A return to the past? The Spanish as the First Foreign Language policy in Trinidad and Tobago

Autor: Hoyte-West Antony
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Open Linguistics, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 235-243 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2300-9969
DOI: 10.1515/opli-2021-0018
Popis: Situated close to the coast of Venezuela, the small twin-island nation of Trinidad & Tobago is geographically South American, but culturally Caribbean. Despite colonisation by various European powers, years of British rule and the ensuing dominance of English have meant that the country’s rich ethnic and cultural heritage is currently not paralleled by equivalent linguistic diversity. Building on the country’s natural position as a bridge between the English and Spanish-speaking worlds, the government launched the Spanish as the First Foreign Language (SAFFL) policy in 2005, with the aim to enhance trade links with Latin America through increased use of Spanish in the education system, civil service, and wider society. After outlining the historical and sociocultural background underpinning the SAFFL policy, this study examines the initiative’s implementation and surveys its impact, seeking to evaluate the policy’s effectiveness as a whole.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals