Chairman of the Konmité pou Etid Kwéyòl (KEK) Raymond Lawrence said KEK is working on a National Creole Policy for the future direction of the language in Dominica.
He made the announcement at a ceremony held during its 42nd Anniversary Celebrations at the Alliance Française recently.
“Among other things, KEK is also working on a National Creole Language Policy,” he said. “This policy is meant to provide a roadmap for the future direction of the language in Dominica.”
According to him, the policy will provide guidelines for using Creole in various domains, including media, the justice system, the church, and schools.
“After this policy is drafted we hope that Cabinet will approve and adopt it so that the country can use that policy as a guide for the future development of the language,” Lawrence stated.
KEK also launched two new publications at the ceremony and a video to commemorate the milestone.
The first publication will be a teaching tool to help learners of Kweyol get better acquainted with vocabulary and spelling. The second publication will be a commemorative magazine to celebrate a 40-year milestone.
KEK, the abbreviated form for “Konmité pou Etid Kwéyòl” (Committee for the Study of Creole), has among its objectives to foster a deeper awareness and respect for our Mother Tongue – Kwéyòl. KEK was established in 1981.
KEK’s early activities included literacy classes and the celebration of Jounen Kwéyòl (Creole Day). The first Kwéyòl Day was held in October 1981 and has been held ever since. Simenn Kwéyòl (Creole Week) has been held since 1986. This week starts on Jounen Eritaj (Heritage Day), the Sunday preceding Jounen Kwéyòl, which is celebrated on the last Friday in October.
KEK has published several books on various oral traditions such as proverbs and riddles (timtim) and a Kwéyòl-English dictionary.
I see this as nonsense. While i respect you Mr Lawrence, people will speak however they please. Its already being done in the domains you have mentioned. Now you want to provide guidelines for people to speak? I dont see this being upheld even if Skerrit signs on to your proposal. I would like someone to help me understand the purpose of this and how it affects us in using kreole in the future.
I think this is probably a necessary initiative to preserve the language. Yes, the language is used, but there are larger and larger populations of the young who do not know kwéyòl, and many who do are not fluent. The standard spellings developed are not always maintained, and (for example) there are no defaults to have documents like the constitution or the news or schoolbooks translated. Provisions like this are probably going to be helpful to increase the number of proficient speakers.