Inquiry #5: From the Mouths of Babes

In Victoria Purcell-Gates’s article, she acknowledges the fact that children come to school with some sort of “literacy knowledge.” This is something that I do not think occurs to many teachers. They think of the students coming to them as blank canvases or empty shells. However, these children know things or know that they do not know things. The child’s awareness of what he or she does not know can be built on to create new connections and learn more things. However, as each person differs, it may become increasingly difficult to determine just how much students about literacy and to what extent they know it. How should this be done? A diagnostic test perhaps?

Lack of Experience =/= Lack of Intelligence

Victoria Purcell-Gates' article, "As Soon as she Opened Her Mouth: Issues of Language, Literacy and Power" describes the problem of literacy experience related to learning literacy. If children grow up in a home where literacy is limited, then their understanding of literacy is limited as well, and the degree of understanding is based on the degree of literacy in the home.

My first question in response to this article is this: As middle/high school teachers, how should we be prepared to deal with children who still have not learned literacy? This article seems to be related to grade-school teachers more than secondary school teachers. If students come into our classrooms at 14-17 years old and still have not had the experience with literacy necessary to become good readers who can comprehend large pieces of literature, how are we supposed to deal with that? It seems that it would be very difficult to try to teach someone the skills necessary to keep up in a literature class if they've had experiences like Donny did all of their lives. The only solution I can think of is an enormous amount of supplemental tutoring.

This article actually made me think about possibly going into primary education for the first time in years. I have always considered reading to young children in the home one of the most important responsibilities in raising a child.

Chapter 8 Inquiry

“It is the duty of teachers to guide all students to literacy with equal rigor without ever telling them that the language they speak is wrong,” says Dr. Victoria Purcell-Gates. Dr. Purcell-Gates essay in The Skin That We Speak is about students’ literacy being affected by their income levels and the stereotypes they face because of it. She also talks about how the lack of reading and writing in homes leads to illiterate students. She stresses that stereotypes and teacher attitudes towards poor income students have created a major fault in the education system. She strives to inform the reader that students are marked from the beginning as failures and being ignored by their teachers and school leaders.

Dr. Purcell-Gates brings up a great point about education, “With these socio-politically driven attitudes toward the language that people speak, think with, and learn with, is it any wonder that there is a class difference in learning and achievement? She hits it right on the mark! Students from the middle classes and students from low level incomes receive the same education in public schools. Why then do some excel better than others? Is it the fault or stereotype that the teacher displays? Or is it the lack of effort, perseverance, faith, or determination by the student?

Because teachers put such great effort into the success of their students and should never give up on their students, students are expected to put forth the same effort. While I believe that we should do what we can to help students who want to learn to read and write, sometimes there are students who have no motivation. Once a teacher has done all that he/she can do, the rest of the job is left up to the students. I believe that students need to put forth the same amount of perseverance as the teacher does. Without the student cooperation, the attempt would be a waste of time.

Inquiry Chapter 8

In this chapter we Purcell-Gates discuss the idea of judging a person based on their medium of communication. The boy Donnie's mother is not heard because she is illiterate. While we rarely come into contact with illiterate people in America what is Purcell-Gates trying to say about our judgements?

I think the important thing to get out of this chapter is the idea that behind every aspect of mediums of communication there is the idea of human thought trying to come across. It doesn't necessarily mean to be a lesson about dealing with illiterate persons but really about how valid our judgements are in general regarding human beings given the fact that our mediums are complex and often impossible to communicate the thought that lies within our tiny little brains.

Purcell-Gates is guiding us to look past the medium and try to go further than simply meeting each other halfway. The ability to understand others is deep within us all and all it takes is effort to express thought regardless of the medium or even the existence of a medium. We see man communicate with animals all the time yet there is no understood language between all species. Language is just a devised plan to make communication easier but the only other necessity is the will to communicate, the will to look at every human being as a creature of worth and intelligence.

Ch. 8 Inquiry

As Victoria Purcell-Gates references her two-year ethnography of the white Appalachian family, she expounds on what we already have learned. This being poverty and social status strongly influences their speech and writing, and that their intelligence is how others interpret their intelligence.

Her main point that she pushes is that the children/students need experience the people around them using print, reading, and writing. Children who do not have this in their environment (with emphasis on their “pre-formal instruction years”) will naturally fall behind as it does not open their mind to understand the concepts and purposes of “print” that are essential and that are expected of our society. To me, if a child enters school without having these experiences, it will make learning to read and write as difficult as learning a new language.

She encourages that instead of looking at this problem as a cultural “deficit” is should be looked at as a cultural “difference”. Conceiving the problem in this manner is the difference between seeing a child as inexperienced rather than unintelligent.

The concept of experience does not have its problems only at this young age with this problem. We also see it in the work force. It is ironic how much emphasis and importance is placed on experience while in the field of acquiring jobs, a younger inexperienced but educated person will get the job of higher position before a current employee who is more knowledgeable and more experienced in the field. Would it not make logical sense in terms of the company’s success to have the employee with more experience in the higher position? Whereas the younger and new employee has to learn everything about the company, and gain this knowledge only through experience.

The challenge now is how do we as teachers catch up those students who are in need of these “experiences” in order for them to be able to understand the concepts that will come much more easily and naturally to the students that have had them?

Chapter 8 Inquiry

In Dr. Victoria Purcell-Gates's essay "...As Soon As She Opened Her Mouth!" , the author addresses the issue of language and literacy discrimination, and the power (or lack of power) held based on literacy level.

Dr. Purcell-Gates talks most specifically about a boy named Donny, who gets to second grade and cannot read or write beyond his own name. Neither of his parents can read or write either, and we learn that they both dropped out of school in 7th grade. Donny's mother recognized that her son's inability to read and write was leading him down the same path, and she fought for the school to help her son learn better so he could make a better future for himself as a literate citizen. However, because of her illiteracy she was written off as ignorant, and her concerns were unaddressed. It stunned me that his teachers had no concern for whether or not he ever learned to read.

I thought that this probably wouldn't be too much of an issue for me as a teacher, because it's unlikely that I would get a student in my classroom who doesn't know how to read or write. However, Donny's parents made it all the way to 7th grade and still didn't know how to read or write. So that left me wondering, how do you encourage a student who has never learned to read? As teachers, we have a social responsibility to invest in our students for their academic success, but if no one else has done that before middle school, where do we begin? We talked in class last week about being step focused, and pushing students who are behind to their next step, not necessarily to where the school or state says they need to be. It's sad to think that a student would be pushed along to middle school without someone really teaching him to read, but it happens, and we have to be prepared to deal with that.

Chapter 8 Inquiry

In chapter 8 of Lisa Delpit’s The Skin That We Speak, Purcell-Gates addresses the issue of language discrimination. She describes the situation, but notes, “this reality continues despite what appears to be clear identification of the problem and billions of dollars spent by national governments and internal agencies.” So if the problem has already been identified then what can we do to fix it?

According to Gates, many children start school with some “literacy knowledge” which is usually acquired at home through interaction with family members who are literate. The experiences children have with language are directly connected to their culture. Gates questions whether teachers can observe these differences without believing these children are unable to learn or are incompetent. She recognizes that, “whether or not we interpret differences among children—or adults—as deficit or difference depends primarily on our preconceptions, attitudes toward, and stereotypes we hold toward the individual children’s communities and cultures.”

Our attitudes are sociopolitically driven towards language, and that is something we must learn to identify and examine in ourselves if we are to change the way we teach. In addition “teachers and schools must accept, believe, and act upon the belief that children of poverty are learners have been learning since birth, are ready to learn at anytime, and will learn.” Gates believes if we accept and promote this idea, we will turn the focus from the child that is not learning to the teacher’s instruction.

