Data was transcribed, coded and categorized, then presented qualitatively and quantitatively. The mixed method study was informed through the use of non-participant observation, structured group interviews and questionnaires. This study seeks to provide a comparative insight into these perceptions held by teachers of English Language and teachers of other disciplines, with a view to addressing related concerns. Teachers at Don Martina Central Secondary School* (DMCSS) express concerns about the usage of Creole in both students' speech and writing in the classroom, and some see it as a major reason for poor results at the Caribbean Examinations Council's (CXC) Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) English Language. Although the Ministry of Education mandated that this substrate be used in the instructional process in classrooms, it was done so in a marginal way whereby it was 'tolerated' (Youssef ,2002) until the students' Caribbean Standard English was at an acceptable level. The English-based Creole in Trinidad has been seen as a language of low status for decades by some educators, parents and students. The thesis contributes a detailed monograph on the study of borderland cultures and demonstrates the value of applying several lenses to the study of identity in complex areas of the world. The ethnographic data is presented in three parts with each section drawing upon the relevant theories to examine the field data on the Marma group. These different approaches help to piece together the various components of Marma cultural identity. The research also explores other essentially different approaches that have similar conceptual outcomes, such as the theories that stress that traditional practice and ethnic identity are invented afresh according to present historical contexts and in response to both internal and/or external pressures.
These latter theories point towards a fluid process of reconfiguring and recasting of structure or creating order from chaos, in response to changes in the environment.
From the maintenance of the boundaries of culture to the processes at work within culture through concepts such as creolization, syncretism, and entanglement.
The study employs various approaches to understanding the creation and reproduction of identity. The thesis presents the historical processes behind the hybridity of this ethnic group and how it eventually came to be under one self-identifying label - the Marma. Specifically, it establishes the nature of the cultural distinctness of one of the largest ethnic groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh. The thesis is an exploration of identity on the borderlands between South and Southeast Asia.
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