Technology threat to language

THE BARBADOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE (BCC) is concerned about the impact of emerging technologies on the English language.

Speaking at the fifth disbursement of the John Wickham Scholarship yesterday at the BCC, deputy principal Dr Sylvia Hackett said most of those changes were not complementary to the "English language so revered by the late John Wickham".

"When we advance sometimes we have to go back and we have to look at the advances that we make and see where we are losing things and make sure that those things are not lost to us," she stated.

Hackett noted that the college always looked forward to the time of year when the scholarships were awarded, because it meant the reading and writing of English was given prominence.

She was particularly pleased that there was a record six awardees this year.

"We are trying our best to stem the onslaught on the English language . . . We welcome the assistance of the John Wickham scholarship in trying to curb this onslaught," Hackett added.

Executive editor of the NATION Roxanne Gibbs said she was pleased that the number of awardees was increasing every year.

Gibbs noted that the "Senator", as he was fondly referred to, would have been pleased that six students were this year's recipients.

"Those of us who worked with him knew of his passion for excellence and his contribution to the arts, especially literature, he made a great contribution not only to the NATION, but also to the nation as a whole," Gibbs said as she encouraged the awardees to do some research on Wickham.

Speaking on behalf of the awardees, Lashonna Andrews said they were proud to be among the elite group of scholarship winners. The scholarship was launched in 2004 to honour the late NATION columnist John Wickham.

Students of literature who achieve a grade point average of 3.50 or higher are eligible for the scholarship. One male and five females qualified for the scholarship this year.

The 2009 awardees are: Lashona Andrews, Mercedes Antrobus, Alicia Haynes, Chloe Noel, Katherine O'Brien and Rico Went. (YB)