Nou p ap ka vrèman rive gen yon bon jan pwogram bileng nan lekòl Ayiti ak yon dal teyori k ap ekri an fransè sèlman sou sa, san oken modèl pratik pou gade (tèlke pa egzanp ouvraj bileng edikatè yo ka pwodui kòm materyèl pedagojik).

We can’t truly have a real bilingual program in schools in Haiti with a bunch of theories written in French only, without any practical model  to look at (such as example bilingual textbooks educators can produce as teaching materials).

Avan n ale pi lwen nan refleksyon nou, n ap di san yon vrè refòm nan edikasyon an Ayiti, tout sa nou ta pwopoze pou fèt nan domèn sa a ap enposib pou reyalize. Ki wòl lang matènèl la dwe jwe nan edikasyon? Nou santi atik sa a ta manke yon ti sèl ak epis si n ta kite kesyon enpòtan sa a dèyè avan n ta kòmante plis sou reyalite lengwistik la an Ayiti.

Before going further in our reflection, we want to say without a real reform in education in Haiti, all that we are proposing to be done in the area of education in Haiti will be impossible to achieve. What role does the native language play in education? We feel that this article would lack a bit of salt and spice if we leave behind this important question before commenting further on the linguistic reality in Haiti.

Rechèch montre ke timoun tout kote aprann pi byen nan lang matènèl yo. Men tou, lè n ap fè fas ak sitiyasyon lengwistik nan diferan andwa nan lemond, nou pa ka gade tout bagay nan nivo teyorik sèlman; kote pratik la enpòtan tou.

Research show that children everywhere learn better in their native language. But also, when facing with linguistic situation in different part of the world, we can’t look at everything at the theoretical level only; the practical side is also important.

Nan ka Ayiti (yon sitiyasyon diglosik oubyen sitiyasyon lengwistik Ayiti se yon diglosi¹), li pa konplike konpare ak kote nou ta jwenn plizyè gwoup etnik (tankou nan plizyè peyi an Afrik) ki pale diferan lang pandan y ap viv nan yon sèl peyi. Yo ta sèvi ak yon lang nasyonal (kit se arab, anglè, espayòl, fransè, pòtigè, oubyen swahili) ki ka yon lang veyikilè alafwa nan domèn edikasyon, medya e gouvènman pou tout moun. Pou Ayiti, pa kont, sèl lang ki ini tout Ayisyen, se kreyòl (Konstitisyon 1987).

In the case of Haiti (a diglossic situation or its linguistic situation is a diglossia¹),  it’s not complicated compare to places where we would find many ethnic groups (like in Africa) who speak different languages while living the same country. They would use a national language (be it Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish or Swahili) that can be a vehicular language at the same time in the area of education, the media, and government for everybody. For Haiti, on the contrary, the only language that unites all Haitians is, Kreyol (the 1987 Constitution).

Lengwistikman palan, kreyòl se lang ki ini tout ayisyen (kòm lang matènèl, kèlkeswa apatenans sosyal yo). Men malgre lojik sa a, enfliyans kolonyal yo toujou rete yon pwalou nan mantalite anpil Ayisyen. Menm si anpil nan yo ta atenn yon nivo avanse lekòl, lespri yo poko reyèlman dezantòtye etan pèp (pou valorize sa ki apateni a yo kòm eritaj istorik,  kiltirèl e lengwistik).

Linguistically speaking, Kreyol is the language that unites all Haitians (as native language, regardless of their social class). But despite of this logic, the colonial influences always remain as a heavy load in the mind of many Haitians. Even if many of them would get far in school, their mind has not really been liberated as people (to valorize historical, cultural, and linguistic heritages).

Nan travay rechèch nou, valorizasyon lang kreyòl la enpòtan pou nou pandan n ap fè wout pou debleye blokis lengwistik yo pou ta rann edikasyon aksesib a tout moun. Travay dekolonizasyon mantalite yon pèp ki sibi diferan kolonizasyon pandan senksan ane pa yon travay piti. Premyèman, yon revolisyon sikolojik ta dwe fèt kay pèp sa a pou libere lespri l. Nou eseye panse sou tout ang posib pou atenn objektif nou.

In our research, the valorization of the Creyol language is important for us while making way to clear the linguistic blockades to make educaton accessible to everyone. The decolonization of a people’s mentality who underwent different colonizations during five hundred years is not something easy to undo. First, a psychological revolution is needed to take place in the mind of these people to liberate themselves. We try to think on all possible ways to reach our objective.

