English in Hawaiian Schools

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in Hawaii, researchers have been able to follow speakers of Pidgin, Standard English (HE)and Hawaiian Creole English (SE) within the same community. The author points out that the use of HCE has caused significant concern within educational settings. The Hawaiian Board of Education mandated that SE must be the only method of communication between students and staff in all school settings because educators believed that HCE use was associated with low academic achievement, low socioeconomic status and a negative community stereotype. The paper stresses that, within Hawaiian society, it is reasonable to believe that SE is not superior to Hawaiian but rather a more logical choice in that SE is easier to understand by persons outside of the community and more effective in terms of intelligibility.

From the Paper:

"Hawaiian students were to be encouraged to become primarily fluent in Standard English. This belief was that fluency and subsequent improvement in academic achievement would allow students greater opportunities in education and in life. Teachers were to encourage the speaking of SE in the classroom and model such speaking for their students. Because no provisions were made to support teachers and their students, the board's action essentially maintained the status quo."

Sample of Sources Used:

• University of Hawai'i, Department of English as a Second Language. (2000). Language varieties network: Pidgins, creoles, and other stigmatized varieties. Retrieved on June 5, 2007, from www.lll.hawaii.edu/esl/langnet
• Pidgin-only called hindrance in schools. (1987, July 29). Honolulu Advertiser
• Sato, C. (1985). Linguistic inequality in Hawaii: The post-Creole dilemma. In N. Wolfsan & J. Manes (Eds.), Language of inequality (pp. 255-72). Berlin: Mouton

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