15927: (Hermantin) Sun-Sentinel-Letter to the Editor-French a poor choice for school (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


French a poor choice for school



Mercedes Pichard
Fort Myers

June 15, 2003

I am wondering if I am the only one reacting with sadness and dismay to the
news that French was the language chosen to be taught in the upcoming
bilingual program in Orchard View Elementary School in south Palm Beach
County. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel article reports that 40 percent of
the school's student body speaks Haitian Creole at home.

Is it necessary to perpetuate the vestiges of French colonialism, the
elitism and the cultural/linguistic hegemony implicit in the teaching of
French to children who are native speakers of Haitian Creole right here on
our shores? This is what is done to them in Haiti instead of their being
taught academic content in their native language (Creole), to the detriment
of their reading comprehension and the detriment of their depth of
understanding of subject matter.

Must the school officials of Palm Beach County encourage the message that
Haitian Creole is a "broken," "bastardized," "incomplete" or "unworthy"
language in which to transmit academic learning, knowledge, and discussions
of all kinds? Through what misguided elitism, or lack of cultural knowledge
and sensitivity, was French chosen over Haitian Creole at this school where
the largest minority group speaks Haitian Creole at home? Do the school
officials believe that they are doing the right thing, culturally and
linguistically, for these children and their families of Haitian origin?

I do not necessarily blame the principal of the elementary school (although
apparently she did not do her homework very well), nor the
elementary-certified, French-language-certified teachers who will eventually
be chosen to teach in this French-English bilingual program. It would seem
that either the Palm Beach County school district's curriculum expert, or
the county's multicultural education or bilingual education experts should
be better-informed, however. The choice of the French language for an
immersion bilingual program in a school where nobody speaks French at home
is an interesting and sad one.


Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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