--the policy- making arm--supported research, it provided funding for the translation of research findings into educational materials. At no time during the fourteen-year period under scrutiny did

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the ministry offer financial support for any basic research being carried out by Craig and col- leagues. In others words, the research process itself has no policy backing within the local situation except where some product has been developed almost to the point where it is ready for use. The source of funding for the research was external to the Jamaican society in the form of a series of interventions by the Ford Foundation in assisting the UWI at Mona in various projects.

The consistency of the effort of the local researcher and the series of interventions by the foundation were the critical factors ensuring the results achieved. At the same time, the relationship between these two principal factors was not straightforward, certain, consistent or continuous. It was only in the period 1971 to 1975 that a convergence of objectives and priorities was achieved. In fact, it took deft manoeuvring on the part of the researcher to retain the integrity of the research through the changing 'support situations'. Even now that commendable results have been achieved, there is no continuing or follow-up activity.

The Ford Foundation's funding was provided as 'seed money' to eatalyse operations at the local level, in the hope that these would generate local support to ensure continuity. While this assumption is valid with respect to (a) insti- tution building, (b) the teaching process and (c) the deployment and professional advance- ment of personnel trained by the research process, it is not valid for the research process

itself. The assumption that the research process will generate local support is unfounded at the present time. When research competes in the local market for scarce resources, it loses out because other concerns perceived as being related to the survival needs of the society are accorded greater priority.

At the present time, there is no tradition within the Jamaican situation for the indigenous development, through research and innovation, of solutions to local problems. Research, therefore, has a rather tenuous status. It is, by and large, left to individual initiative and external support.

The pattern of this case could suggest that in the institutionalization of research in the local setting, long-term external support appears to be a necessary ingredient. It could be also that research products, in the form of educational materials, can become a source of revenue to support research activity. In other words, the products of research may be able to generate revenue that is supportive of the process itself. It is likely that, with time, research will demonstrate its efficacy in the local situation and thus generate the necessary financial backing.

Note

r. Dennis Craig, 'Some Developments in Language Teaching in the West Indies', Caribbean Quarterly, Vol. XII, No. I~ I966.

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