Most of us are planning to teach secondary education, which means that by the time our students reach high school they should already know how to read and write. So if for some reason we encounter a student who lacks these abilities, how can we help them without putting the rest of the class behind? How would you handle a situation like this? If a student had made it that far without learning, then what can we do to help them catch up?

Victoria Purcell-Gates’s essay in Lisa Delpit’s The Skin That We Speak discusses the relationship between class, language, and literacy. Purcell-Gates explains that when children enter their first day of school the children bring some sort of “literacy knowledge” with them, whether their knowledge is vast or not. This “literacy knowledge” comes from the child’s experience. Donny, one of the students from Purcell-Gates’s study, was from Appalachian parents whom could neither read nor write, and therefore Donny struggled to grasp the concepts of written communication. Purcell-Gates explains that this is no fault of the child or the parents, but only the result of his lack of experience and exposure with written language. Purcell-Gates suggests that educators view children like Donny as having cultural differences and not as deficit. When an educator views a child as deficit, “it easier to write him off” and claim the student is not capable. Instead, Purcell-Gates believes we should consider the student’s “difference” which will cause the educator to reflect on the student’s experience.

Purcell-Gates provides a list of three things teachers can do to help. First, the teacher must “accept, believe, and act” that “children of poverty are learners, have been learning since birth, are ready to learn at anytime, and will learn.” Purcell-Gates believes that when teachers follow this belief the teachers will reflect on their instruction methods rather than “shrugging off” a child’s future. Second, Purcell-Gates says it is important to accept the child’s language as the language that the child can begin learning with. Third, teachers must realize that students will use the appropriate language for the appropriate social context if it is known. This concept applies to written language as well.

After reading this essay, I wondered where does this leave us as secondary education teachers? This article primarily focused on younger children, and the article says that both Jenny and her husband dropped out of school in 7th grade due to their illiteracy. How can we help these students by the time they reach us? Obviously, we should refuse to let the child fail, but how do we go about doing that? How do we help keep these students from dropping out? Especially if this student is in a classroom with other students whose performances are fine.

Chapter 8 Inquiry

Victoria Purcell-Gates's essay, "'... As Soon As She Opened Her Mouth!': Issues of Language, Literacy, and Power," is an argument for the education of those students with dialects marked as incompetent. Through the story of a young Appalachian boy, Donny, and his mother, Jenny, and Purcell-Gates's own experiences, she conveys that such dialects do not mean a student cannot learn.

Purcell-Gates believes these students are not given the chance to learn; these students are permitted to fail. They come from homes where there is little literacy experience. In Donny's case, because both of his parents cannot read, he, too, cannot read. Donny has not grown up observing and listening to fluency in the English language. He cannot comprehend the connections between how he sounds and how the phonetics of a word sound, just like his mother.

This is no fault of Donny's parents; "this is not a deficit theory, nor is it placing the blame on the children, their parents, or their homes." (128) Purcell-Gates gives the reader an example of Phil from either the desert of Palestine or a rural village in Afghanistan. Phil enrolls in drivers ed. Though a fluent speaker of English, Phil fails the exam because he has no experience actually driving a car. He is a product of his experience. If Phil were given the opportunity to have such experiences as stopping, starting, and driving a car, he would have done much better in the class.

Most important in my reading of the essay was the section labeled "What Schools and Teachers Can Do." Purcell-Gates gave the reader two tips: (1) "Teachers and schools must accept, believe, and act upon the belief that the children of poverty are learners, have been learning since birth, are ready to learn at anytime, and will learn," and (2) "it is necessary to accept their language as that with which they learn, and use that language to help them begin their education."

My question after read this essay are these: I plan to teach English at the 8th grade level. Should a student enter my class who has routinely been passed from graded to grade without ever having learned to read, what do I do? How can I possibly catch the student up on a lifetime worth of learning in a year's time? How is such a thing be allowed to happen? Are other programs in existence to aid such students?

inquiry 5

Chapter eight by Victoria Purcell-Gates opened my eyes to see how our society views those who are less fortunate. She mentions that people, even teachers, classify those who are lower class as students who are incapable of learning in the classroom, whereas those students who are considered middle to upper class are capable of learning in the classroom. I know this appears to be an obvious issue, but sometimes what goes on around us is the very thing we are less aware of.

I am aware that society classifies people. We all do it whether we mean to or not, but it never crossed my mind that teachers do it too. I suppose it is common sense because teachers are people too, but a teacher is also suppose to be a neutral ground and safe place to rely on. I believe that as future educators we MUST strive to eliminate this idea that teachers classify their students. I want my students to know I have confidence in each of them, and that I do not care how much money their parents have or do not have. I want to help those who are struggling to find a balance to learn how to read and write.

It is important that we recognize that some students just do not have the means at home to practice reading and writing. That is where our job becomes important. We have the means to be creative and give students books to read and to encourage our students writing. We have the ability to introduce students to different genres, and we can show our students how to have fun writing. I strongly believe that is one major aspect of our job we MUST NOT ignore. Just because a student does not have this prior knowledge, does not mean he/she is incapable of learning new genres and styles of writing. Therefore, we should not label these students as such.

Even though we should not label students, is it possible to remain neutral? It’s not fair to the entire class to hold back for another student, so what do we do? How do we balance helping each student so everyone increases his/her knowledge, even though each student is on a different level? Is it possible to reach the stars or do you have to settle and realize some stars need a little a more gas than others?

Inquiry 5

In Victoria Purcell-Gates chapter, she follows a young, illiterate boy—Donny—and his illiterate mother; she documents the stereotype of their “hillbilly” accent at school. It is such a shame that a teacher gave permission to fail to a student. The teacher heard Donny’s mother speak and right away, she dismissed Donny as a child who is unable to learn how to read or write. Donny did not make any progress in school, and the teacher did not even seem to notice Donny’s lack of knowledge. Jenny, Donny’s mother, constantly went to the teacher begging to help give Donny a better life than she had growing up, and it was as if the teacher simply ignored her request. Why is it that no one listened to Donny’s mother? It is because she had the same hillbilly accent that a close-minded individual would view as ignorant. I am completely floored to read about a teacher who did not care about a student because of his dialect. A teacher’s job is to teach, and nowhere in the definition does it say only to students who have previous knowledge of reading and writing. How can a teacher really not care about the success of her student?

So what can we do as future teacher to change this? We must not let stereotypes haze our view of teaching. Every student is unique and has different learning styles. I want to be sure that I can cater to children’s different learning styles so that I can give them a full education. We must take a stand and help all students even those who seem like they cannot be taught.

