Courses at UH Mānoa

Introduction to Pidgin in Hawai‘i (SLS 130)

SLS 130 is offered every Fall semester in the Department of Second Language Studies.

Course Description

This course introduces students to Pidgin, the creole language of Hawai‘i, through examining an intersection of issues and perspectives related to language rights. Students will learn about the social, political, and economic issues related to Pidgin, and they will engage with perspectives on Pidgin from Native Hawaiians, local people in Hawai‘i, and newcomers to Hawai‘i. To engage students in learning about the breadth of language rights issues in Asia-Pacific contexts, the course will frequently compare language rights of Pidgin speakers with the experiences of speakers of other languages, including Hawaiian and other creoles of the Pacific. Comparisons will also be made with the language rights and language discrimination experienced by speakers of other languages in Hawai‘i. While more than 500,000 people in Hawaiʻi speak Pidgin, there are many myths and misconceptions about this language that call for further attention, all of which are ultimately tied up in the concept of language rights. With language rights as the organizing principle of the course, students will learn about Pidgin speakers’ rights in education, media, face-to-face communication, creative expression, and various real-world contexts.

Pidgin and Creole English in Hawai‘i (SLS 430)

SLS 430 is offered every Fall, Spring, and Summer 1 semesters in the Department of Second Language Studies.

Course Description

This course provides a general understanding of the sociohistorical background and linguistic structure of both Hawaii Pidgin English (HPE) and Hawai‘i Creole English (HCE). It also addresses the question of language attitudes, language education and literary heritage. Present day attitudes in the school system and community toward HCE receive particular attention.

This is what the lecturer for this course says about it:

Of the three major languages in Hawai‘i – Hawaiian, English, and Hawai‘i Creole – the creole, despite having a half million speakers, is the only one without official status. This is largely due to the socio-history, attitudes and misconceptions surrounding this language, more popularly known as Pidgin. This course addresses these issues.

This course going also look at the linguistic structure of Pidgin. We going compare and contrast the Pidgin grammar with the English grammar.

On top of dat, we going see how people stay use Pidgin when dey write da kine stories and plays like dat.
Ai laik yu gaiz lrn hau fo rait da Pijin wan nyu we tu, so yu goin lrn wan nyu spelin de kawl da Odo Otawgrafi.

GUD FAN GOIN BI!!!

If had fo undastan kam klas fo da transleishen.