THE EDITOR, Sir:

THERE IS much talk about defending the Jamaican language. Cultural icon Louise Bennet-Coverley did a very good job in the defence of the native language of Jamaica. Indeed she deserves the honours bestowed upon her.

However, while it is good to retain the language of our forefathers, we must be awaken to the fact that, in this globalised world we cannot survive by simply being able to communicate only with Jamaicans. The English language is the currency of communication in the world today. There is absolutely no debate about this.

The dismal performance of our students at the CXC English language examination reveals without doubt that our students are not spending enough time on the English language and perhaps to some extent are not being coached sufficiently. For instance if one is to learn the Spanish language he/she would no doubt have to spend time practising the language both orally and in writing. But in Jamaica today enough emphasis is not being placed on our students practising to speak the English language correctly. Students especially in our high schools must be urged to communicate among themselves and with others in standard English so as to increase their practising time with the language.

Our athletes who have returned to us with medals from the Olympics did not achieve those goals by slighting the process of training. It took hard work for these athletes to beat the world. To compete likewise in the globalised world, we as a nation must be able not only to speak the common language of the world, we must move towards the mastery. To get to the mastery of English we must return to the good old adage, 'practice makes perfect'.

I am, etc.,

DAVID ALLEN

godsent72@yahoo.com

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