Language practices and linguistic ideologies in Suriname: Results from a school survey

Résumé En

The Guiana plateau in general and the Republic of Suriname in particular are one of the most linguistically diverse regions in South America. Apart from the official ex-colonial language, Dutch, and the national language Sranan Tongo, more than 20 other languages belonging to several different language families are spoken by less than half a million people. Among the languages that have for a long time been part of the Surinamese linguistic landscape are several Amerindian languages such as Arawak, Kari'na and Trio, Afro-Surinamese languages such as Saamaka, Ndyuka, Matawai, Pamaka, Kwinti, Asian languages such as Hindustani, Javanese, and varieties of Chinese. More recent waves of migration have also brought other languages to this region. They include Brazilian Portuguese, Guyanese English, Guyanese Creole, Spanish, French, Haitian Creole and new varieties of Chinese. This impressive linguistic diversity is little known and has historically been little appreciated locally as well as has received very little attention from the international research community for various reasons. The aim of this presentation is to make a first step towards fully exploring this diversity. The discussion is based on the findings from a language survey that was carried out between 2008 and 2010 among school children. The school survey involved 10 minute interviews with about 3000 upper primary school children (5th-6th grade) from all over the country. These children talked to us about their language background, their language practices, their language attitudes and language competences. The study strikingly demonstrates that being multilingual is the norm among school children. Children typically regularly use at least two, but in many cases also more than three languages on an everyday basis. While Dutch is the only officially promoted language in the country, children generally do not display openly negative attitudes towards other languages. In fact, many desire to learn and take pride in the use of both international and local languages. The former are strongly associated with upward and international mobility and the latter languages are strongly linked to local family and ethnically-based networks and identities that continue to be highly valued by many Surinamese. However, degrees of knowledge, use and alignment with the different languages, including Dutch, continues to be strongly stratified along ethnic, class, residency and gender lines. The study is part of a greater project on languages and mobility on the Guiana plateau. Hosted by the French research Unit CELIA-SEDYL (CNRS-IRD) based in Paris and Cayenne (French Guiana), it was funded by the ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, France) and the AIRD (Agence Inter-établissements de Recherche et Développement) to promote studies in southern countries. In Suriname, we realized it with the help of Lim A Po Institute and IOL.