Editing Jamaica (section)

===Languages===
{{Main|Jamaican Patois|Jamaican English}}

Jamaica is regarded as a [[bilingual]] country, with two major languages used by the population.<ref>Ronald C. Morren and Diane M. Morren (2007). [http://www-01.sil.org/silewp/2007/silewp2007-009.pdf Are the goals and objectives of Jamaica's Bilingual Education Project being met?"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516230512/http://www-01.sil.org/silewp/2007/silewp2007-009.pdf |date=16 May 2017}} – [[SIL International]] (working paper). Retrieved 31 August 2015.</ref><ref name="cia.gov"/> The official language is [[Jamaican English|(Jamaican) English]], which is "used in all domains of public life", including the government, the legal system, the media, and education. However, the primary spoken language is an [[English-based creole languages|English-based creole language]] called [[Jamaican Patois]] (or Patwa). The two exist in a dialect continuum, with speakers using a different speech register depending on the context and to whom they speak. "Pure" Patois, though sometimes perceived as merely a particularly aberrant dialect of English, is essentially mutually unintelligible with standard English and linguists consider it a distinct language, though most of its vocabulary originally derives from English.<ref name="EBJ"/> A 2007 survey by the Jamaican Language Unit found that 17.1 percent of the population were [[Monolingualism|monolingual]] in Jamaican Standard English (JSE), 36.5 percent were monolingual in Patois, and 46.4 percent were bilingual, although earlier surveys had pointed to a greater degree of bilingualism (up to 90 percent).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jettka |first=Daniel |date=2010 |title=English in Jamaica: The Coexistence of Standard Jamaican English and the English-based Jamaican Creole |url=http://www.daniel-jettka.de/pdf/JETTKA-The_language_situation_of_Jamaica.pdf |journal=Hamburg Centre for Language Corpora |publisher=[[Hamburg University]] |access-date=31 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115010332/http://www.daniel-jettka.de/pdf/JETTKA-The_language_situation_of_Jamaica.pdf |archive-date=15 November 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Jamaican education system had only in about 2015 begun to offer formal instruction in Patois while retaining JSE as the "official language of instruction".<ref>Claude Robinson (30 March 2014). [http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/English-lessons-for-Jamaica_16372740 "English lessons for Jamaica"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010104228/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/English-lessons-for-Jamaica_16372740 |date=10 October 2015 }} – ''[[Jamaica Observer]]''. Retrieved 31 August 2015.</ref>

Additionally, some Jamaicans use one or more of [[Jamaican Sign Language]] (JSL), [[American Sign Language]] (ASL) or the declining indigenous [[Jamaican Country Sign Language]] (Konchri Sain).<ref name=e25jcs>{{e25|jcs|Konchri Sain}}</ref> Both JSL and ASL are rapidly replacing Konchri Sain for a variety of reasons.<ref name=e25jcs/>