The state Senate passed a resolution today asking the state Department of Education to develop strategies for teaching English to students who speak pidgin.

The department opposed the resolution “due to its low priority and the increased costs associated with its implementation.” The department already has standards for teaching English to students who are learning how to speak the language.

From the resolution:

WHEREAS, Hawai‘i’s multicultural society has produced a unique indigenous language commonly known as “Hawai‘i Pidgin” or “Pidgin English” or just “Pidgin,” and among some linguists as Hawai‘i Creole English; and

WHEREAS, it is widely acknowledged by linguists that Hawai‘i Pidgin is a complete language system in itself and not “broken English”; and

WHEREAS, it is estimated by linguists that six hundred thousand Hawai‘i residents have Pidgin as their mother tongue, and an estimated one to two hundred thousand Hawai‘i residents use Pidgin more fluently than standard English; and

WHEREAS, it is widely acknowledged by linguists and second language studies experts that Hawai‘i residents being more fluent in Pidgin than standard English may be a major factor in the below average reading test scores among Hawai‘i public school students;

State Sen. Sam Slom, R-8th (Kähala, Hawai’i Kai), was the only senator to vote against the resolution.

“We better get our teaching strategies on English straight first,” Slom told his colleagues.

State Sen. Norman Sakamoto, D-15th (Waimalu, Airport, Salt Lake), the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, explained afterward that the resolution was not about promoting pidgin.

Sakamoto said some educators see pidgin as similar to a foreign language and believe that specific strategies are needed to help students who speak pidgin learn English.

“It’s not in any way to glorify pidgin, but to recognize that there is a different strategy to teaching students English,” he said.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2008 at 2:51 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.