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that
Naga Pidgin is used informally even in high schools to explain
various concepts in science. The study also showed that the Naga
Pidgin has a high functional load inamuch for inter-lingual
communication Assembly and even in churches i.e., different Naga
languages are used for intra-linguistic group oral communications
within their respective geographical regions1
and also in intimate circles outside their respective geographical
areas, provided members of the other linguistic groups are not
present. If others are present, even in the domain of home, Naga
Pidgin is used The variable of intra and interlinguistic groups is
validated in respect of the choice between the local Naga language
and Naga Pidgin, in the schools and in the offices at the district
and taluk levels. In most part of Nagaland, the church congregation
consists usually of monolingual groups in which case, the respective
local Naga language is used in the sermons. The Naga Pidgin,
however, is used when the congregation consists of two or more
linguistic groups. In the State Legislative Assembly, while most of
the discussions take place in Naga Pidgin, the Stenographers have to
translate and take down the discussions in English as English is the
only language in which records are maintained.
Thus, the role Naga Pidgin could play in the education at the
Primary Level of the children of the minor Naga tribes was examined
in these two contexts, viz., the impracticability of imparting
primary education through the medium of the mother tongue of all the
linguistic groups in Nagaland on the one hand the high functional
load, the Naga Pidgin is carrying informally in every walk of life
of the Nagas on the other. And the preceding discussions quite evidently
showed that Naga Pidgin has a major role the play in the primary
education. It also showed that for effective learning leading to
better performance of the Naga pupils in the examination and also
for reducing the phenomena of stagnation and wastage found amongst
the Naga pupils from minor lingustic groups, no language in Nagaland
is better suited than the Naga Pidgin.Yet the unwarranted ambivalent attitude of the educated Nagas
towards the Naga Pidgin deprives the children of the minority ethnic
groups of the benefits of formal education, thereby casting aside a
great academic advantage. May be the educated Nagas could take a
leaf from the experiences of the pidgin/creole speakers in other
countries. In Haiti, the French based creole is used in education at
different levels. In Papua New Guinea, the Neo 1Excepting Kukis and Rongmeis, each Naga
linguistic group has a geographical area where they are the
predominant linguistic group. But monolingual population is not
found even in remote villages.
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a pidgin-creole is used in education. A new experiment is made in
using Papiamentu, the creole spoken in the Dutch Netherlands
Antillies. While referring to the language use in education in these
islands, Richards (1979) states that despite more than 300 years of
bond with Holland, the Dutch language never became part of the
culture of people in The Netherlands Antillies. Earlier De Paul
(1965) correlated the poor performance of the children in the
Netherlands Antillies to the educational system, more specifically
to the use of Dutch in schools. And he suggested Papiamentu, the
creole of the area, to be used as the medium of instruction. An
experiment in that direction is being done. In South Sudan, the
regional Ministry of Education has expressed its intention to
develop Pidgin Arabic to use it as a medium of instruction in
elementary schools (cf. Nhial 1975). As opposed to these, like the
educated schools (cf. Nhial 1975). As opposed to these, like the
educated Nagas, we find the Nigerian educational system also
exhibiting wrong notions about the ability of the students in
primary schools to learn through standard English. The official
educational policy in Nigeria having three hundred competing
languages is to teach a single language in the first years of the
primary education in all the states having a dominant language. Such
a language would also be the medium of instruction in those states.
For instance, Hausa in Kaduna Kwara and in few other states, Yoruba
in four of the 19 States, etc. This tallies with the Pan-Indian
policy in language education in India. But in Bandel having 21
languages and in the other states like Bandel, English is used
officially as the medium of instruction, on the wrong assumption
that the students are proficient enough to receive instruction
through English, whereas in practice only pidgin English is used in
the schools. Bandel state incidentally has the largest number of
pidgin Englis speakers, directed to the English is the only
language used in advertisements directed to the country at large.
It is also used in new domains like literature, country at large. It
is also used in new domains like literature, drama, politics etc.
With the growing realization of the realities, a reapprisal in the
language policy of using English has been suggested (cf. Obil ade:
1979).
Pidgins and creoles have respectable place in other walks of life
also, for instance, owing to the high functional efficiency of the
pidgin Arabic, according to Bell (1976) ‘Every Sunday Rev. Ephraim
preaches in pidgin Arabic to a congregation numbering about 1000
persons’. About 1870, in Surinam, the Moravian missionaries
started to use Srana creole in church. They translated the Bible,
compiled Hymn books, etc., in creole (cf. Jan Voorhoeve 1971 : 309).
In Juba, the principal city in Southern Sudan, politicians who use
Juba-Arabic, a pidgin, in public address and in political rallies
win more applause and stand better chance of putting their message
across than those who use English (cf.Nhial :
1975).
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