Cape Verdean in education

This paper illustrates how the Cape Verdean language evolved from being oral to gaining written representation, a necessary step before integrating the educational realm. We report three sociolinguistic surveys showing the gradual shift in attitudes by native speakers towards the Cape Verdean language. We also examine the evolution of orthographic conventions in Cape Verde and demonstrate that they correlate with creole identity and reflect a complex interplay of social, symbolic and political factors. We describe the challenges the language has encountered in gaining a footing in education including dialectal variation and inadequate linguistic description. Finally, we provide a list of recommendations (including teacher training and parental outreach) to be implemented to help the language gain its place in education. Keywords: Cape Verdean language; Cape Verdean Creole Institute; UNESCO position papers on Education; ALUPEC; orthographic choices