THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	121
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting teaching strategies for speakers of hawai‘i pidgin in Hawai‘i public schools.

     WHEREAS, Hawai‘i's multicultural society has produced a unique indigenous language commonly known as "Hawai‘i Pidgin" or "Pidgin English" or just "Pidgin," and among some linguists as Hawai‘i Creole English; and

     WHEREAS, it is widely acknowledged by linguists that Hawai‘i Pidgin is a complete language system in itself and not "broken English"; and

     WHEREAS, it is estimated by linguists that six hundred thousand Hawai‘i residents have Pidgin as their mother tongue, and an estimated one to two hundred thousand Hawai‘i residents use Pidgin more fluently than standard English; and

     WHEREAS, it is widely acknowledged by linguists and second language studies experts that Hawai‘i residents being more fluent in Pidgin than standard English may be a major factor in the below average reading test scores among Hawai‘i public school students; and

     WHEREAS, a study by Susan Bauder Reynolds found that linguistic differences between Hawai‘i Pidgin and standard English created initial comprehension difficulties among fifth grade students at Pa‘auilo School on the Island of Hawai‘i; and

     WHEREAS, Susan Bauder Reynolds found that a bidialectical learning strategy she used among Pa‘auilo School fifth grade students from 1990 to 1994 eliminated many comprehension difficulties and resulted in statistically significant improvement in reading test scores; and

     WHEREAS, the State mandated Standard Achievement Test in use at the time is normed so that, nationally, twenty-three per  cent of all students score in the below-average range, but schools in heavy Pidgin-speaking areas typically had fifty per cent or more of their students in the below-average range; and

     WHEREAS, Standard Achievement Test reading scores for Pa‘auilo School from 1991 to 1994 showed a significant drop in below-average scores (down to four per cent in 1994) and a significant increase in average scores; and

     WHEREAS, two bidialectical learning programs, Project Holopono, which took place in 1984 to 1988 involving students in grades four to six, and Project Akamai, which took place in 1989 to 1993, involving students in grades nine and ten, showed improved test scores on standard English by as much as thirty-five to forty per cent; and

     WHEREAS, linguists and second language study experts have found bidialectical teaching strategies to be effective in multilingual situations and exclusionary monolingual teaching strategies to be counterproductive and less effective; and

     WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that fluency in standard English is crucial for meeting proficiency standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act and for keeping Hawai‘i competitive in the global economy; and

     WHEREAS, at the same time, the Legislature also recognizes the value of Hawai‘i Pidgin as an expression of local culture; and

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education has sought to improve English proficiency among Hawai‘i public school students in recent years with limited success; and

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education as yet has no language policy recognizing the widespread and significant role of Hawai‘i Pidgin in Hawai‘i's society; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawai‘i, Regular Session of 2008, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education, in consultation with the College of Education, the Department of Linguistics, and the Department of Second Language Studies of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, is requested to develop bidialectical teaching strategies for teachers whose students' mother tongue is Hawai‘i Pidgin; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Linguistics, the Department of Second Language Studies, and the Charlene Sato Center for Pidgin, Creole and Dialect Studies of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, is requested to identify schools where significant populations of Hawai‘i Pidgin speakers may be found; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education, in consultation with the College of Education, the Department of Linguistics, and the Department of Second Language Studies of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, is requested to develop plans for conducting a controlled study on the effectiveness of bidialectical teaching strategies for Hawai‘i public schools with significant Hawai‘i Pidgin-speaking populations; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Superintendent of Education, in consultation with the College of Education, the Department of Linguistics, and the Department of Second Language Studies of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, is requested to report findings and plans to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2009; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education and the President of the University of Hawai‘i.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

DOE; UH; Bidialectical Teaching Strategies