Ch. 8 Inquiry

Victoria Purcell- Gates’ chapter “’… As Soon As She Opened Her Mouth!’: Issues of Language, Literacy, and Power” describes how dialect determines how most individuals view another person’s ability to learn. She provides reasons why this notion is inaccurate and damaging. She also supplies the reader with ways to educate students that suffer from this stereotype.
I think her distinction between deficit and difference is helpful in understanding how to approach the disparity that exists in the acquisition of reading and writing skills. Her research suggests that a student’s success in the first two years of formal education is highly contingent upon that student’s previous exposure and experience with language. She claims that students from “economically stressed homes” have less experience with language than those from middle-upper class homes (126). This lack of experience in the home creates substantial obstacles for students who are attempting to gain “conceptual knowledge of written language” (127). This lack of experience with language does not represent a deficit, especially not one that is irreparable. Purcell-Gates insists that neither the parent nor the student is to blame for this lack of experience. It is unfortunate to learn that because students from lower-economic backgrounds are expected to fail that schools are “unconcerned about [their] failure to learn” (130). These “diminished expectations” stem from the notion that students that come from poverty are unable to learn (133).
Purcell- Gates insists that teachers must raise their expectations under the assumption that all children are ready to learn. If a student fails to learn then the teacher must look reflectively at their pedagogical strategies instead of relying on “prejudicial stereotyping” that marginalizes students (140). A teacher must also recognize that just because a student speaks a non-standard dialect does not mean that they are incapable of communicating with standard written language. It is the teacher’s responsibility to provide the student with the experience they may lack and to give them formal instruction.
How can we simulate the pre-formal experience of language in a secondary classroom? How can we convince administrators that expectations and subsequent responsive amelioration of language issues should be equal for all students? How do we instill in children of poverty that they are learners when society tells them they are not?

Chapter 8 Inquiry

Chapter eight of, The Skin That We Speak by Victoria Purcell-Gates focused on how many people, even teachers, associate class with achievement. In other words, some people feel that lower-class students are incapable of learning in the classroom, where as upper-class students are capable. As many of you would agree, this stereotype needs to be eliminated because it’s false on so many levels.

The author of this chapter explains that experience gives students a basis for learning. Students who are exposed to reading and writing before they enter kindergarten have prior experience to build their new knowledge upon. Students who do not have the same home experience may struggle to catch up to the levels of the other students; however, the important point here is that students who have not had home literacy experiences are not incapable of learning. As teachers, we need to introduce these students to different forms of reading and writing that they have not seen before they entered school, so that they can understand what it means to read and write. Just because they were not able to gain this knowledge at home, does not mean that we should label these students as incapable of learning.

What does this mean for us as secondary teachers? If students have had less experience reading and writing when they reach our classrooms, how can we help them? Can we help them as much as their elementary teachers helped them? Can we have just as much impact on these students as their elementary teachers might have had?

Is there a specific Workplace Language?

In Judith Baker's Trilinguilasm, Baker talks about her classroom experiences in studying her students' home languages along with her students. She describes how her students feel more comfortable learning Standard English once they realize how their own home languages fit into their lives and that these forms of English are not unwelcome, only that there is a difference and there is a certain time to use them.

Baker brings up that there is not specific term for the language that we use in the work place. She calls it a technical kind of language that may be specific to each profession. (At least that's what I think she is saying.) I found that her experiments in getting her students to speak in a work-place manner resulted in the students speaking formal English. What is the difference between our work-place speak and formal English, then? Is it perhaps the level of respect one might use when speaking to a superior; or is it the manner one uses when presenting a project? Is the work-place language that the students used any different from formal English or their home languages or street talk? Some of the scenarios did include students using non-formal English, after all. I consider language used in the workplace SE, usually, unless the workplace is one that is very comfortable and relaxed where SE would not be necessary. What differentiates a work-place language from a form of English that is already used elsewhere? Considering the many types of workplaces, I personally do not think that there can possibly be one specific term for language in the workplace.

Inquiry 4: Trilingualism

Judith Baker created a system of teaching that allowed the students to feel comfortable and retain their own personalities in the way that they speak by giving them the opportunity to teach one another about their “home languages”. She broke down the English language into three different sections: home, formal, and professional.
Her method of teaching English seems to be effective because the students understand why they should learn formal English and they don’t feel pressured, demeaned, discriminated against. This new outlook on teaching brought a few questions to mind. Why do students automatically feel that formal English is a threat to them? When we, as teachers, allow our student to bring their “home language” into the classroom, where do we draw the line for their freedom, we wouldn’t want them to become disrespectful. Sometimes, in the home, children are allowed to talk about sex, drinking, violence, and drugs. When giving students freedom, we wouldn’t want to put ourselves in a situation where we could get in trouble. Baker said that you can’t “pretend” to have compassion and understanding of a student’s “home language”, we will have to truly embrace their differences. But who are the real discriminators? Is it the teacher, another student, or are the student subconsciously discriminating against themselves? Or is it a combination of the three? Another question that came to my attention was are students discouraged by formal English because they are taking English class and they think that that class should come naturally to them because they speak it, and are they getting discouraged by the difficulties they encounter?

Inquiry #4: Trilingualism

Judith Baker’s “Trilingualism” depicts her experience in trying to relate her students to the different codes of speech she feels they need to survive in life. Through various experiments that cause them to look at and consider the language they use, Baker helps her students understand the difference between the language used for home, academics, and the professional world.

The work presented in this article really excited and intrigued me. Through the activities, she is allowing the students to see the importance of standard English and their own social languages in the world, instead of just telling them, “You need to learn standard English.” I think the students took an interest in it because their thoughts and opinions were validated, encouraging them to participate. What is more, students see not just how distant authority figures and strangers might view their language, but also how their peers react. I liked that Baker’s exercises taught that there is more than just “proper English” and bad English. The English spoken at home, in whatever dialect it may be, is accepted as appropriate there, as that is where it is used. Students are also introduced to the fact that different areas of business may require a different set of appropriate dialogue.

From the article, it seems clear that Baker’s students are coming to appreciate their language and others. However, there are students who feel differently about where some languages should be used. Specifically, for one experiment, a student posed as a junior executive presenting an advertisement plan in her home language. While some of the students felt this was inappropriate, others thought that it was fine and that it sounded like a good advertising strategy. In such a situation, I find the end results difficult to understand. I wonder, do her students realize that they may not have a choice as to where which dialect is accepted? Just because the speaker may feel that a dialect closer to home would be fine for one situation does not mean that the mass majority of mainstream culture accepts it, and therefore it is inappropriate. Students admit that some dialects do not seem appropriate for certain situations. But do they understand why those dialects do not seem appropriate beyond a simple “It’s not very professional” or “It does not sound proper”? Or, perhaps, are these questions queries that they are too young to reflect upon?

Inquiry 4- Judith Baker

In Judith Baker's essay "Trilingualism" Baker addresses the three types of English that she has observed all English speakers speaking-- "home" English, "formal" English, and "professional" English. As an English teacher at an urban high school, she has developed a system of accepting and teaching acceptance to the different dialects of English spoken in her classroom, which starts with a personal language evaluation project.

When reading this essay, I was amazed at how effective the language project was for her students. She wrote it moved students to consider problems they may have with writing or speaking, and also gave the students in her classroom a better understanding and acceptance of each other. I think what I've taken most from this essay is that it is very possible and beneficial to support and accept students' language and culture while also encouraging them to learn "standard English". It's also possible to openly and tactfully discuss code-switching for formal, professional, and familiar situations.

The biggest question for me from this essay is how could I apply this same practice in an ESL classroom? My goal is to teach English as a Second Language, which is tricky because often the students in ESL classes don't have much grasp on English at all, so what's an effective way to teach English to non-speakers while still respecting their culture?

inquiry 4- Baker

In this section we see an English teacher with a new point of view. She looks at her students as experts in certain fields and allows them to teach what they have learned. She gives them the freedom to choose what they wish as far as subjects go. Could their possibly be some drawbacks to this technique?

I think his style is very dangerous but in it is in a way that education should be. When she allows the students to keep their own language and also learn about other subjects like computers she runs the risk of the students not learning anything due to laziness. I don't think it is realistically very dangerous though. Young humans, I believe, have a natural desire to learn everything about something they are interested in. Proof for this is evident everywhere around us, from teens mastering difficult computer programs and operations to kids learning complicated tricks on skateboards. By allowing students to learn whatever they have an interest in we may have less experts in regurgitating information for a ninth grade geography test, but we may have more experts in technological innovation. 

