Beliefs stated by Da Pidgin Coup:

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Beliefs stated by Da Pidgin Coup:

Da Pidgin Coup, a support group of University of Hawai'i-Manoa faculty and students interested in and supportive of pidgin, summarized its beliefs in a position paper two years ago. Here are highlights of what the group supports:

• Pidgin is a language, just as English is a language.
• All children come to school with a language, and that language should be accepted and never denigrated.
• Some children come to school with Pidgin. The language of these children deserves as much respect as any other language.
• No one should be prevented from using Pidgin where it works in the learning process.
• While teachers should teach standard forms of English, in no way should learning English replace Pidgin.

There's a fundamental difference between speaking and writing: Most children learn to read and write when they come to school; all children can speak before they come to school.

There are social advantages to being able to speak Pidgin, just as there are social advantages to being able to speak English.

There's plenty of room for Pidgin and English to coexist peacefully and be mutually enriching.