Pou antre nan reyalite edikasyon bileng, nou dwe vin ak modèl bileng kòm echantiyon ekri pou tout moun ka gade yo, epi diskite sou yo. Donk depi nan nivo fondamantal nou panse fò timoun yo ta gen ti liv bileng (kreyòl – fransè, kreyòl – anglè, kreyòl - espayòl). Non sèlman sa pral ede yo pou vin bileng depi byen bonè, men tou pou anpeche yo devlope prejije lengwistik pi devan. Se yon aspè kiltirèl e lengwistik alafwa ke tout edikatè ayisyen ta dwe panche sou sa, lè n konnen se kat lang prensipal (kreyòl, fransè, anglè ak espayòl) ki konekte Ayiti e dyaspora ayisyen an.

To get into the bilingual education reality, we should come up with bilingual models. So, from early on at the fundamental level, we think that children should have bilingual books (Creole – French, Creole – English, Creole - Spanish). Not only this is going to help them to become bilingual early on, but also not to develop linguistic prejudices later on. It’s a cultural and linguistic aspect at the same time that all Haitian educators should think of, knowing that there are four main languages (Creole, French, English and Spanish) that connect Haiti and the Haitian Diaspora.

Gen kritik ki ta di: «Kilès ki pral fè travay sa yo?». Premyèman, repons a kesyon sa a se pou reveye konsyans tout edikatè ayisyen sou reyalite lengwistik la an Ayiti, e prejije lengwistik ki te konn fèt pandan plis pase yon syèk sou lang matènèl la, kreyòl.

Some critics would say: “Who is going to do these works?” First, the answer to this question is to raise consciousness of all Haitian educators on the linguistic reality in Haiti, and linguistic prejudices that used to exist for over a century on the native language, Creole (Kreyol).

Dezyèmman, si leta ayisyen ta vle gen yon pwogram bileng tout bon, sa t ap pran omwen senk ane pou materyèl pedagojik ki an fransè ta tradui an kreyòl (ak èd wot teknoloji, tèlke pa eg : gen vèsyon elektwonik tout materyèl yo, eskane tèks yo pou tradui yo pi rapid otomatikman epi revize e edite tradiksyon sa yo).

Second, if the Haitian government would like to have a real bilingual program, it would take at least five years to translate teaching materials that are in French to Creole (with the help of high technology, such as for example: having the electronic version of all the materials, scan the textbooks to be translated rapidly and automatically, and then revise and edit these translations).

Ak aplikasyon wot teknoloji nan edikasyon jodiya (nan plizyè peyi nan lemond), li ta pran mwens tan pou fè yon seri travay (nan domèn pwodiksyon materyèl) ki te konn pran plis tan lontan. Men, nan tout bagay, nou pa ka bliye volonte politik.

With the application of high technology in education today (in many countries in the world), it would take less time to do certain works (in the area of producing material) that would take longer in the past. But, in everything, we can’t forget about political will.

Se yon tèm enpòtan, lè n ap gade sosyete ayisyen an ki ta pale plis (nan tout nivo) ke fè aksyon. Konsa, nou vle reveye sektè edikatif la pou pa rete inaktif si yo vle wè chanjman. Fò yo pa rete nan jis pale sa ki dwe fèt sèlman, men li enpòtan pou y aprann poze aksyon konkrè kòm modèl ki ka enfliyanse pozitivman.

It is an important theme, when looking at the Haitian society there would be more talking (at all levels) than actions. That way, we want raise consciousness of the education sector not to remain inactive if they want change. They should not keep on talking about what should be done, but it is important to learn to make concrete actions that can influence positively as models.

Malgre gwo rechèch lengwistik k ap pibliye jodiya sou kreyòl nan inivèsite aletranje, prejije sa yo, poutan, poko disparèt totalman an Ayiti (kote lekòl, etan premye enstitisyon k ap fòme moun, poko bay kreyòl vrè plas li merite nan edikasyon). Anpil travay rete pou fèt toujou an tèm edikasyon sou tout fòm posib, e pa tout Ayisyen (an Ayiti kou nan dyaspora) ki konsène.

Despite of great linguistic research published by universities abroad, these prejudices however have not completely disappeared in Haiti (where school as the first institution forming people has not yet given Creole the true place deserved in education). Many works remain to be done in terms of education at all possible levels, and by all concerned Haitians (both in Haitian and in diaspora).

