Now showing 1 - 10 of 11
  • Publication
    Assessing the Sociolinguistic Situation of the Maroon Creoles
    (John Benjamins Publishing, 2015) ;
    Recent anthropological and socio-historical research on Maroon populations suggests that Maroon communities have undergone significant social change since the 1960s spurred by processes of urbanization. However, to date very little is known about how these social changes are impacting on the Maroon Creoles as there is very little sociolinguistic research being carried out in the region. The aim of this paper is to examine the sociolinguistic context of the Maroon Creoles in the light of data from two recent sociolinguistic surveys carried out in Suriname and French Guiana. The findings demonstrate that the sociolinguistic status of Maroon languages has undergone various changes. Several of them are now well represented in French Guiana and, as additional languages, are gaining speakers both in Suriname and French Guiana. While their speakers increasingly practice them together with other languages, thus displaying their multilingual repertoire, there is little indication that their survival is threatened because their speakers predominantly hold positive attitudes towards them.
      475Scopus© Citations 11
  • Publication
    Language Practices and Linguistic Ideologies in Suriname: Results from a School Survey
    This chapter aims to take a first step towards improving our understanding of Suriname’s contemporary linguistic context. It is based on the results of a recent sociolinguistic survey carried out among primary school children in Suriname. We consider two types of mobility, geographic and socio-cultural mobility.
    Scopus© Citations 2  337
  • Publication
    Creoles in education: A discussion of pertinent issues
    The last three decades have seen a steady increase in the use of Pidgin and Creole (P/C) languages in public life. In many P/C-speaking communities, P/C are now widely used in health education, vocational training, political campaigning and in the media. These developments demonstrate – if it has to be demonstrated at all – that P/Cs are viable means of communication and are well able to express as wide a range of issues as the European languages with which they coexist.
      366
  • Publication
    Langues de Guyane et langues parlees en Guyane
    (Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2013-08) ; ; ;
    Sur le plan linguistique, la Guyane offre une grande diversité en termes de types de langues présentes sur son territoire comme en termes de situations d’utilisation des langues. Si l’on excepte les familles métropolitaines (estimées à moins de 10% de la population) et les familles créoles, traditionnellement bilingues (français-créole), la Guyane constitue dans le contexte français un cas particulier pour ce qui est des questions linguistiques: les populations traditionnelles et les populations migrantes sont majoritairement non francophones, et leurs langues premières continuent à jouer un rôle important dans la vie quotidienne guyanaise.
      154
  • Publication
    Language naming practices, ideologies and linguistic practices: Toward a comprehensive description of language varieties
    (Cambridge University Press, 2006-07) ;
    Although it is well accepted that linguistic naming conventions provide valuable insights into the social and linguistic perceptions of people, this topic has not received much attention in sociolinguistics. Studies focus on the etymology of names, details about the social and historical circumstances of their emergence, and their users, and sometimes make recommendations about the appropriateness of terms. This article departs from this tradition. Focusing on the term 'Takitaki' in French Guiana, it shows that an analysis of the discursive uses of language names by all local actors provides significant insights into the social and linguistic makeup of a complex sociolinguistic situation. Descriptions of languages in such settings should be based on the varieties identified by such an analysis and on practices in a range of naturalistic interactions. Based on these analytical steps, the authors propose a multi-perspective approach to language documentation.
    Scopus© Citations 29  672
  • Publication
    Looking at Language, Identity, and Mobility in Suriname
    This book aims at revisiting the social and linguistic context of contemporary Suriname and shifting attention away from the purely historical and anthropological construction of Surinamese reality to look instead at language practices in Suriname through the lens of identity construction, mobility patterns, linguistic ideology and multilingualism. The three main themes we engage in this book, language, identity and mobility overlap in several aspects, though the link between language and social identity would likely seem the most obvious for most people.
      398
  • Publication
    Integrating local languages and cultures into the education system of French Guiana: A discussion of current programs and initiatives
    (John Benjamins, 2010-05-17) ;
    In this paper we present and critically assess three programs that are currently running in French Guiana. They aim to integrate local languages and cultures into the local education system that is otherwise identical to that of Metropolitan France. We discuss and compare their emergence, development and the premises, assumptions and approaches on which they are based. The paper argues that while all three initiatives make an important contribution towards questioning the educational monopoly of French and towards adapting the education system to the local context, their impact current ly remains limited. This is in large part due to a lack of a concerted will on the part of the education system to undertake far-reaching change and program-inherent problems.
      291
  • Publication
    Langues et créoles en Guyane
    (Délégation générale à la langue française et aux langues de France, 2017-09) ;
    Guyane. Les locuteurs des langues qu’on dit parfois marronnes sont les descendants des esclaves en fuite des plantations (ou Marrons) et à chaque langue correspond un groupe ethnique traditionnel (Aluku, Ndyuka, Pamaka, Saamaka). Les locuteurs des trois premiers groupes utilisent souvent le terme nenge ou nengee pour faire reference à leur langue et le terme nengre pour renvoyer au sranan tongo.
      68
  • Publication
    Introduction
    (Editions IRD, 2008) ;
    La Guyane française présente une grande diversité culturelle et linguistique qui, bien que longtemps méconnue, a attiré un certain nombre d'observateurs, de l'intérieur comme de l'extérieur. Au fil des recherches menées ces trente dernières années, cette diversité a été interrogée au travers de différentes perspectives historiques, anthropologiques, sociologiques ou encore linguistiques. Toutefois, ces travaux demeurent peu connus à l'extérieur des différents champs disciplinaires concernés et ont fort peu tenu compte les uns des autres.
      105