This volume brings together research carried out in a variety of geographic and linguistic contexts including Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe and the United States and explores efforts to incorporate linguistic diversity into education and to "harness" this diversity for learners' benefit. It challenges the largely…

This handbook for teachers is designed to give information about the social and cultural background of Haitian immigrant students and their transition to life in the United States. The majority of the State's public school districts serving Haitian students have requested help in finding instructional materials for the more than 1,000 Haitians…

New York State has the largest Haitian population in the U.S. This resource guide presents background information on Haitian society, language, and culture; a list of places of interest and sources of information on Haitians in New York; and a summary of some of the achievements of Haitians. It also outlines suggested resources for teachers and…

Discusses approaches and problems in teaching English as a second dialect writing. Also discusses the kinds of clues student writings provide on the students' progress in mastery of standard English. (EKN)

Describes holiday celebrations in the Caribbean as important contemporary social events with historical, geographical, and cultural significance. Discusses the origins, development, and customs of the major Caribbean street festivals. Suggests that the holidays can combine all social science disciplines into focus and emphasize the geographic…

This booklet is a basic introduction to the people, history, and culture of Haiti, designed primarily for service providers and others assisting refugees in their new communities in the United States. Haitians have been arriving in the United States since the 1770s, but recent immigration can be regarded as a series of waves, each associated with…

Links between language and identity are so strong that attempts to correct nonstandard speech are likely to be interpreted by West Indian children as criticism or rejection. A far more constructive approach would be to acknowledge and accept Creole in the classroom. (Author)

Points out features of Jamaican paralanguage involving gestures that are rude by any standard and would not be accepted or tolerated by the classroom teacher in the home country. The importance of Canadian teachers' understanding culture-based behavior is stressed. (EJS)

This paper describes the significant dialectal differences which exist between most West Indian dialects and Canadian English and outlines activities which can be used in a program for West Indian students in Canadian secondary schools. (CFM)

Argues that a special approach is needed to teach Standard American English to West Indians and that they not be placed in classes with native or limited-English speakers. Identifies the linguistic features of West Indian Creole. Reviews research conducted in Great Britain on West Indian immigrants' special problems and needs. (PAA)

The bilingual English/Haitian Creole dictionary is intended to provide teachers with Haitian Creole equivalents for basic English terms used in science. It contains over 3,000 English terms used in physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, earth sciences, medicine, geography, and so on, with Haitian Creole equivalents. The book is divided into two…

Imposition of English in Torres Strait and Cape York Peninsula (Australia) schools led to the development of Torres Strait Creole (TSC), now widely spoken. Common formal errors that TSC-speaking students make in written English are described and related to linguistic transfer. Cultural vocabulary, core cultural values reflected in TSC, and the…

Jamaican Creole-speaking college students find it difficult to switch to standard English for school-related tasks. At the composition level, many Jamaican students still experience problems with higher order concerns such as a organization, unity, and coherence. With regard to lower order concerns, three types of writing miscues are prevalent:…

A value orientations approach is used in this report to construct an overview of Haitian culture and its relation to education. The paper consists of five major sections. The first introduces cultural value orientations as a conceptual scheme. Culture is defined as the learned patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving that make life meaningful…

The physical, instructional, and attitudinal aspects of the learning environment in the West Indies are described, with emphasis on the problems West Indian students and their teachers must surmount in Canadian schools. (PMJ)