ABSTRACT!

Discrimination through language in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Although the language Creole, Haitian Creole or sometimes called French Creole was a key element that led the Revolution that helped abolish slavery in Haiti, a French colony a the time, the language has never been a subject of study, or the center of historical studies. It was widely spoken during the colonial era and still spoken by most Haitians. Creole is the demotic of Haiti, thus it is essential for a comprehensive understanding of Haiti’s history, culture, and  folk wisdoms. However, Creole has been officially recognized as the official language of the country only about twenty years ago. That being said, one must understand that there has not been a systematic use of Creole in schools in Haiti for many years. To understand Creole’s status today, I offer to go back into time to trace the educational system of Haiti. Consulting authors like Micheal J. Dalsh, and Arthur K. spears, Michel Degraff among others, I propose to collect some interesting facts about the contradictions and ironies that surround the use of this language in Haiti.

Stephanie

For my final research paper topic i am planning on researching the social differences between children who study two languages versus children who only study in one. I myself have experienced both styles of education, as i have written in my memoir paper, for 4 years i went to a Yeshiva where i studied in Hebrew for the first half of the day and than English for the second half. After that I only studied in a typical American public school where everything i learned was in English. I want to research the positive and negative effects of both styles of language. I want to find out the social ramifications of both styles as well as the level of grades that are achieved in both situations.

My memoir paper reflected the ambiguities of speaking Creole in Haiti. I would like to take it a step further and research the current status of creole today in Haiti.

The most interesting fact today is that unlike the situation of the common languages in the Central African Republic and in Bangui who are near extinction, the demotic of Haiti, Creole, is widely used and spoken by everyone. What you might be curious about is why am I concerned with this language if it is widely spoken. In fact, although it is widely spoken, Creole remains at  an undeveloped phase because no efforts have been made to enrich the language and make it a modern vehicle of communication and education. Maybe people did not deem this important, since any “broken or odd” pronunciation of French becomes Creole; some people even call it “French Patois”, which would not be exactly correct. In my research paper, one of the first thing I will aim at is try to define the language and its origin.

At some point in Haiti’s history, Creole went from “common language” status to “official language” status, just like French. What drove this change of status. But as of today, I can reassure you that the two languages are perceived entirely differently although they have the same status. How many official speeches are given in Creole?  Do we use creole in Haiti’s education system? I will try to provide a rough amount of how many books are published in Creole today. I will interview news publishers here in New York to talk about the current status of creole and on which occasion it is used or on which occasion it is not used. Are people concerned with the revival of  this language, which, even if spoken by the majority, is still placed in margins?

Stephanie Joseph

For my term paper I would like to discuss the evolution of language focusing on the constant redefinition of words from generation to generation, group to group, and individual to individual. I would like to discuss what words “illegal” immigrants are now using to describe themselves and their fight for justice. They wish to no longer accept the term illegal and all it implies, as I never did, but rather claim their legality and human rights by replacing it with terms like “undocumented unafraid and unapologetic” to further the movement and change the debate on the undocumented. In not agreeing with the negative imperialistic and unfair nature  of the word and its place in the legal system, will replacing it with these words help eradicate the negative idea behind the word and change the law by changing the language itself? Can the death of a word be the death of an idea and an injustice?

For my Final research paper I want to research. How and why the hebrew language managed to make a language that was lost. But evolved and was brought back to life through ancient hebrew text. What time period did it happen, who sparked the interest in forming the jewish language of hebrew.

After given some thought for my final paper I would like to focus in the development of language in children who migrate to America. To be more precise, it has been said that children pick up language quicker. The change of culture that migration can produce can vary. A total change of familiarity and structure can effect the development of language. In my own experience  I came to the United States as a child  knowing to read and write Spanish.  In the process of assimilating myself to American culture I gained the ability to learn the English language. The more English I learned and the more fluent I became in speaking it reduced my capabilities in the Spanish language  The most obvious difference was in my way of thinking.  Before my assimilation I would think and process the world around me in Spanish ,  the gradual change to thinking in English changed my perspective of how I expressed my ideas and conveyed them to others. The people who were closest to me were the first to notice, my family became aware and tried to explain the perceived distance and cold practicality I began to use in explaining my thoughts. In my paper I want to focus on what the change is between Spanish and English and if there is a loss of information in the process.

For my final research paper I would like to discuss how religion can affect child development.  I wasn’t raised strictly into a religion and I believe as a result I am now very open, not just in regards to religion, but to almost everything.  I really want to see if there are any hardcore differences in the way we develop depending on our religious environment.  Hopefully I can make this more specific, maybe check for certain traits related to religious homes and traits related to non religious homes.  The affect of religion, if not solely on child development, is just something I have always been interested in so I really want to try and do something with it.

It has been very difficult for me to pick a final research project topic, but I want to talk about immigration to the United State by people from El Salvador. I am interested in this topic because my parents immigrated to the United States during the 1980s. I would like to know more about why people immigrated during that time period and why people are leaving El Salvador to come to the United States now. I would also be very interesting to know how these people keep their culture alive and preserve it in their children. This topic is somewhat vague, but hopefully as I do more research I will be able to have a better focal point.

For my final research project, I am planning to do research on globalization and languages which we have been discussing in the class throughout the semester. In this paper, I will be discussing the effects of globalization on language. The increase of globalization has both positive and negative effects on language.