Is it possible that the whole creation of controlled learning is more of a hinderance to actual learning?

Chapter 4 Inquiry

Chapter four features Judith Baker, a high school English teacher working with students on the theory of language. Her methods and techniques are simple, yet effective in teaching students to comprehend and enjoy the many types of English that we speak. Baker has been working with students on developing skills in three different forms of English that she believes every American should learn. They are: “home” English or dialect, “formal” or academic English, and “professional” English. She believes, “ … that if I can make this ‘trilingualism’ explicit and if I can motivate students to want to learn these ‘languages,’ these three forms of English, then I can enable them to master the actual differences between them.” Baker emphasizes that this theory or method should not and cannot be used by teachers who do not truly respect the “home” language of their students. Students, or kids in general, are very perceptive and can tell when people are not being genuine or sincere; this method could totally backfire if applied by the wrong person.

One thing I loved about this teacher was the way she chose to implement her theories into actual lessons and projects. Having students examine their speech and the different forms of English they use is a great way for them to learn about each other and themselves. I really agree with Baker’s ideas and believe we need more teachers like this. Being judgmental or forcing children to learn what we deem as Standard English is not going to change anything. It’s already been done and it hasn’t worked, so maybe the time has come for a reform in English education.

Do you agree with Baker’s theories about language? What are your thoughts on the categories or forms of English she presents in this chapter?

How could a teacher implement these techniques into a lesson when the school may require or enforce teaching according to standardized tests?

Would a project like the one Baker gives her students even be beneficial in a school where the students are predominately white or black, etc.? As in if they all had similar backgrounds would it still be interesting?

Inquiry 4: Judith Baker

After reading Judith Baker’s chapter, I found myself wondering how educated my English teachers had been on this subject of speaking different “Englishes.” I wish that my teachers had had a more open mind about these things. I wonder then if this was the case, my classmates and I wouldn’t have such linguistic insecurity, and we would be able to spit out what we are trying to say in a clear and forthright manner.

Judith Baker’s ideas build upon Lisa Delpit’s that we read in chapter three. They both have the same notion that “When formal English no longer threatens to demean them, students are more willing to master it.” However, she brings us insider her classroom to show us her teaching techniques and strategies to make students feel less insecure about their own language and more willing to learn “standard” English. I found her projects and studies interesting as she delves and further questions the influence of standard English on dialect speakers. She shows us how important this is in the students’ making the decision for them to learn Standard English. As teachers of English, we will constantly have to remind ourselves of these facts. How can we keep these ideas in the forefront of our minds and remain open to the different dialects of our students while teaching them the rules of grammar and the “correct” way to speak and write?

She pinpoints the three main “forms” of English of which we’ve been speaking in class, her “trilingualism”; which is home, formal, and professional English. We learn to code switch between these three forms and become more aware of them as we get older. Is this a natural instinctive learning? I have observed a few instances where there are those who are less aware of code switching. Is it something also taught?

Inquiry #4 - Motivational Learning

Judith Baker's "Triangualism" details her efforts in motivating her students to study and learn all languages, whether it "home" English, "formal" English, or "professional" English. By respecting the home dialect, Baker creates an environment in which her students feel confident exploring the many intricacies of language.

The students first exploration is within the home. For example, one student, Dwayne, video tapes his family for an hour, specifically, his father on the phone, in the kitchen, and in front of the television. Despite being from Boston, Dwayne and the class pick up patterns of they label as "Southern."

Most interesting to me was Baker's work with role playing workplace scenarios. The students were very much aware of what was and was not appropriate, "It's fine for her to speak that way with her friends, but not at work." This is a notion we can all understand; it is merely our mission as educators to address it with our students.

"I am pretty sure that young people don't really understand this while they are in school," says Baker about the language barrier being a part of keeping the "uneducated" in poverty. My question is, is there a way to convey this to our students? Is there any amount of job shadowing or motivational speaker that could inspire our students to continue their education? And if so, can it be done respectfully?

I know this information would have been helpful to my adolescent self and possibly have kept me motivated throughout high school.

Inquiry #4 - chapter 4

In chapter four of The Skin That We Speak, Judith Baker gives the secret on how to be an effective teacher when it comes to Standard English. She says that you must first gain respect of your students by showing them that you, as a teacher, respect their home language. She uses the idea that if teachers teach trilingualism then students will be more inclined to learn Standard English. And she was right. In her language activity she showed interest in the students home language and she gave them credit, which made them more inclined to use Standard English.

I agree with Judith Baker’s approach to teaching Standard English because she is motivating her students to want to learn. We should never be negative with our students, especially when it comes to formal writing because we want our students to enjoy learning, not hate it. She also shows them the power of using different dialects and how important that can be for their futures. I personally have always felt, if you show someone something useful they will remember it always, but if you show them something that is meaningless, then they will forget it.

My only concern with this tactic is how can we as teachers use this without pretending to give our students respect? Is there a list of the do’s and don’ts we need to know or is it just deep within us?

Code Switching

Judith Baker's chapter in the book deals with how she incorporated code-switching into her curriculum. By respecting the students' home language she motivated them to not only want to learn standard english, but also study different dialects, including their own. Her methods were astounding to me. I can actually see this method as delivering the results Baker is reporting she had. I think it also, more than anything, should be incorporated into more curriculums due to the amount of respect it instills in students. It makes students more inclined to avoid prejudices and stereotypes because it looked at reasons behind differences in speech. It forced them to look for causes instead of labeling effects. I do not question the methods behind the strategy, the one thing I have to ask is how to gain permission to use this way of teaching?



Baker's methods, while productive, were also extremely different than the standard way english is taught. I wonder whether or not a school district like east baton rouge parish would even allow me to use this in a classroom. Baker was teaching at a vocational school, so one aspect of her job is to teach students how to speak in a professional setting. This focus on job training and contextual situations provided an easy entry for a method like the one Baker designed. On the other hand, the standard public school does not focus on such things and may look down upon this action. Although I feel it would prove just as well in a standard public school, would public school administration feel the same? I also wonder how parents took/will take the introduction of such a strategy.



I think this experimental method is a great way to get students excited about learning, but I am also afraid it will not be accepted in public school in a district like east baton rouge parish. Should we just abandon hope and allow ourselves to let this wonderful opportunity slip by? Or is there a way we can incorporate this into our classroom curriculum?

Inquiry 4

Judith Baker’s chapter is by far the one that I found the more interesting; she not only showed respect for the language diversity of her students, but she also learned about how to better educate herself on diversity from her students. I absolutely loved the assignment of giving students a chance to observe and to learn about their own language; the students become most interested in learning, which makes them want to learn more as we read in our last chapter. When the students have a chance to listen and learn about their own language they begin to realize how many different dialects there are in the world, and that none of them are wrong.
I also liked the role-play games that Baker assigned. It was interesting to read the completely different responses to the scenarios. It was strange how different their responses were, and I liked how one student says, “we don’t hardly take time out to really listen. I mean the way we speak, we think it’s correct. It’s wrong, but we understand each other.” The last sentence really hit home for me. The way we speak all the time may not be perfect English, but who cares as long as we get our point across to other people? How can we as teachers get other people to have this view point on language? How can we get other teachers to respect the language of their students by not constantly correcting them? By respecting a student’s home language, will this make a student want to be more culturally diverse and want to learn more dialects including bettering their Standard English?

Code Switching

"Oh my gawd I cant freakin remember what was goin on when me and Ligea, like, hooked up. It was so long ago you know. And I just blacked out or maybe like because really she was like so freaking hot and super smart and like super amazing that like I didn't even realize we were doing that on the couch you know"

-Neil's response as a "typical" teenage girl

My response as a more classy type teenage boy:

Oh my goodness, I have no idea was happened the night that I met Ligea. It was so long ago that it is hard to remember, or maybe it's hard to recall because I think I fell in love with her. She was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, and she was smart too. It was like I was in a whole new world, and when I came back to the real world her beautiful lips were on mine.

Code Switching

I don't remember when I first met Ligeia. It was a long time ago and I've been through so much since. I don't know. Maybe I can't think of it because she made her impact so suddenly

- In class response by: Danielle

I have no idea of when i met Ligeia. It was way back when, and I've had a lot'a drama since then. I don't know. Maybe I can't think about it because I only saw her for a short while. But she did make a big impact on my life while she was in it... I didn't even realize it until I think back on it now. She had a lot of good qualities about her. You know how you only appreciate something 'till it's gone. She was such a chill and mellow type a girl that I guess I never took the time to noticed.

Inquiry Chapter 4

In chapter four of The Skin That We Speak, Judith Baker gives teachers an effective alternative to teaching Standard English with the use of “trilingualism”. Baker makes the point that teachers need to truly respect students’ home languages in order to teach them when and how to use SE.

I thought the home language assignment Baker gave her students was a great, effective idea. This project showed Baker’s students that she was interested in what went on in their homes. Here, Baker showed how much she respected the students and what they had to say. Because their home languages were given credit by Baker, many of her students were more willing to use SE. For example, students Sandra and Tracy used SE in their restaurant presentation. The two students even backed up their use of SE when their classmates criticized the language (Baker 60).

Baker says that her approach to teaching SE is backward in the sense that it doesn’t start with the rules of SE first. Instead, it starts with respect. What are some other ways we can show students that we respect their home languages? In other words, how else can we show our students that we care about their cultural backgrounds? How else can we incorporate students’ home languages into more classroom activities?

Ch.4 Inquiry 'Englishes"

I have found both Ch.3 and Ch.4 to be very helpful in that they provided realistic ways to implement language acceptance and formal English education in the classroom. I believe that Judith Baker’s systematic approach to teaching “Englishes” would be effective because of the “motivation first, rules last” progression as well as the intention of examining dialects prior to teaching formal language (59). It also seems that she focuses on the empowerment of students by letting them know that learning other dialects is a choice and that the students are experts on their own dialects. I agree that when students are aware that being trilingual is advantageous to them and that they have the freedom to choose which language they would like to use in any given setting eliminates the impression that formal English is demeaning to the students’ respective home dialects. I appreciate the idea of having students to present their own dialects to the class; however, I suspect that most high school curriculums would not reserve time or space for such a large unit on language. I can certainly see how this approach would be far more effective than the “error-correction model of grammar study” (56). How else could one go about validating students’ home dialects? How can you assure yourself as a teacher that you are not pretending to respect non standard language forms?

Code Switching In-Class Activity

I’m not sure when Ligeia and I first met. It’s been a while since we met, I guess. So long, in fact, that were you to ask me about any of the characteristics of our meeting, I could only tell you about her intelligence, her voice and whatnot, those are the things that mattered to me.
By Michael Quartano


To children:
Once upon a time, I met a lady named Ligeia. It was a long, long time ago. I don’t know a lot about the lady. The lady was really smart. The lady talked really low. It was so long ago that I don’t remember anything else about the lady.
By Gabrielle Pollock

One of my friends from the East emailed me and asked me to check up on his friend Leonidas W. Smiley. I got in touch with Simon Wheeler and asked him about Leonidas. My friend was probably lying to me and doesn't know anybody named Leondias Smiley because old Mr. Wheeler rambled on and on about someone else named Smiley. Old Mr. Wheeler reminiscenced forever about him and I have a feeling my friend about him and I have a feeling my friend knew that would happen all along.

- Rebekah Dwight's in class response

My boy from the east side asked about Smiley. Simon lied to me and Mr. wheeler is wack. They don’t know Smiley. You heard. So I don’t know what to tell you.

- Chelsea Demel's out of class response to Rebekah's

Ch. 3 No Filters Allowed

Lisa Delpit’s “No Kinda Sense” has to be my favorite of the chapters so far. Even though most of the concepts have overlapped, she seems to bring a fresh perspective to our views of AAVE and language in general. I love how she questions herself and explains her thought processes to us. She wants to know why she felt and reacted in the manner that she did concerning her daughter picking up the second language.

Delpit is quick to recognize the problems and address them. I found interesting the concept of Krashen’s affective filter. We first have to recognize that we have these mental blockages before we can remove them. One of which involves the filter and it’s removal from teachers, students, and the public’s eyes. She is clear and to the point with what she wants us to understand. We can tell that recognition and acceptance is important to her. If the filters are not removed then this acceptance will never occur because if “The students don’t identify with the teachers who question their intelligence or with a curriculum that ignores their existence.” (41) One of her main goals is to break down the language barriers especially in the teachers’ eyes. If this goal can be accomplished then, we can move on to Delpit’s second main point of making school inviting to the students. She says that in order to do this, we, the teachers, must listen to the students and be concerned with their concerns; be interested in their interests. What about unwilling teachers that are set in their ways? I believe that the newer generations of teachers will be more willing and open to these concepts. Is there any way to support teachers to listen to their students, almost to the point of encouraging a relationship among them? If the teacher never learns about their students, will they ever be able to teach effectively?

Also as a side note in response to the AAVE readings: If works on AAVE phonology and grammar seem incomplete, could we assume that this may be part of the reason the public views the language as incomplete or broken as well? I assume I’ve heard it before, but I would love to listen to Gullah/Caribbean Creole English to put a name to the dialect.

Don't Tread on Me (By Saying Strange Things)

Yet again, we see the issue of code-switching come to the forefront in Lisa Delpit's "No Kinda Sense." It is accompanied by undertones of the phenomenon previously referred to as playing the game, or speaking a certain way not out of any sense of loyalty, but out of the need to achieve a desired result in a social setting. We (as a class and as considerers of linguistics) have determined that we all code-switch on a regular basis. Given this fact, why on Earth is it so difficult to cross these dialectical barriers in the United States? There is no problem of understanding, as there is with a full-on language barrier. Standard English speakers have no problem (perhaps with the exception of certain obscure idioms) understanding AAVE speakers, who have no problem understanding Appalachian English speakers, who have no problem understanding English speakers from the Bronx. The issue cannot possibly be one of language comprehension.

Perhaps, then, it is something more latent. Language is an integral part of each of us; we identify with the words that we speak in a similar way to the choices that we make and the clothes that we wear. Our language is a picture of ourselves that we choose to show to the world. As such, it feels immediately alienating to encounter someone else who is fundamentally different in such a manner. If someone sees a person wearing totally different clothes from him/herself, he/she is less likely to approach the stranger and will likely not be as friendly (at least in thought) as he/she would be to someone who looked similar. An analogous case can be made for the way each of us speaks. It takes a truly thoughtful, open-minded person to move past this initial schema-based thinking.

So then, if the problem can be identified as one of self-identification and alienation, then question becomes: How can we change it? How can we, as a society, be made comfortable with people that we perceive to be so fundamentally different from ourselves? Or should we simply foster the belief that, despite the language differences, we are not that fundamentally different after all?

