Dominio de la lengua española entre estudiantes de grado quinto en la Isla de Providencia

This article delves into some of the results generated by the administration of a test (WLBP-R)1 that measured the Spanish language proficiency of fifth graders from two primary schools on the island of Providence between the years 1999 and 2000. Some samples of this test suggest that these students, whose parents are either creole or mixed (creole-mainlander) exhibit a Spanish language performance typical of second language users –in agreement to the sociolinguistic conditions of the island. Such an acknowledgment derives in a critical reflection about the State test ICFES and its evaluation of language, since the tests have been designed for an ideal Spanish speaking student who lives in a monolingual sociolinguistic reality. This explains why the students from Providence Island –speakers of an English-based creole- have been continuously attaining the lowest standards on both ICFES and SABER tests applied to measure language. Such tests associate language to Spanish, leaving students, who belong to bilingual minority communities, in comparative disadvantage