Keynote 2:
Education, an Indispensable Tool to Ensure the Survival of a Creole Language
- Date: June 28, Wednesday
- Time: 9:00-10:00
- Location: Harmonie Building, Marie Loke Zaal (1313.0034)
- Chair: Maria Mazzoli (University of Groningen)
- Presenter: Nihayra Leona ((University of Amsterdam; Levende Talen Papiaments))
Abstract:
Many Creole languages are at risk of extinction, but not Papiamento/u! How come a Creole language, spoken by approximately 350.000 people worldwide, is not striving to survive? During this presentation, I will elaborate on the strong position of Papiamento/u in the societies of Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire. In doing so, I will cover the following themes: the emancipation of Papiamento/u, the strong position of Papiamento/u in Curaçaoan education, and the role of policy and governmental support in fortifying the position of Papiamento/u. The presentation will contribute to your knowledge of Papiamentu, but most importantly it will provide general guidelines to fortify the position of any language by means of education.
Short bio of the presenter:
Nihayra Leona is a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests are in psycholinguistic research and multilingual education. Her focus is on the language development of multilingual children and more specifically, on the role of a non-native language of instruction on the learning success of multilingual students. Until last year, she has been the chairwoman of Levende Talen Papiaments (the Papiamento branch of the Dutch association for language education). She is since a year the executive director of the school board for mother tongue-based schools in Curaçao, the Fundashon Skol Humanista na Papiamentu. Most recently, she has chaired the commission working on the guidelines for end-of-primary school tests for Papiamentu on Bonaire.