Inquiry 3

In Chapter 5 of The Skin That We Speak, entitled "Some Basic Sociolinguistic Concepts," Michael Stubbs asks the question "Does a child's language affect his success or failure at school? And if so, how?" He also inquires into a teacher's language and how it affects a student's learning. He brings to light the varying dialects of England, and the class-laden ramifications that come with speaking them, in the eyes of the people.

Stubbs explains that there are many, many linguistic stereotypes that are ingrained in children regarding class and the way one speaks. Children regard those who do not speak "standard english" as inferior, a symptom that is precipitated by teachers admonishing children in the classroom. The problem is, there is no "Standard English" unless one is referring to the accent and manner of the people who claim to be speaking it. There is also no linguistic basis for the notion that those who are impoverished living in rural and urban areas alike speak a somehow more inferior dialect from the standard. In fact, English is an "International Language" with standardized rules for writing but at the same time is used for any number of different situations where modification in the way one speaks would be appropriate. Rather than having a hardline, rigid, "correct" way to speak, English has many, many dialects, all with their very own rules and functions. Teachers must learn how to address their students' language needs, and determine the best manner for teaching them the information necessary for the course, in the most optimal way for the student to learn. My inquiry is to the fact that a teacher probably cannot complete an entire lesson 30 different times if the situation called for the teacher to address each student's individual needs. There may be some situations where the information may not have been transmitted properly because of how the teacher spoke. But what if the teacher acknowledges it, and is unable to address each child's need? Do they fail? Do teacher's just have to accept that? Or can more be done to to eliminate sociolinguistic stereotyping and dissent towards those who speak differently from you?

Inquiry 3: Speech vs Writing

In Stubbs article, the definition of "inadequate language" is questioned as is the perceptions that go along with non-standard English. Stubbs writes that non-standard language is often associated with regions and local idioms, which are not inherently bad English, as well as accent and dialect.

One point that he made was that teachers often hear how a student speaks and does not consider that that is not how a student may write. I have discovered that myself I think that I've been lucky in that my English teachers have been aware of this fact. I myself have noticed it in the short time that I've already spent with some students in the class I am observing.

When I was in high school, I noticed this among my friends. Teachers never said it out loud, I think, but I was always aware that writing and speaking were two separate things. Friends who used certain phrases, much like the girl in the interview with "sort of," would refrain from trying to write things such as "ya know" or "like." (I actually had to stop myself from writing "like" instead of "such as" just now!) Since I've seen this before (I was the proofreader in my group of friends), I do know that speech does not relate to intelligence all of the time, but one would really have to get to know that before one hear's a student speak, which is a bit of an impossibility.

I feel that this is a simple way to teach students how to write. Just tell them not to write like they speak. The girl I told that in my class observations seemed to immediately understand what I meant. Writing should be formal, speech is much more commonly informal. I completely understood this chapter's point on appropriate times to use certain speech; we had talked about it in class, after all.

My only question that I could pose from this chapter, though, is: How might informal writing evolve? I believe that ti has greatly in the information age. Internet -- chat rooms, instant messaging, forums -- text messaging, emails -- all of these have developed much faster communication, and the more quickly we can communicate, the less time we will take to take care of how we write. Teachers already have to tell students not to write in text messaging speak -- with "lol" and "btw" and using numbers in place of words! How might we, as future teachers, have to deal with this? Will it only get worse? I am sure that it will.

I find it hard to pose a question about the actual reading. I understood it well and agreed completely, I think.

Inquiry #3

In his chapter in The Skin That We Speak, Michael Stubbs discusses how stereotypes are often associated with languages. He explores the reasonings behind many misconceptions people have concerning languages and users of particular forms of speech. Through experiments and interviews, Stubbs sheds a light into the world of sociolinguistics.

The concepts introduced in this selection were powerful. A concept that struck me as particularly interesting and worthy of attention was the concept of correctness versus appropriateness. Stubbs discussed how situational context plays a role in our speech. He went on to say that while a dialect may not be "appropriate" in a given environment, that does not mean it is incorrect. I feel this is a key concept that should be introduced in education. The question that arose in me was: Why don't teachers teach kids this?

It has become clear that no language is inherently superior or inferior to another and that the concept of a "better" language is a social construct. I believe that if this was taught in schools, both to teachers and students, it would help create a better learning environment. For the students, it would help them understand that they need to learn "standard" English ONLY because it would help them to adapt to more situations in life. It would also help ease the tension of feeling inferior that many students of differing dialects may feel. On the other hand, teachers would learn to think of the context in which students are speaking a different dialect in and base their decision to "correct" them or not based on the context of the situation and not just because they want the student to speak "right." This would create a safe space for different languages and dialects throughout the school. I feel this is the direction we as teachers should be headed toward. If we teach this method in the long run we may be able to change the attitudes of the world because it explores how society views and establishes rankings.

Inquiry 3

In chapter five of The Skin That We Speak the author Michael Stubbs discusses the stereotyped correctness of different dialects in England, their impact on education, and went through some of the myths behind the placement of one language over another. One of the main points of focus in this section was the idea that their is a language of power, and there is no way that it is deservedly better than the other languages. The language of power is simply a dialect belong to the people who have become most successful. I believe Stubbs said something along the lines of: It is correct English because the well educated use it and the well educated use it because it is correct English. The best lesson to take away from this chapter is what we learn from the girl who couldn't specify what she thought was incorrect. To me this a lesson to really look past my stereotypes and "common sense". I don't believe it is necessary for just those who don't speak the language of power to change their dialects, but we must all learn to overlook accents and differences in geography. 

ch 5 inquiry- The Burden of Stereotypes

Michael Stubbs’s essay “Some Basic Sociolinguistic Concepts” looks at the social stereotypes associated with dialects and usage of language. He studies the way people in general make assumptions about others based on the way they speak, and then examines more particularly the way this affects the classroom between the teacher and the student.

What struck me most about this essay was part 5 (78-79) when Stubbs discusses the effects that the teacher’s language has on a child, with or without the teacher’s knowledge or intention. He writes that “even if the teacher expresses no overt disapproval of the child’s language, the teacher’s own language…may be an implicit condemnation of the child’s language.” When I was a child, I had a really heavy country accent, as did my father. I never knew that it wasn’t “normal” until I went to school, and my teachers spoke in a less distinguishable accent. Nobody ever told me my dialect was wrong, but I grew to understand the social stigma associated with southern accents and I remember making a conscious effort to speak in a more “standard” accent when I got into middle school and especially into high school.

My question is where is the balance between what’s “socially acceptable” in language and what’s insignificant? It’s tough to be burdened by the stereotypes associated with your dialect, but if you’re being understood (and we see that dialect has no significant bearing on a child’s learning capability) then why should you be considered at a disadvantage? Especially with the ties between dialect and culture, should you almost sacrifice your culture for the sake of seeming better educated?

Bringing Sociolinguistic Concepts to the Classroom

Chapter 5, Michael Stubb's Some Basic Sociolinguistic Concepts is exactly that. Stubbs aims "to provide the reader with some basic sociolinguistic concepts necessary to understand the kinds of relationships which exist between language and educational processes." By educating future teachers, we can "try to change people's attitudes to language" and "make more people tolerant of linguistic diversity."

After reading the interview with Edinburgh schoolgirls on page 67, I found myself plagued by the very question Stubbs asks of the reader: "What are we to think, though, of an educational system which has tied this girl in knots over a small and superficial linguistic term?" What do I think of this education system and how can I change it to make it most beneficial to my students' learning?

