I write in response to Shakey Williams’ letter, ‘The Patois Hypocrisy’ published on May 19, which was triggered by MP Nekeisha Burchell’s decision to speak Patois in Gordon House. His argument regurgitates a familiar, but flawed claim: that valorising Jamaican Patois somehow threatens English, literacy, or Jamaica’s competitiveness.

First, no serious advocate of Jamaican language rights is arguing that English should be abolished or marginalized. What many of us support is bilingualism and biliteracy, the ability of Jamaicans to function confidently in both Jamaican Creole and Standard Jamaican English. No one disputes that English remains important for international communication, academia, diplomacy, and formal writing. However, recognizing Jamaican Creole in Parliament or other public spaces does not weaken English.

Mr Williams also argues that many defending MP Burchell spoke Standard English during television interviews, as though this somehow disproves the value of Patois. But Jamaicans routinely move between Creole and Standard English depending on audience and context.