Creole FAQs

Why is it a problem that Haiti teaches in French?

Many studies show that the most effective literacy training is first done in the mother tongue alone—and then introducing a second language. Teaching reading first using the colonial language or alongside the mother tongue has been shown to be highly ineffective in becoming literate in either language.  This indeed has been the model of most schools in Haiti and the low rate of literacy of 61% would indicate it has not been a success.

Why don’t schools just teach in Creole?

Speaking beautiful French is a class marker.. Haitian parents know that speaking French is necessary to rise in society and so will not typically support a school that doesn’t offer French immediately upon entering school.  The most successful Creole speaking schools are often times supported in part or whole by donors. The more students who graduate and do well on the national exams the more the Creole model will gain in favor.

Why do so few speak French when they are being educated in French?

There are several reasons. Students are handicapped immediately upon entering school when their first experience with literacy is a language they don’t speak at home. Multiple international studies tell us that this will lead to a low rate of literacy and that is exactly what is happening in Haiti. Then there is the teacher’s skill set. Usually they do not have mastery of French so they are transmitting mistakes in the language. And they have little training in teaching so they teach as they were taught—by rote and with physical discipline—neither conducive to transmission of knowledge. And then there is the ridicule that accompanies a mistake in speaking French. This is particularly pernicious when the instruction is in French. You have the situation where the content is new yet the student is afraid to ask questions to clarify their understanding to avoid being laughed at or attacked by the teachers. This is the case through high school if not college as well. You might think that the national exams would catch those not fluent in French but since they can often be passed by rote memorization—those not fluent often pass. This means you can have widely varying levels of French proficiency  in one class which makes it even more difficult to teach.

Isn't it important for students to learn French?

Being multilingual is of benefit to people all around the world.  It is no different for Haitians. What is different is that French has been elevated and Creole denigrated to such a degree that many Haitians have been taught Creole is not a real language nor is it adequate for expressing complex thoughts. To have the nation’s mother tongue so insulted for hundreds of years is a deep wound to the psyche of the nation.  It has undoubtedly contributed to the feeling of superiority that the elite really are smarter and better than the rest since they know how to speak French. The fix for this starts in the schools where students get instruction in Creole all the way through college while at the same time becoming fluent in French and/or English in the latter grades. Teaching all subjects in Creole will begin to show that Creole is a complete language fully capable of expressing the range of human thought and is not inferior to any other language. This will be a balm to the nation’s soul.

The absolute need for Haitians to learn at least French to function in the much vaunted global economy is a pipe dream. Haiti needs to build a local economy first. Devoting precious resources to teaching French when so many can't read Creole is a poor use of those resources.

"Of course, it's a good thing, as a matter of principle, for Haitians (all Haitians) to learn other languages outside of Kreyòl.  But that should be predicated, not on some need to operate in a global economy, but on the general principle that language is knowledge—so it's always a plus to learn new languages, which then also open up access to more knowledge. " Prof Michel Degraff of MIT.

Why Don’t Schools Just Switch to Teaching in Creole?

In 1979 there was a pilot program of hundreds of students to teach in Creole and proved successful in a couple of years. But the elite perceived it (correctly) as a threat to their power and shut it down. There is no reason today that they feel any differently.

In addition to this issue is the general lack of printed material in Creole.  Part of this is due to a lack of publishing culture which in turn arises out of a lack of newspapers which traditionally have branched out to other publishing. The lack of newspapers might be considered a chicken or egg problem connected to low literacy but is also a result of a non-democratic society. A free press does not flourish in dictatorships.

The upshot is that there is a dearth of Creole textbooks and age appropriate books for students. And the ones available are relatively expensive. The most rare are nonfiction “fact” books such as an explanation of the solar system for third graders or environmental issues for 7th graders. Books most available are story books and Christian religious material. 

There are some publishers in Port Au Prince as well as a robust source in Florida—Educavision. Other sources are stories being written by students and shared with others. There is also electronic access to stories through ereaders made available via INGOs. Some schools are beginning to publish in Creole for sale to others—Starfysh is an example. Another source are materials created by the Partner in Literacy Haiti. So the amount of published material is increasing but it is at a snail’s pace. There have also been programs that have made the most of limited print by augmenting them with radio instruction. And lastly, free and high quality resources are available from MIT-Ayiti Platfom. They are easily downloadable and sharable via a Creative Commons license.

Then there is classroom management and teacher training. Since most teachers in Haiti do not have an educational degree nor have participated in professional development they are using as a teaching model the way they were taught. And that is the rote method—featuring rote memorization since there can be little understanding when teaching in a foreign language and also there is the harsh discipline. There is almost a quiet fear in the classroom.  Contrast this with a classroom with Creole and active learning and you can almost feel the happy excitement and if you can’t feel it you will definitely hear it. Now imagine this in a 40+ student classroom. It would take a highly experienced teacher to manage all that energy. But when students are asked to switch to French the energy and joy plummet and once more silence reigns.  So the use of French makes for much easier classroom management for inexperienced teachers.

So How Can the Switch Be Made?

It will require a mix of attitude change, much better teacher training and a massive increase in available texts. These are all required to be happening at the same time. Once parents see the improved performance of their children in school, attitudes towards Creole in school will change. To effect this change will require more Creole material (but the teachers will need to know how to use it), active learning and better classroom management techniques.