South Carolina

Charleston teachers to train in identifying Gullah, Geechee

Associated Press
The Gullah dialect runs throughout Lowcountry culture. Here, the Hallelujah Singers, a Gullah ensemble, perform during the Annual Governor’s Carolighting of the South Carolina state tree at the State House in 2014.
The Gullah dialect runs throughout Lowcountry culture. Here, the Hallelujah Singers, a Gullah ensemble, perform during the Annual Governor’s Carolighting of the South Carolina state tree at the State House in 2014. THE STATE File photograph
CHARLESTON

The Charleston County School District is planning to train teachers to identify the patterns of Gullah and Geechee language, as part of an effort to better serve student speakers.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reports the professional development courses will take place before the start of the 2017-2018 school year.

The school district began looking at ways to address language needs after school board member Michael Miller heard concerns that some teachers had no familiarity with the dialects, whose pre-Revolutionary War linguistic origins trace back to the west coast of Africa via the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Gullah storytellers at Caw Caw Interpretive Center take students back to the 18th century in performances held under the oaks where slaves once lived and toiled.
Gullah storytellers at Caw Caw Interpretive Center take students back to the 18th century in performances held under the oaks where slaves once lived and toiled. Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission File photograph

Interim arts and world language coordinator Catherine Hines-McCormack said instructors will teach students to code-switch – intentionally moving between ways of speaking depending on the context, like standardized testing.

“We see it as a positive, but we know that historically it has not been viewed as a positive,” Hines-McCormack said.

The goal is to help teachers understand and appreciate their students’ home language.

Working with Gullah- and Geechee-speaking students is not just a concern on the Sea Islands or in other rural areas, where the Gullah culture took root. School district staff in the past year have learned that a Spanish-speaking Latina student who came to Stall High in North Charleston was communicating using a form of Geechee learned from students there.

The New Testament – “De Nyew Testament” –was translated into Gullah in 2005.
The New Testament – “De Nyew Testament” –was translated into Gullah in 2005. STEPHEN MORTON File photograph

Miller said the goal is to give every student an equal opportunity in the classroom.

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