A harmonized writing system
for
the Mauritian Creole Language

Grafi-larmoni

Vinesh Y Hookoomsing

September 2004

Texte complet en Word ici (336 KB).

Source des documents qui suivent :
Ministry of Education & Scientific Research
, Republic of Mauritius

 

CONTENTS

Terms of reference
Acknowledgements

  1. Introduction
  2. Writing Mauritian Creole: a brief historical perspective
  3. Independence: from Creole patois to Morisyen. The standardization process (1970s-1980s)
  4. MCL orthographies viewed in the broader context of Creole language standardization
  5. Standardized writing systems proposed for MCL
    I     Dev Virahsawmy
    II    Philip Baker
    III   Ledikasyon Pu Travayer
    IV   The Church’s Choice
  6. A harmonized orthography for MCL
  7. “…making use of MCL in the education of young Mauritians”
  8. By way of conclusion

References
Annexes

Terms of reference  

In a letter dated 31 March 2004, the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research informed the University of Mauritius that the Government had agreed to “a proposal of this Ministry to entrust to the University of Mauritius and the Mauritius Institute of Education, under the responsibility of Prof. Vinesh Y Hookoomsing, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius, the task of proposing a harmonized way of writing Mauritian Kreol with a view to making use of that language in the education of young Mauritians”.

A team of collaborators comprising of linguists and educators from the University of Mauritius and the Mauritius Institute of Education was set up as follows:

University of Mauritius Mauritius Institute of Education
Dr Arnaud Carpooran Dr Rada Tirvassen
Dr Daniella Police-Michel Mrs Nita Rughoonundun

The team met for the first time on 26 April 2004 to discuss procedural matters and more importantly matters related to the object of the assignment.

On the first point, it was agreed that weekly technical meetings would be held on a regular basis, followed by consultative meetings with representatives of relevant institutions and organizations as well as with informed individuals. On the second point, it was agreed that the formulation of a harmonized orthography would take into account the various standardized writing systems proposed for MCL and currently in use.

The team was also of the opinion that it was empowered by its terms of reference as well as by its composition and institutional basis to give due attention to the implications of the immediate objective for which the proposed harmonized orthography would be used, namely its introduction in the school.

Prof. Vinesh Y Hookoomsing
University of Mauritius

ANNEX 1

Proposition soumise au Ministre de la Culture et des Arts, en sa qualité de Président du Comité organisateur local, dans le cadre du 7eme Colloque International des Etudes Créoles (17 août 1992)

Proposition pour la création d'un comité technique en vue de l'élaboration d'une graphie standard pour le créole mauricien

Vinesh Y. Hookoomsing

La République de Maurice accueillera du 30 septembre au 5 octobre prochain le 7eme Colloque International des Etudes Créoles. Outre son caractère éminemment scientifique, cet événement revêt une importance particulière sur le plan symbolique de la valorisation de la langue. Il traduit en effet notre volonté réelle d'assumer le créole mauricien, pour ne pas dire le mauricien tout court, et de reconnaître en cette langue du terroir, un patrimoine qui nous relie au monde créolophone de l'Océan Indien et de la Caraïbe.

Cela fera bientôt vingt-cinq ans depuis que la langue créole mauricienne assume ce rôle si nécessaire de véhicule d'unité nationale dans une société indépendante et plurielle. Portée par la volonté populaire, toute une génération de créateurs, de chercheurs et de linguistes a travaillé au développement de cette langue pour lui permettre à son tour de contribuer à l'épanouissement et au développement de notre société. Aujourd'hui, la langue créole mauricienne est l'instrument par excellence du dialogue, de la communication et – par voie de conséquence – de la compréhension, entre le gouvernement et le peuple.

Le gouvernement mauricien a démontré son attachement à notre pluralisme linguistique en accueillant régulièrement des rencontres mondiales sur les langues de notre patrimoine. Ce signe de reconnaissance a enfin été accordé à la langue créole. Le geste est important, mais il n'est pas suffisant pour aider cette langue à assumer pleinement toutes les fonctions qu'elle est appelée à remplir quotidiennement dans la société.

Il est bon de rappeler ici les efforts entrepris pour faire du créole mauricien une langue de plein droit, et qui ont été pour l'essentiel l'œuvre d'individus et d'organisations privées : formulation des règles de la langue, établissement d'orthographes standardisées, fabrication de dictionnaires, publication d'œuvres littéraires, traduction de grands chefs-d'œuvre mondiaux (Otelo, le dernier en date, se joue en ce moment au théâtre du Plaza), traduction de textes sacrés (Mahabharata, le Coran, l'Evangile), de textes de lois, ré-édition d'œuvres importantes (e.g. le Folkore de l'Ile Maurice, de Baissac).

A l'heure des bilans, il est malheureux de constater que l'état n'a pas grand'chose à son actif à part quelques déclarations d'intention. Ainsi, de toutes les langues reconnues au sein de notre pluralisme, seule la langue créole – paradoxalement celle qui nous est commune – n'est prise en charge par aucune institution digne de ce nom. (Le Centre Culturel Africain ne peut, de par sa vocation particulière, assumer une telle responsabilité.)

Par conséquent, et pour marquer en même temps de manière concrète la venue du Colloque International des Etudes Créoles, je voudrais réitérer ma proposition en faveur de la création d'un comité technique en vue de dégager un consensus autour d'une graphie standard pour le créole mauricien.

Il est bon de rappeler que, dans ce domaine, Maurice a acquis au cours des dernières décennies une expérience considérable en matière de réflexions, de propositions et de pratiques. Il faut aussi souligner que, contrairement à l'opinion couramment entretenue, il n'existe à ce jour que deux ou trois systèmes graphiques standards en usage, qu'ils ne diffèrent pas sur l'essentiel et enfin qu'ils ne sont pas concurrentiels, bien que celui utilisé par Ledikasyon Pu Travayer soit de toute évidence le plus répandu. La proposition réitérée ici n'a donc rien de révolutionnaire ni d'original. Elle s'inscrit tout simplement dans la logique de l'évolution du créole mauricien. Cette langue est aujourd'hui parvenue à un point avancé de son développement : elle est mûre pour une graphie cohérente, standard et communément acceptée.

Dans le monde parlant un créole à base lexicale française, il y a trois pays indépendants où cette langue est une réalité incontournable : Haïti, Seychelles et Maurice. La République haïtienne compte à elle seule une population créolophone de six millions d'habitants. Le créole y jouit du statut de langue nationale et de langue co-officielle avec le français. Dans la République des Seychelles, le nombre importe peu et la pratique d'un multilinguisme officiel reconnaissant le créole, l'anglais et le français est bien ancrée dans la société. En termes d'importance numérique, la République de Maurice vient après Haïti. Mais elle est la plus complexe quand on considère la diversité de sa population, de ses langues et de ses cultures.

Ma proposition en vue d'une graphie standard tient compte de cette complexité. Elle porte sur la t echnicité de l'orthographe et ne touche pas au statut de la langue. Je dois aussi ajouter qu'en ce qui concerne la codification écrite, l'essentiel a déjà été fait. Il ne manque que des retouches et, surtout, le consensus autour d'une orthographe commune. La tenue du Colloque offre une occasion tout indiquée pour qu'enfin l'état assume sa part de responsabilité en matière d'aménagement du créole mauricien. Cette part est d'autant plus grande que, langue du terroir, le créole n'a pas de références ancestrales ailleurs qu'ici et que, par conséquent, son devenir dépend entièrement de nous.

17 août 1992

ANNEX 2

Languages in Education in Mauritius

(Extracts)

Language Centre, MIE, 1975-6

Introduction

  • This paper attempts to provide guidelines for the planning of language teaching within the school curriculum.

2. Summary of main reasons for a review of the present language policy

  • Too many languages competing for the child's attention in the early years of the Primary school resulting in cross-language interferences, and future illiteracy among those who cannot cope with the situation.

Education failure at the Primary level due in part to insufficient attention being paid to the problems of the medium of instruction.

Impossibility of planning a new lasting curriculum or of working out syllabuses, particularly at Primary level, until the language problems are resolved.

3. Aims of language and teaching in Mauritius

  • No clearly defined Mauritian Government aims have been discovered. Nevertheless the majority of Mauritians would seem to share the following aims:

English

  • The effective learning of English as a medium of communication with other countries for purposes of trade, information, politics, professions, culture, etc.
  • The effective learning of English as an official language for government and business purposes.
  • The effective learning of English as a medium of instruction at school and as a means of studying after school.

French

  • The effective learning of French as a medium of communication with France and other Francophone countries for various purposes.
  • The effective learning of French since it is a language widely used in Mauritius .

Oriental Languages

  • The effective learning of Oriental Languages by all who wish to, in order to maintain communicative and cultural links with their countries of origin.
  • The effective learning of Oriental Languages by all who wish to, because they are used in Mauritius .

Creole

  • There is at present no government specified aim for Creole, but there is considerable pressure and aspiration for the acceptance and development of Creole as the only truly national language. At all levels, including Government, its use is becoming more and more common. The necessary consequence of such an aspiration is to ensure through education that children can express themselves effectively through this their mother tongue.

Implications of these aims for the education system

  • English, French and Oriental Language must find a place within the educational system. It does not necessarily follow that all three languages should be started at the same time, or taught to everybody.
  • The ever-increasing role of Creole in the national life of Mauritius should be recognized, and educational provision made for this language and for its development.

