Since both pidgins and creoles tend to attract strong prejudices, it is worth talking about these and challenging them early on. It is valuable to build on any personal knowledge which the students may have. Students and resourcesįew British students will have personal experience of any established pidgin, but many will have some experience with Caribbean creoles directly or indirectly, through knowing speakers personally or being familiar with music such as rap and hip-hop where Creole plays a part. Furthermore, because of their inherent interest, pidgins and creoles can be approached at any level of study: some students will have done something in this area at A-level, while a course can be tailored to suit students in the first, second or third year of undergraduate study. There are also interdisciplinary links, for example to literature studies (particularly postcolonial literature) and development studies. Because of their many points of interest, pidgins and creoles can be used to provide engaging examples of various aspects of syntax, morphology, language acquisition, second language learning, language planning, language rights, globalisation and multilingualism.

For this reason, many courses in general linguistics or sociolinguistics will include some element of pidgin and creole studies, though few undergraduates will have an entire course solely on pidgins and creoles. Pidgin and Creole studies have come to be seen as important for the development of linguistic theory (particularly in the areas of language acquisition, language contact, typology and sociolinguistics) since the 1970s.

Sample outline of a 9-week course on pidgins and creoles.

Pidgins and Creoles - core areas of study.This article suggests ways in which different areas of linguistics can be illuminated by including a discussion of pidgins/creoles, as well as giving a suggested outline for a stand-alone course.

An introduction to pidgins and creoles