2.1. Explore how Belizeans use and switch between languages and the impact this might have on their identity.
Belizeans often switch between one language and another. Can you understand what the student from Orange Walk is saying in the box below? Do you or other people you know switch between languages? Why do you think this happens?
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Most Belizeans speak more than one language and many switch easily between one language and another depending on who they are speaking to, what they are speaking about and what the situation is.
Some Questions
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What is Bileez Kriol?
Bileez Kriol, or just Kriol is the name given to one of the languages of Belize. Kriol is one of about 50 creole languages in the world. Creole languages emerge when two or more languages are mixed and simplified. They are common in the Caribbean where they developed because of the need for Europeans to communicate with the enslaved people brought from Africa.
Kriol takes most of its words from English but its grammatical and sound systems are different. For example, Kriol does not change the ending of a verb to indicate its tense and it does not add an -s to the end of words when they are plural.
Make a list of Kriol words that are not used in English.
Bileez Kriol, or just Kriol is the name given to one of the languages of Belize. Kriol is one of about 50 creole languages in the world. Creole languages emerge when two or more languages are mixed and simplified. They are common in the Caribbean where they developed because of the need for Europeans to communicate with the enslaved people brought from Africa.
Kriol takes most of its words from English but its grammatical and sound systems are different. For example, Kriol does not change the ending of a verb to indicate its tense and it does not add an -s to the end of words when they are plural.
Make a list of Kriol words that are not used in English.
2.2. Compare and contrast how traditional beliefs and cultural practices such as marriage, death rites and rites of passage occur in at least two ethnic groups.
2.3. Explore how beliefs and cultural practices of a specified ethnic group are changing.
2.4. Explain how changes in language, beliefs and cultural practices are reshaping concepts of ethnic and national identity in modern Belize.
Language and Ethnicity
Possibly as a result of education, the link between a person's ethnicity and the languages they speak is not as strong as it used to be. For example, it is not unusual to find Garifuna families in which the grandparents speak mostly Garifuna, the parents speak Garifuna, English and Kriol and the children speak only English and Kriol. However, all the members of the family are ethnically Garifuna.
How Important is English to Belizean Identity? Is this Changing?
Belize is considered an English speaking country, even though English is the first language of few of its inhabitants. For some people, the use of English in Belize is an important way of distinguishing it from other Central American countries. English also connects Belize to the Caribbean.
However
Possibly as a result of education, the link between a person's ethnicity and the languages they speak is not as strong as it used to be. For example, it is not unusual to find Garifuna families in which the grandparents speak mostly Garifuna, the parents speak Garifuna, English and Kriol and the children speak only English and Kriol. However, all the members of the family are ethnically Garifuna.
How Important is English to Belizean Identity? Is this Changing?
Belize is considered an English speaking country, even though English is the first language of few of its inhabitants. For some people, the use of English in Belize is an important way of distinguishing it from other Central American countries. English also connects Belize to the Caribbean.
However