Research Description:

Past Tense of Belizean Creole

My research project includes a close look at the past tense grammar construction of Belizean Creole. Creoles are languages that arise out of contact situations among people speaking different languages, and therefore creoles tend to lack formal grammar rules. I intend to examine Belizean Creole to find such rules, and the type of organizational patterns the language supports.  This connection between the rules and their respective patterns is important because it relates to modern theory of language innateness and the linguistic blueprint of the human brain.

Data collection in linguistic research goes only as far as a tape recorder will carry the researcher. I have collected data from the inhabitants of Placencia Village in Belize, Central America. I asked the participants to give a brief narrative of a time when they were scared, a time of pure joy, etc. I will later transcribe the recordings and begin to analyze and organize the grammar construction.

Belizean Creole is beginning to be recognized as its own language (instead of a dialect of English) by Belizeans and linguists. As a former British colony, the schools in Belize have books in English, and classes are taught in English, but the children do not speak English at home  there is no real-world application to the language in which they learn their lessons. As far as my research is concerned, any contribution to the study of the grammar is a step toward further recognition and possible changes being made in the educational system for the benefit of Belizeans.