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MICHEL DEGRAFF: So it
was very, I would say,

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crucial for me to do this
interview in both English

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and Creole, because I
see Creole languages,

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even in the case of Haiti--
especially in the case

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of Haiti--

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as a particularly revealing
and clear test tube or case

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study to really
show how language

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can be such a powerful
tool either for domination

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or for resistance, either for
oppression or for development.

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So I would love teachers
who are watching this video

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and will look at
the course to see

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how they can adapt
the content in order

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to address similar issues
in their own community,

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because I think that
what you see happening

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in the case of Creole languages
also happens in the US,

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happens in Europe,
in Latin America,

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in Africa, where
language is often

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used as this technology for
domination or resistance.

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And I think this course gives
some basic analytical tools

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to be able to analyze
these patterns.

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And for me, it's
also very important

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that teachers in Haiti
and students in Haiti,

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including, say, future
leaders or policymakers,

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get to understand this
course and the readings

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and to understand that
Haiti could do so much

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better if teachers,
students, leaders

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had this awareness of how
our attitudes towards Creole

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versus French have played
over centuries in keeping

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the country underdeveloped.

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And if they could get a
better sense of the importance

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of language in
education development,

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then I think the country
would do so much better.

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For me, it's a key
bottleneck that we

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have to go past
in order to really

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be able to develop
a nation, is to be

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able to understand the
history and the nature

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of your ancestral
language and to be

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able to use it in a more
systematic and productive way.

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If you cannot do that, there
is no way that you can develop

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a whole nation that
speaks that language.