Nan lòt volè enpòtan atik sa a, nou vle montre distans lang ayisyen an gen tan pakouri pou l konte pami lang Google ka tradui otomatikman nan lòt lang, atravè motè rechèch li. Jodiya, nou pa ka pale de kreyòl epi pou n ta kite wot teknoloji dèyè, an tèm kòman l ka ede rapidman nan kad rechèch lengwistik konpitasyonèl e lòt rechèch lengwistik (tèlke jesyon bank done leksikal, ki esansyèl nan travay redaksyon diksyonè).

On the other vital part of this article, we want to show the distance that the Haitian language has covered to be counted among languages that Google can translate automatically to other languages through its search engine. Today, we cannot talk about Creole and leave high technology behind, in terms of how it can help rapidly in computational linguistic research (such as managing lexical database which is essential in writing dictionaries).

1. DIGLOSSIA. 1983a. Yves Dejean. “Diglossia Revisited: French and Creole in Haiti”. Word. Vol. 34. No 3, pp. 189-273. “…The first part of this study examines the concept of diglossia formulated by Ferguson (1959) as it applies to the language situation in Haiti. The second part analyzes, also in relation to Haiti, the subsequent development and transformation of this concept. The conclusions from this analysis are not restricted to the theoretical investigation of Creole. They have important practical implications for questions or orthography, literacy, orientation and goals of primary and secondary schooling, the methodology of teaching and learning French, and the appropriate way of discussing language problems with a Haitian audience.” (Ref. in An annotated Bibliography on Haitian Creole, 2003).

Konstitisyon1987 la fè konnen ke se yon sèl lang ki ini tout Ayisyen, kreyòl. Menm Konstitisyon an rekonèt kreyòl kòm yon lòt lang ofisyèl nan menm tit ak fransè. Sitiyasyon lengwistik Ayiti (jiska prezan) se yon diglosi, kote fransè oubyen kreyòl kapab konsidere kòm (yon) lang dominan nan kèk ka. Pa egzanp, pifò dokiman ofisyèl, enkli materyèl pou anseyman, toujou ekri an fransè. Li nesesè pou yo tradui an kreyòl.

The Constitution of 1987 stipulates only one language unites all Haitians – it is the Creole language. The same Constitution recognizes Creole as another official language on par with French. The linguistic situation of Haiti has been (up to now) is a diglossia where French or Creole can be looked at as a dominant language in some cases. For instance, most of the official documents, including teaching materials, are still written in French. It is necessary to translate them to Creole.

Genyen tou yon bon valè materyèl pou anseyman an kreyòl (pandan ven dènye ane yo) ki kouvri sik elemantè ak mwayen. E kounyeya, gen tou chèrchè e edikatè ayisyen nan dyaspora k ap devlope materyèl pou pwogram bileng ayisyen (nivo: élemantè, mwayen e segondè). Malgre tout tip aktivite sa yo, vrè chanjman an se nan men gouvènman an li ye; sètadi, non sèlman nesesite pou konstwi lekòl gratis nan tout peyi a, men tou pou pwomouvwa pwogram d anseyman e alfabetizasyon an kreyòl, e eseye travay sou yon pwogram bileng solid.

There have also been a great number of teaching materials in Creole (from the last twenty years) covering the elementary and middle school cycles. And now, there are also Haitian researchers and educators in the Diaspora who are developing materials for Haitian Bilingual Programs (elementary, middle and secondary level). Despite all these types of activities, the real change remains in the hands of the government – not only to build free schools throughout the country, but also to promote teaching and literacy programs in the Kreyol language first and try to work toward a solid bilingual program.

Jou rèv sa a ta tounen reyalite – lò tout ti Ayisyen ap ka ale lekòl gratis ti cheri, aprann li ak ekri nan lang matènèl yo, metrize l avan y aprann yon dezyèm lang, edikasyon va yon gran pa nan devlopman peyi a, e nan mouvman otantik pou refòm nan edikasyon. Se rèv anpil Ayisyen konsyan ap nouri. (Emmanuel W. Védrine, 2003).

The day this dream becomes a reality – when all children in Haiti will be able to attend schools freely, to learn how to read and write in their native language, and to master it before learning a second language, education will be agreat step in the development of the country and of the genuine movement for schools reform sought by many conscious Haitians. (Emmanuel W. Védrine, 2003).

• Seminè tradiksyon :  Translation seminar. Lang sib : Target language  -- alman (German), anglè (English), panyòl (Spanish), fransè (French), kreyòl (Haitian Creole, Kreyòl).