The same question - How can I apply this to the classroom? Stubbs offered some insight - teaching the students about the intolerance of linguistic diversity and making them aware of where issues of using "nonstandard English" may arise.

But how am I to recognize such instances in the classroom where a student is merely using a different, whether it be appropriate or inappropriate, dialect without a vast knowledge of sociolinguistics? How am I to convince my fellow English teachers who may not share my way of thinking that this issue needs to be addressed to avoid creating educational problems for our students?

Inquiry 3: Quit All That Sass

Michael Stubbs sheds light on the possibility (and, let's face it, reality) that the negative impacts of language on education comes from attitudes towards language and not the language itself. It's easy to look at the achievement gap in US schools over the last... well... since schools were made public, and determine that alternative or nonstandard dialects are strongly deficient when it comes to educating students. After all, it may be one of the strongest correlative factors between low achievers in schools on a national scale. Nevertheless, as Stubbs indicates, the negative attitudes towards not only nonstandard dialects but towards the speakers themselves is a more likely cause.

Given the clear bias against nonstandard dialects of English, would it be more appropriate to simply change attitudes in schools or to change standards of appropriateness throughout the entire social structure of the nation? (In order to genuinely answer the question, pragmatic concerns should probably be discounted for the moment.) Is there any value to having different standards of speech in different social settings, i.e. a job interview and a break room at work? Or would it be more beneficial and equalizing to deconstruct them altogether? The answer is undoubtedly a difficult one, so you'd better get started.

Inquiry 3

Michael Stubbs’s chapter titled “Some Basic Sociolinguistic Concepts” studies the stereotypes that can be associated with someone’s language. Some assumptions that can be made through someone’s language include their social class, background, and education. Stubbs’s study examines the relationship between language and perception occurring in Great Britain. In this chapter, Stubbs makes clear the linguistic idea that no way of speaking is better than another, and that all speakers of a language style shift from formal to casual style.
Stubbs claims that “we ought to be aware of the power of such social stereotyping” (67). According to Stubbs, it very natural to immediately make assumptions about people based upon their language. As future teachers, we need to be aware of this danger because we would never want to alienate one student from another based upon such silly assumptions. Just because a student may not speak well, does not mean that the student is not intelligent. This goes the same for students who do speak well.
In this reading, Stubbs answered a question that I have tossed around previously. He says that it is important to warn our students about the “conventions of English usage” (75). Stubbs uses the example that when a student writes to a prospective employer, the student must adapt to the “social occasion” (75). Previously, I understood the idea that we don’t want to disrespect a student’s spoken language because there really is no way of speaking that is better than another. But, I knew that there are situations where a person is expected to act, speak, or write in a certain manner. Stubbs’s statements pertaining to my questions cleared a lot of things up for me. Now, I wonder how teachers can teach this idea of code switching without offending anyone’s language usage?

Ch. 5 Inquiry - Michael Stubbs

Michael Stubbs, in his chapter, “Some Basic Sociolinguistic Concepts”, makes some interesting and pithy arguments. I enjoyed how he was direct in what he wanted to say. From the way he writes, we can also tell that he has the children’s growth process in mind when discussing how they should be taught in schools. We learn in the introduction to the chapter that Stubbs does not want children to feel that whatever language they speak is “wrong”. However, he wants them to understand the principles of English and its dialects in their sociolinguistic aspects. He explains that they are all acceptable and “right,” but society has assigned our different ways of speaking to different settings and situations. I like his idea that the students should be able to “match their speech to the setting in which they find themselves.” This will make enable them to flourish in whatever setting they find themselves in and they will be more knowledgeable of the different cultural and social aspects of the language as well. Stubbs explains “It is important to appreciate that language differences can provoke strong feelings of language loyalty group conflict and are therefore often a critical factor in education“ (70).

This will hopefully lead to less judgmental and stereotypical thought. I also thought about Cajun French. Is it not ironic that it was once looked at as a lesser or “low” dialect, and now we are in fear of it completely dying out?

Oh, I also think it is awesome that there is no Standard English dialect or accent, and we can speak Standard English with any accent. Because of this, it ends up being molded to part of who we are.

inquiry #3

Chapter five of The Skin That We Speak focuses on the stereotypes we place on people who sound different than we do. Language is a funny thing because within each language there are several dialects and each person within each dialect thinks they speak the “right” way. This is in our human nature. We have this thing called power that takes over us and we feel as though we HAVE to be right, even if we are wrong. We make other dialects feel inferior to because we are right.

What makes this situation even funnier is that Standard American English had to come from a dialect right? Whose dialect, and why that one? Who decided their dialect of the language was correct and proper? Maybe this is why AAVE is not acceptable in the classroom and looked down upon in business standards. But, why? Why can’t we accept it just as we have Cajun French in the classrooms in Louisiana?

What if we peal back these stereotypes? Would we all speak all dialects? How would our society function? What would be our “proper” language/dialect? Would AAVE be the Standard English? Or better yet, would Standard English even exist? What would we strive to teach in the classroom?

Inquiry 3

In Michael Stubbs' chapter, he presents the reader with a text that is like most of the other chapters in this book except that it has a twist; this chapter is about the dialects of British English. He begins by asking the reader if a child’s language can affect his success at school. In some cases, the answer is yes. A speaker’s language largely influences how someone views his or her identity. For example, if someone uses the word ‘ain’t’ then one may assume that this person is lazy. This could be a huge problem if teachers pass judgments on students purely based on the way that a child speaks. This chapter tells the reader about an interview in which one-third of fifty teachers “thought that the school should try to change the way pupils speak.” This is outrageous that teachers do not accept children the way they are. As teachers, they should try to better that language or dialect that a child already speaks instead of changing language, which would in turn change their identity.
If a teacher feels that the way a student speaks is wrong, then they should think to themselves: is this student really speaking incorrectly, or are they speaking language that may not be appropriate at all times. A teacher should make it clear that it is perfectly fine to use whatever language a child prefers with their friends or at home, but their particular language may or may not be appropriate at a formal event or job interview. It is a teacher’s job to make the distinction clear. However, how does a teacher tell a student this without telling him that he is wrong? Is there a way teach the distinction at a young age to possibly avoid prejudices in language at an older age?

Inquiry # 3 The Hypocrisy of Sociolinguistic Stereotypes

Michael Stubbs’s “Some Basic Sociolinguistic Concepts” takes a look at stereotypical connotations associated with speech. Particularly, the author focuses on British speech patterns. Interestingly enough, Stubbs uses quotes that show interviewees are at conflicting odds with how they perceive the speech of others and their own speech. These interviewees say things that make no sense. For example, to demonstrate a “[typical] London accent,” a teacher uses the sentence “We ain’t go no money,” drawing particular attention to the “tendency to drop the aitch off…words” (66). The thing about this selection that makes no sense is that there are no aitches to drop in the sentence she read. What is more, she also refers to this tendency as a “lazy way of speaking” even though she uses the contraction “d’you” which could be considered a lazier way of speaking (silent aitches do occur in standard English and other languages, however, the contraction “d’you” is something that only appears in speech). I have to wonder if I am misreading what this teacher meant when she said lazy. That word seems to carry a bit of negative connotation with it; in that the people who are too lazy to pronounce a letter that may or may not be silent are probably lazy and ineffective at other things in life. Is this the sort of stereotype she places on all people from London or just people who speak this way?

