Languages as Socio-Cultural Capital in the Context of Contemporary Linguistic Reality of Jamaica

The paper, "Languages as Socio-Cultural Capital in the Context of Contemporary Linguistic Reality of Jamaica." examines how the narratives of students can offer useful understanding and insights into their attitudes and achievements in second language acquisition. These situations are specific to Creole-speaking learning environments in Jamaica and the Caribbean. The paper also examines how students meet both the Jamaican Creole and Standard Jamaican English and the emerging attitudes based on these encounters. The paper further explores prevailing metaphors that should guide the perception of such students towards having a positive perception of the process of language acquisition. The valuing of all languages as sound economic insights is an overarching theme. The necessity to align the linguistic needs of the citizens or learners and society to these insights should guide language planning and instructions.