Mon respe tou lezot lalang!”

A case study of native teacher attitudes towards Creole-mediated multilingual education in Seychelles

Bibliographic Data

ID12677603
AuthorsChristina Tamaa Fleischmann Schwarz (,), I M Nick (0009-0008-4782-4599, ,, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume19
Issue2
Pages183-197
Publication date2017-07-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCurrent Issues in Language Planning (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1466-4208 • E-ISSN: 1747-7506
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14664208.2017.1353340
OpenAlexW2736394815
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited41

In January 1982, the Republic of Seychelles became the first country to make its Creole, Seselwa, an official medium of instruction in its multilingual education system. Overall, this innovative language policy has positively affected student levels of personal motivation and academic success. Nevertheless, the nation's continued use of Creole-mediated multilingual education (CMME) has not been without critics. Chief among them have been the expected purveyors of the CMME policy - teachers. Using a mixed-method survey research design, this study investigated teacher attitudes towards the nation's three official languages: Seselwa, English, and French; and the Seychelles' CMME policy. The overall research result was as sobering as it was clear. Despite the government's 30-year commitment to CMME, the majority of the teachers polled still questioned the efficacy of this policy. Importantly, as this investigation demonstrates, a primary source of this doubt may be found in the teachers' own language profiles. The implications of these research findings for the future of CMME in Seychelles are discussed and recommendations for future investigations of vernacular instruction are presented

Creole language · Linguistics · Pedagogy · Sociology · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology