This section will review the previous knowledge on the relationship between the language used and the academic performance of students. It will also analyze and present briefly the effect of the teaching language on the performance of students outside the academic arenas. Furthermore, emphasis will be made on research which suggests that the use of French as the official academic language in Saint Martin has any effect on the performance of the students. This review will set the foundation for the proposed study. The literature review will justify the need for the study to be carried out to fill in the missing links.

Holistic Education

The sole intent of education is to build up a holistic student. After going through the education system successfully, it is expected that the resulting person will have qualities which will make him or her whole person with all that he or she requires to tackle life. According to a research conducted by a commission made up of leading thinkers, researchers and practitioners from many education related sectors that was convened by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), a successful education system should produce students who are holistic (2006; Alegria de la Colina & Del Pilar Garcia Mayo, 2009). Previous studies byYin (2010) indicate that the net effect of education is not solely reflected by the results of the academic tests. The commission appreciates that there are a number of factors that the students should possess so that any education system may be regarded as effective (McClure, & Cahnmann?Taylor, 2010). For instance, the resulting student should be knowledgeable, emotionally and physically healthy, civically inspired, engaged in arts, and prepared for arts and economic self-sufficiency, and ready for the world beyond formal schooling (Yin, 2010).

According to Holistic Education Network (HEN), holistic education is concerned with the development of every student’s intellectual, emotional, social, artistic, creative and spiritual potentials (HEN, 2012). This can be achieved only by actively engaging the student in the learning process. Holistic education should focus on nurturing healthy and whole persons who can learn whatever they need to know in any context (Reyes & Kleyn, 2010). Holistic education introduces the students to different forms of creation to help them critically analyses any situation so that they can fully understand it.

The success of this form of education is founded on its heavy reliance on culture. Holistic education accepts and appreciates that knowledge is created within the person’s cultural context. Within this context, facts are seldom more than just the shared points of view. Holistic education encourages transfer of knowledge across separate academic disciplines. To achieve the purpose of education, holistic study principles dictate that a person must approach culture with exceptional keenness (HEN, 2012; Short, Echevarria & Richards?Tutor, 2011).

The greatest barrier to achieving holistic education is the use of second languages in education. This is because holistic education heavily relies on the culture to achieve its intended purpose (HEN, 2012; Powell & Kalina, 2009).However, use of the native language is vital in the maintenance of native culture (Schiffman, 2000). It is the native language that carries most of the aspects of a particular culture. Basically, a culture is defined by the language and any attempts to transfer aspects of that particular culture into a new language lose most of the aspects of the culture. It is thereby impossible to integrate the culture into an education system that uses a secondary language (Pamela, 2009).

French is the official academic language in Saint Martin. French is also used as the official language in most instances (Saint Martin Guide, 2012; Carbondale, 2009). However, the language is regarded as a secondary language by most of the island’s residents. Majority of the people regard Creole and a few Spanish as their first language. Creole is also the common social language among the residents. It is used in non-formal social setups as the channel of communication. On the other hand, French and English are used as official languages and teaching is done in these languages (Carbondale, 2009). Although English is acceptable in schools, is only rarely used for social functions. French is thereby extensively used in class setups but not in the contemporary life, which delinks the lives of the people from the education system. This leads to the students being less interested in education (Montelongo, Herter, Ansaldo & Hatter, 2010). As the setup of the community, their culture and general lifestyle is highly intertwined in Creole language (Sullivan, 2009). The language bears important myths, word expressions and constructions, and beliefs of the people living in Saint Martin. It is also used at home to impact morals into the students by their parents and community at large (Motschenbacher, 2011).

However, it is not the language that the teachers use to impact academic morals and knowledge in the same students. This creates a conflict into the students on what to hold onto. In other words, a student is put into a confusing situation that is developed by the two sides, either English or French. If holistic life was to be achieved on the basis of culture and day to day practices of the people, the teachers would be left with no other option but translate the culture to French, the official academic language. Pascal (2012) argues that, a word arranged different has a different meaning. Consequently, there will be differently arranged meanings which have a different effect. In his research, Yazzie-Mintz (2011) argues that attempts to translate the solution would mean changing the constructions of wordings, consequently the order of presenting the ideas a position that is also held by other education academicians (Ahn, 2011). This would adversely impact on the culture and shred it of its taste. Holistic education would thus not be achievable.

