The Editor, Sir:

I have received many responses to my Letter of the Day of July 7 'PM challenged on Patois Bible issue', including one by Charles Evans which was published as Letter of the Day July 9, entitled 'For whom does the Patois Bible toll?' I beg your indulgence in allowing me to respond publicly to that letter.

Mr Evans suggests that there is no standard for the spelling and pronunciation of words in Patois, and that one needs to learn the English alphabet in order to spell Patois words. In fact, a standard for the spelling and pronunciation of Patois was developed and published by the late Prof. Frederick Cassidy as early as 1961. Unlike English spelling, the Patois spelling system is completely logical and easy to learn. So easy, in fact, that learning it first could be a great help in mastering English spelling or the spelling of any other language.

Mr Evans points out, rightly so, that for many public figures, the use of Patois is a choice. I would add that the use of English is, for them, also a choice, and that it should be the right of every Jamaican to be able to make that choice. That right is currently denied many Jamaican children, as can be seen in the results of tests such as the Grade Four Literacy Test and the Grade Six Achievement Test, and, most of all, in the very poor performance of Jamaican students in CXC English. These results, alone, should be powerful and convincing arguments, in favour of a more appropriate approach to the teaching of English in Jamaica's schools.

In my letter, published July 7, I argue that such an approach must be based on the children's knowledge of their home language. For most Jamaican children, that home language is Patois. In other words, Patois is not just "for the amusement of the more affluent Jamaicans," as Mr Evans puts it, it is the language in which children most naturally communicate and express themselves. It is merely sound educational practice to respect that language and use it as the basis for learning — of English and other subjects. Only in this manner can true bilingualism in Patois and English be achieved for Mr Evans's "average Jamaican".

I am, etc.,

Dr SILVIA KOUWENBERG

Department of Language,

Linguistics & Philosophy

University of the West Indies

Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica