Educational Approaches for Speakers of Pidgin and Creole Languages

Abstract

Pidgin and creole languages develop out of a need for communication among people who do not share a common language - for example, among trading partners or plantation labourers from diverse geographic origins. Most of the words in the vocabulary of the new language come from one of the languages of the people in contact, called the lexifier' (or sometimes the 'supersaturate') - usually the language of the group with the most power or prestige. However, the meanings and functions of the words, as well as the way they are pronounced and put together (i.e. the grammatical rules) of the pidgin or creole, are different to those of the lexifier. Once developed, a pidgin language usually continues to be learned as only an auxiliary language and used when necessary for inter group communication. Its total vocabulary is small, and it has little if any grammatical words and endings - for instance, to indicate past tense or plural. An example is Chinese Pidgin English, once an important trade language in southern China and Hong Kong. But in some cases, the use of a pidgin is extended in a multilingual community as it becomes the everyday lingua franca. As a result, the language expands over time in its vocabulary and grammar, and becomes what is fittingly called an 'expanded pidgin'. Examples are Nigerian Pidgin and Melanesian Pidgin. Each of the three dialects of Melanesian Pidgin (Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea, Bislama in Vanuatu and Pijin in Solomon Islands) has its own writing system, and is used widely not only for communication between people who have different mother tongues but also in radio broadcasting, parliamentary debates and religious contexts.