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5.0 out of 5 stars
Manes Pierre on Language and power, August 22, 2002
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Mannes Pierre: The Man and His Thoughts (Paperback)
Beginning with his own story as a child growing up in Haiti, Pierre shares his passion for his native language while exposing the class marker between those Haitians who speak Haitian and those who speak only Haitian Creole. His proposals to rid of the linguistic injustices of the social linguistic imbalance are very profound.
The author connects very well the impact of colonization on the local language of the Haitian people. Not only does the author trace the historic shift of linguistic identity of the Haitian people from Haitian Creole to French but he contends that this lack of linguistic identity affect even more the first generation Haitian children in Broward County Schools, Florida.
Although this book is the author's first publication, his work is indeed a great addition to the study of Caribbean history in terms of language, history, culture, religion, among other things. I espcially like the author's linkage of colonization to the current identity based conflicts and violence the Haitian school children display in the Broward Schools in Florida. Those children were once isolated in their own country due to this class marker, now they are isolated in Florida's classroom due to their lack of linguistic identity.
The author offers some suggestions to other ESOL teachers in an effort to facilitate the acquisition of American English by encouraging language literacy in both Haitian Creole and English. Some of the suggestions include, field trips to Haitian American businesses, invitations of successful Haitian Americans as guest speakers, among other things.
Even though, the author did not provide a blue print for educating Haitian school children who are illiterate in Haitian Creole, I highly recommend his book to all educators, espcially those who are teaching languages and those who are teaching psychology.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A manifest gift to educators of new immigrants, May 5, 2006
This review is from: Mannes Pierre: The Man and His Thoughts (Paperback)
Manes Pierre: The Man and His Thoughts is a delightful monograph from a proud son of Haiti on the classical and perverse dyad between communications and power. Mr. Pierre uses a highly personalized approach to explore and treat the scathing subject of linguistic violence and its resulting across-the-board consequences. He makes a great case for the need to educate with "respect and dignity" the children who will be tomorrow's future. I encourage Mr. Pierre to continue his exploration of this poignant theme in greater depth as I am eagerly looking forward to his next book. His work foreshadows the seriousness and carefulness of the next generation of global thinkers. His writing style is definitely at the forefront of post-generation X-ers' reading scheme and fits in boldly with that of the generation Y-ers. It's a must read for today's teachers.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
The Man & His Thoughts, December 30, 2005
This review is from: Mannes Pierre: The Man and His Thoughts (Paperback)
Manes provides many insights to both educators and non-educators working with non-native English speakers, especially Haitian-American students.
This is a book that every household should have.
Shani Brown
Atlanta, GA
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