Effect of language used in the performance of the students

Teaching in the first language may be beneficial for the students (Manchu, 2006). However, in the quest of standardizing education, one language is commonly used in most education systems. (Dantas-Whitney & Waldschmidt, 2009). Most of the time, the education system is a secondary language, which the students exhibit low mastery (Dooley & Assaf, 2009).   For instance, in Saint Martin, French is used as the official academic language although majority of the population regard Creole as their native and mother tongue. According to Manchu, a Nobel peace Laureate working with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a goodwill ambassador or culture and peace, use of a standard language cuts many students from their culture and therefore they spend most of their time in school trying to understand what was implied by a certain linguistic construction instead of building their knowledge. Manchu (2006) postulates that the use of one standard language is beneficial to the stability of a country and in stirring economic growth but holds down the chances of the students expanding their intellectual capacity. In his opinion, use of a second language in teaching leads to the students struggling to learn the language rather than what the education system needs them to learn.

Majority of the people have at least experienced what it is like to struggle through the academic life Garcia & Bauer, 2009). Similarly, a significant proportion holds testimony as to how it feels to be forced to drop out of learning institutions as a result of monetary and physical complications (World Bank, 2012). However, Helen Pinnock, an Education Advisor for Save the Children’s London education policy team, through her report suggests that only a few know what the frustration of being forced to set aside the quest for education because of language barrier as a result of the authorities deciding to use a language that the students do not understand (Helen, 2007).

Now more than ever, unity in diversity is vital for human development and justice. Reflecting this in our schools is vital. All those working to improve the quality and reach of education now have an opportunity to recognize the vital role that children’s language plays in learning, and to put genuine investment and commitment into good quality multilingual education (Helen, 2007, p. 32).

Many education researchers agree that the use of a language that is not dominant in the daily lives of the student’s impacts on their education prospects negatively (Helen, 2007; Irujo, 2004). The report by Helen (2007) further indicates that inappropriate language for instructions can tip the balance into complete exclusion for student facing any barriers in education. In linguistically diverse countries, particularly those with high rural population, it is very sensible to treat school language as one of the most important variables in fostering good quality learning outcomes as well as improving access. However, Saint Martin is not linguistically diverse because there is a dominant language, Creole. This is the primary language for most of the resident’s population and could be easily used as the school language (Jeffry, 2011).

Researchers agree that it is possible to deliver education in ways which may improve the understanding of the children and which make sure that students are in a position to master the second language while maintaining and developing their primary language (McClure, & Cahnmann?Taylor, 2010; Manchu, 2006).   A large body of information indicates that it is possible to have a mother tongue multilingual teaching. Mother tongue multilingual system is not only cost effective but also greatly expands access to education (Helen, 2007). When planned and resourced well, mother tongue based multilingual education can have substantial impact on both education access and quality (Manchu, 2006). Reyes & Kleyn (2010) defines multilingual education as a type of learning that is instructed through the first language. Multilingual education is based on the idea, first-language-first. It advocates for learners to start learning their mother tongues first, followed by transitional to other languages.

Available findings support the hypothesis that the use of second language as the school language is detrimental to the students. This is because the language undermines the actual purpose of education, where students spends most of their time trying to comprehend what some of the linguistic constructions means rather than conceptualizing the ideas contained there within (Scott, & De la Fuenté, 2008).   Using the first language in set ups where the second language is supposed to be the primary teaching language may enhance the efficiency of the education system. According to a study by Zangani (2012) suggest that there are many benefits of using the first language in second education systems that standardizes in second language. His study is further backed up by studies of Scott, & De la Fuenté, (2008). Some of these include benefits ranging from the semantic level to the linguistic, psychological, cognitive, and social (Zangani, 2012; Scott, & De la Fuenté, 2008). In addition the study projected that there was a positive correlation between use of the first language and higher levels of student motivation (Zangani, 2012).

The purpose of education is to produce students who are holistically developed (Short, Echevarria & Richards?Tutor, 2011). Motivated students are more holistic than students without motivation. Research indicates that motivated persons are generally more self-assured and therefore stand a higher chance to direct their efforts in a variety of multiple items. Such persons are generally more willing to take a risk than demotivated persons (Zangani, 2012). Motivating the students therefore leads to them trying many things which develop them holistically. This improves their chances of excellence not only in education but also in contemporary life (Wolk, 2011; Cummins, 2007). Evidently, the use of the first language which the students are comfortable with enhances their academic performance (Cummins, 2007).

