MY RESEARCH 

In general, my research centers on French and francophone studies, Creoles, Haitian language and culture, bi/plurilingualism, multiliteracies, language ideologies, critical discourse analysis, students development of foreign language proficiencies, and the role of language in students’ academic achievement; particularly those whose first language differs from the mainstream language of classrooms.

So far, my research has addressed the general post-Columbian experience of the African Diaspora as expressed through language, culture, and educational experiences. As part of my larger research agenda I have examined linguistic forms and practices and language re-appropriation as taking shape via what Daniel Miller has described as "modes of objectification.” 

This research argues that language and culture in the African Diaspora francophone Caribbean region is part of a dialectic whereby African Diaspora subjects engage in a work of sublimation of human values as part of a process involving the negation of fixed and rigid identities. 

This research assesses specific examples of francophone Caribbean literary productions and language evolution through the lenses of a long-lasting colonial legacy where European-based dominant ideologies serve as key parts of the framework to analyze the challenges and perspectives of the process of self-consciousness with regard to African Diaspora subjects.

Another aspect of my research discusses the interaction between language and classroom practices in plurilingual contexts. My recent classroom research addressed some of the issues (e.g. social, historical, economic, linguistic, political) that intersect with school underachievement and its consequences for individual social mobility. This research investigates the academic development of Haitian students in relation to the historical facets that have shaped educational practices of Haiti as a post-colonial francophone and creolophone Caribbean milieu. 

The findings from this three-year study suggest that, 1) due to the unresolved dichotomy French-Creole in the education system, students were often relegated to reciting lessons that focused on formal accuracy and factual information from textbooks, 2) content-specific discourse practices were less significant in shaping the nature of classroom talk, and 3) differences between private and public schools were also not significant in shaping classroom discursive practices. In sum, I found that these classroom discursive practices limit both language learning opportunities and the construction of content knowledge, and re-inscribed colonial subjectivities. 

The implication of this study centers on re-conceiving language policies, teaching and learning practices, and teachers’ professional development opportunities as a means of addressing the achievement and opportunity gaps in Haiti.

PUBLICATIONS

BOOK

Jean-Pierre, M. (2016). Language and Learning in a Post-Colonial Context: A Critical Ethnographic Study in Schools in Haiti. Routledge, UK. https://www.routledge.com/Language-and-Learning-in-a-Post-Colonial-Context-A-Critical-Ethnographic/Jean-Pierre/p/book/9781138499089 

ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS IN ENGLISH


1.     Jean-Pierre, M. (2021). The Education System of Haiti - History, Challenges, and Perspectives. In S. Jornitz, M. Parreira do Amaral (eds.), The Education Systems of the Americas, Global Education Systems, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93443-3_33-1.

 

2.     Jean-Pierre, M. (2021). The Education System of The Bahamas - The First Quarter of the Twenty-First Century. In S. Jornitz, M. Parreira do Amaral (eds.), The Education Systems of the Americas, Global Education Systems, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93443-3_32-1

 

3.     Jean-Pierre, M. (2019). Language, Education, and Development: Postcolonial

Societies and Neoliberalism, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 40:4, 507-522, DOI:10.1080/01425692.2019.1591269. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2019.1591269.


4. Jean-Pierre, M. (2013). The challenge and Promise of Multilingualism in the Caribbean: Focus on Haiti. In Jo Arthur Shoba and Feliciano Chimbutane (eds.) Bilingual Education and Language Policy in the Global South. Routledge, UK.





ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS IN HAITIAN CREOLE

1. Jean-Pierre, M. (2022). Timoun, kouman nou wè tèt mòn yo? Entèvansyon dyalojik nan yon sal klas an Ayiti. https://www.lenational.org/post_article.php?cul=410 

2. Jean-Pierre, M. (2022). Kreyòl, Fransè, Anglè, Espayòl : pwopozisyon sou estati pedagojik lang yo an Ayiti. https://www.lenational.org/post_article.php?cul=1126 

3. Jean-Pierre, M. (2023). Lang ak devlòpman konesans nan sal klas yo an Ayiti. https://www.lenational.org/post_article.php?cul=402.

4.     Jean-Pierre, M. (2016). “Kesyon Lang nan Ansèyman Siperyè nan Peyi Ayiti”. Haiti Perspectives, Vol 5(2)

5. Jean-Pierre, M. (2013). Pwoblèm lang instriksyon an n Ayiti: Yon etid etnografik sou lang ak edikasyon an n Ayiti. In Govain Renaud (ed.): Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen – Ki Pwoblèm? Ki Avantaj? Ki Defi? Ki Avni? Inivèsite Leta Ayiti (ed.) Ak Kòlòk Entènasyonal sou akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen an.