If we invite students to perceive writing as a means to self-expression, what happens when the self that is expressing thoughts uses a different type of English than our academic systems support? For example, how do we handle self expressions from those raised using a dialect in their homes and communities?
Notes from Wikipedia and Linguistics Society
"African American Vernacular English (AAVE)—also called African American English (AAE); less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular (BEV), or Black Vernacular English (BVE)—is a variety (dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of American English, culturally spoken by urban working-class African Americans and largely bi-dialectal middle-class African Americans.[1] Non-linguists sometimes call it Ebonics, a term that also has other meanings and connotations.[2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_Vernacular_English
"At its most literal level, Ebonics simply means 'black speech' (a blend of the words ebony 'black' and phonics 'sounds'). The term was created in 1973 by a group of black scholars who disliked the negative connotations of terms like 'Nonstandard Negro English' that had been coined in the 1960s when the first modern large-scale linguistic studies of African American speech-communities began. However, the term Ebonics never caught on among linguists, much less among the general public. That all changed with the 'Ebonics' controversy of December 1996 when the Oakland (CA) School Board recognized it as the 'primary' language of its majority African American students and resolved to take it into account in teaching them standard or academic English. " - http://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/what-ebonics-african-american-english
If you were raised expressing yourself through an English dialect, what happened when you started going to school where you were expected to express yourself differently? What worked? What didn't? What lessons can you share? Any other ideas out there on this issue? Leecy
Comments
Adult Learners come to us with language patterns that do not match the grammar rules of standard English. Should we use the Language Experience approach of teaching students to read and write what they say without correction? How do you approach early literacy instruction? Leecy