Second language teachers agree that the best way of gaining mastery of the second language is by mastering the first language first before then using the acquired skills to learn the secondary language (Zangani, 2012; Rolin-Ianziti, & Varshney, 2008). To achieve fluency in the second language, teachers encourage their students to master their mother tongues or the primary language they use in education set up (Tellowitz, 2002). To this effect, mastering Creole is the only way that the students in Saint Martin Island can master coherence in French, a position supported by Jeffry (2011).. In addition, the teaching staff should use more of Creole in the class setups than French, thereby increasing the chances of the students grasping what they are taught (Jeffry, 2011). Research indicates that, use of a secondary language such as French instead of Creole leads to the students spending most of time trying to interpret what they are told in the second language into the first language so that they can comprehend (Tellowitz, 2002). For the reason of the efforts dedicated into interpretation from second to first language, the academic performance of the students is brought down (Yayli, 2012). In addition, during the process of interpretation, research indicates that meanings are often lost which leads to confusion. It becomes harder to connect the independent ideas and understand them clearly (Powell & Kalina, 2009). It is for this reason that the Danish Education network concluded that, “successful education programs require a relevant curriculum that can be taught and learned in local language and builds upon the knowledge and experience of the teachers and learners (Genesee, 2007, p.41).

With reference to working document draft by Carless (2008), use of the first language as the school language increases the returns on investment on education significantly. Carless (2008) also indicates such a move would improve social and economic development for the country in question. This will be coupled by an improved understanding of the country and the community which will propel scientific discoveries.

Using the first language

There is a high correlation between academic excellence and excellence in the general life (Wolk, 2011; Brock-Utne, 2007). Many people hold the belief that excellence in academics reflects the achievements that a person is likely to make in life (EFA, 2005). Bullock (2009) establishes that learning in any classroom is done through a language. Teachers or lecturers ask questions, orchestrate discussions and assign reading and writing tasks in a particular language (Bullock. 2009; Karbalaei, 2011). Use of a strange language, one that the students are not comfortable with, results in the students getting confused (Carless, 2008). This reduces their contribution and interest on the subject of discussion (Zangani, 2012; Wolk, 2011). This reduces their chances of academic excellence in the topic of discussion (Eicks, 2006; Llurda, 2006; Tellowitz, 2002). There are many benefits of adopting education systems that uses a standardized language particularly the official language of the country in question, for instance, the use of French in Saint Martin (Genesee, 2007; Crichton, 2009). The use of such a language encourages free communication between individuals with different cultural background which fosters peaceful coexistence among the members (Negueruela-Azarola, 2011).

The use of a common language also encourages economic development because there is easy sharing of ideas between members of different communities (Matsuda, Jordan & Ortmeier-Hooper, 2006). This proposition contradicts with the hypothesis that the use of second language is detrimental to the progress of the students (Barlow, & Nadeau, 2008). The two different stands, taken by the two propositions, are conflicting and each offers justification of the use of either; standardized language or the first language as the classroom language. In Saint Martin, a secondary standard language is used. According to the literature available, the use of French as the class room language in the region may be both beneficial and detrimental (Negueruela-Azarola, 2011; Matsuda, Jordan & Ortmeier-Hooper, 2006). This is not conclusive and leaves the reader wondering what his or her use of French as the official classroom language has no benefits to the performance of the students in Saint Martin or not (Brock-Utne, 2007). There is thereby a need to do further research to establish the real impact of using French in the classrooms of Saint Martin Island.

Summary

The literature acknowledges that there is a strong connection between the use of secondary language and poor performance as St. Martins. The literature suggests that there is the need to shift from French as the primary instruction language to first languages. Benefits accrued from multilingual are tied on reducing the time and complexities of interpreting what is taught in secondary language to first language. It is also evident that children need to begin mystery of the first language, and use the acquired skills to learn the secondary language. These studies acknowledged the fact that students whose first language is not French have more difficulties in school than their native French counterparts. Such difficulties involve the confusion state that the students are made to experience through the setting of a mixed-up language. Usually, the student is left hanging, on the appropriate language to use. Encouraging education using the first language is directly linked to the increased development of every student’s intellectual, emotional, social, artistic, creative and spiritual potentials.

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