(…)

6. Diagrams of possible solutions : see chart

ANNEX 3

Language in Primary Education : a paper for discussion
(Extracts)

Rodney Phillips

The proposal has been formulated in the light of the various principles and present language situation as described above. In addition, the recommendations of the Richard Report have been taken into account, and will be quoted at appropriate junctures in the argument. The nature and scope of the new Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) examination have also been borne in mind in the design. The proposal takes the form of a chart where language in the Primary curriculum can be seen in operation, year by year, in terms of both horizontal and vertical relationships. The chart must be seen, not in terms of a ‘model', with all the idealistic implications of that word, but more in terms of a paradigm or pattern requiring further articulation and specification as one moves from proposal to implementation.

The Chart: General Comments

1. The three major L1s/L2s are at the base of the system. French is carried through to the end, whereas Kreol and Bhojpuri, having been exploited in their oral mode, are then phased out when literacy skills gain ascendancy. Bhojpuri gives way to an Oriental Language during Year 3 and Kreol gives way to English in Year 4 (Numeracy) and Year 5 (Environmental Studies).

2. The possibility of studying an Oriental Language exists throughout the Primary cycle, on an optional basis. This is in keeping with the following recommendation:

“The Commission would like to see facilities being made available to all children to learn an Oriental Language from the start, subject to parental choice being considered”

The Richard Report

(Chapter 5, The Language Problem, page 52)

Since Bhojpuri is included in year 1 because of its L1 status, parental choice will be considered as from year 2. In year 3, the choice of a specific Oriental Language will once again require parental intervention. The option should be closed after the fourth year in order to allow for adequate preparation for literacy. Parents could opt out at any time during the five-year span. The optional nature of the Oriental Language component is already reflected in the regulations for CPE.

3. The role of English in the curriculum becomes clearly defined as a medium of instruction. Although the 4 skills are developed, the content of the course is geared first by numeracy, then by environmental studies, then by both. The integration of language skills and subject content will both vitalise the teaching of English and aid the learning of other subjects through the medium of English. The teaching of English will be for Specific Purposes (ESP), and in keeping with a whole new movement in English Language Teaching.

4. Each literate language (English, French and Oriental Language) goes through three phases – Pre-Reading and Pre-Writing, Reading and Writing, and Developing the 4 skills. However in the scheme proposed, these three phases are staggered so that the transfer of skills is made possible. Hence, due consideration has been given “to the risk interest in the simultaneous presentation of several languages at Primary level” (Richard Report: Summary of recommendations 18.2.1, page 145)

5. The Commission also felt that “ Language is badly taught, that too many languages are taught at the same time and that children do not have time to master the mechanic of reading. Paradoxically enough, teachers are in too great a hurry to start reading, and do not devote enough time to oral acquisition” (page 51). In the proposed structure, pre-reading and oral work always precede the teaching of reading proper. Pupils are allowed at least 2 years to prepare for reading in French and an Oriental Language, and one year before reading English.

6. Non-examinable subjects such as Creative Arts and Movement have been included in the paradigm from the beginning. At some point, religious studies will have to be introduced in the category. The exact point of entry would be decided by specialists in the field. However, in keeping with the conclusions of the Richard Report, language studies and religious education will have to be dissociated. (Summary of Recommendations, 18.7.1, page 150)

7. A three-language formula has been adopted – both at the beginning of the cycle in the case of the 3 major L1s (Bhojpuri, Kreol, French); and at the end of the cycle in the case of the 3 literate languages (English, French and Oriental Language). The transition from the first 3 to the second 3 has been conceived and designed in terms of a structured changeover, with due respect for both reading-readiness and medium-readiness. Each language progresses, at staggered intervals, along a continuum from oral initiation to literacy; at the same time there is increasing importance given to English as it gradually assumes its function as medium of instruction. The approach proposed involves close collaboration between linguists and subject specialists, in order that the notion of an integrated curriculum, noticeable absent in the present system, becomes a working reality. (“The curriculum has not shown a movement towards integration, and has remained compartmentalized” , Richard Report, Chapter III, The Primary School Curriculum, page 45).

What is being suggested does not alter the conditions and regulations of the CPE examination, nor does it affect the curriculum presently operational at Secondary level.

8. Taking into account the pace at which the reading skill proceeds, the paradigm makes provision for the gradual replacement of a “resources only' approach to classroom presentation by an approach which gives increasing importance to the written word or ‘text' as the main channel of information. This does not mean that resources must be phased out altogether in the upper strata of the scheme. In year 5 and 6, the resources-text distinction becomes a matter of emphasis only.

Rodney Phillips
The English Section
Mauritius Institute of Education
30 August 1979

 

Source des documents : Ministry of Education & Scientific Research, Republic of Mauritius.