Similarly, a student heard a recording and said that the speaker “sort of [sounded] as if they weren’t very well brought up theirselves” citing “pretty awful” grammar in the sentence “It only sort of went in a little bit.” (67-8) Of all the problems she may have found with the grammar or any other aspect of the recording, the thing she obsesses over is the phrase “sort of,” claiming “you’re not meant to say sort of,” and that it makes one sound almost primitive. However, she acknowledges that she says it. She also admits that she “associate[s] that sort of thing with people who haven’t really been taught to say it better.” So what does this say about the girl herself? She says that the phrase is primitive and transfers that idea onto the speaker. However, I do not get the feeling that she feels she acts primitively, and only as it is brought out in the interview does she seem to notice that she uses the phrase herself. And thus lays the hypocrisy of language related stereotypes. No one speaks perfect standard English, so how can anyone judge some else as having not been “well brought up” based on speech, when the same could probably be said for that judge?

Ch. 5 Inquiry

Michael Stubbs’ chapter entitled “Some Basic Sociolinguistic Concepts” mostly recapitulates what we have read in previous chapters, aside from the setting of his studies in Britain. He identifies that a teacher’s evaluative word for nonstandard English “lazy” points to the character judgments that are associated with language. He even suggests that a teacher would judge intellectual capacities “on totally irrelevant information” (67). He also asserts that “the social prestige of groups of speakers, as it were, rubs off on their language,” and I find this compelling because normally one would assume that the individual’s language strengthens or weakens one’s social status (71). But, here he suggests the opposite that the language of those in positions of power becomes the privileged language. It was also interesting that he points out that while no language is inherently superior or inferior, that “some languages are functionally more highly developed” meaning they have a writing system and are used in multiple contexts. Stubbs’ commentary on language varieties is important to note because he states that “everyone is multidialectal and multistylistic” and adapt their language to match the company, situation, and subject of whatever is being spoken about. He also makes a distinction between correctness and appropriateness in regards to speaking nonstandard English. This raises a pragmatic inquiry about how was a teacher can one make a child aware that their speech is not “wrong” but merely inappropriate. How can one teach a student to make linguistic distinctions that are not a part of their dialect, even if they can comprehend those distinctions? How can a teacher who speaks what is considered SE do so without inadvertently condemning the language of the student? How can teaching SE not interfere with children’s dialects? How can we change students’ attitudes towards language differences when we are aware that the prejudice will persist?

Chapter 5 Inquiry

In chapter 5, Michael Stubbs explains the basic sociolinguistic concepts that impact the relationship between language and the classroom. He talks about the tendency for teachers to view a child’s language in a stereotypical perspective. A teacher may think the way a child speaks in class is the way he or she would in any other situation. According to Stubbs, “many teachers maintain the fiction that there is only one ‘best’ English for all purposes, and that this is the only English proper to the classroom. Yet a moment’s thought or observation will convince any teachers that they themselves use many varieties of language throughout the day, depending on the purpose or context of the communication.” This quote points out the main issue we have with language: judgment. Even the bible talks about not trying to remove the speck from another’s eye before you have removed the log from your own. The story of the teacher who told her students dropping the “aitch” from the beginning of words was a “lazy way of speaking,” is the perfect example of this.

The definition of Standard English is very broad and subjective, which makes it very difficult to define what is correct and incorrect. Reading about so many problems and controversies surrounding the English language has made me wonder what I will do to improve these issues when I become a teacher. Until now, many of the solutions to so many problems, seemed to be either too narrow or too broad. One of the concepts Stubbs addresses in this chapter is the concept of correctness and appropriateness. Hypothetically, if a student is writing a letter to a prospective employer, he will need to know the standard forms and conventions of English to be used in this type of writing. “It is not that such forms are wrong in any absolute sense, but that they are considered inappropriate to this social occasion.”

I like the concept of appropriateness in speaking and writing. We all code switch depending on the situation we are in. Even the most intelligent person will have his own variation of language in formal and informal situations. Teachers should tell their students that there is no superior language or one correct way to speak and write. It’s important to address beliefs and stereotypes and explain why they are wrong. We should acknowledge there is a difference between formal and informal language. But we should also let students know that in order to be successful in many formal situations, they need to speak and write in a particular way. In my opinion, this would be a good method to apply in our classroom. Do you agree or disagree? If you do not believe this would be beneficial and help close the achievement gap, what do you think would? What method or way of teaching do think will be most effective in your classroom for the small amount of time you have with students? Do you think the main focus for teachers should be changing people’s attitudes towards language?

Chapter 5 inquiry

Michael Stubbs chapter about Sociolinguistic Concepts teaches us that people draw conclusions about people’s lives from the way that they speak. He touches on the fact that some teachers wrongfully have negative attitudes about the way their students speak. But overall, as a linguist he believes that all languages serve a purpose where they are used and for the reason they are used. He also believes that no language dialect is inferior to another.
Have you ever noticed how people talk differently when they are talking on the phone? My friends always make fun of me when I answer the phone when I don’t know who I’m talking to, or if it is someone important, they say I’m using my ‘grownup’ voice. If we were in an interview with our best friend sitting next to us, would that affect the way that we spoke to the interviewer? Why does a social occasion, as in talking on the phone or applying for a job, have to affect the way that we speak? Have you ever noticed that when people bring up the issue of differences in skin color, etc. that people seem to speed over the issue? Like when speakers or teachers mention skin color they speed up when they say that people are black/white/purple/yellow/etc. Michael Stubbs brings up the issue that we should teach our students, even though it is a touchy subject, that they will have to change the way they speak in order to not be looked down upon. We, as teachers, have to drop all social prejudices. It should not be hard to talk about the fact that people are different, but it is.

Inquiry 3

Chapter five of Lisa Delpit’s, The Skin That We Speak focuses on the stereotypes that we often place on people who speak a different dialect than our own. If we speak the same language, and we think our dialect is the “correct” way, then we often feel that the other speaker is inferior. When we say that the other speaker is inferior, we are saying that their dialect is inferior; however, according to the novel, no language or dialect is inferior.

If no language or dialect is inferior and each is complex in its own way, who decided how to distinguish between what’s right and what’s wrong? The features of AAVE described in the article, “Phonological and Grammatical Features of African American Vernacular English,” seem as complex as the features of Standard English; however, AAVE is not accepted in the classroom because someone decided it was “wrong.” Why was this decided if, again, no dialect is inferior?

If these stereotypes didn’t exist, would SE exist? That is, if we weren’t taught a “correct” way to speak, would Nonstandard English be the accepted SE? On the other hand, could both AAVE and SE be spoken in the same classroom? And if the two were spoken, would the lessons still be as effective? If students understand the grammatical rules of SE, should they be required to speak and write SE in the classroom or only write it?

Inquiry 2: Devil's Advocate?

Most of American society views those who speak AAVE as lower-class and at a disadvantage to succeed in life, regardless of age or race of either the speaker or those judging the speaker.

I think I had a large problem with a specific point in the introduction. It is stated that the book’s purpose is in part “to provide teachers insight into the educational dispositions necessary to expand the language repertoires of children , while at the same maintaining their connection to their mother tongue.” I understand learning a language in order to teach another language; I feel that that is important in understanding the students, not only for communication, but in learning a language, one often learns part of a culture. Why, though, do students need to hold onto the mother tongue so much? As Dowdy had mentioned, it creates a feeling of home. But are the languages in questions so different that this feeling of home is ripped away? Do the idioms of Standard English come haltingly to those who speak AAVE? My stepfather was forbidden to learn French in high school because his mother was punished cruelly for speaking the only language she knew when she started school, Cajun French. Although I feel a little sad for my stepfather’s mother, and even my stepfather, because he still wants to learn, I really don’t feel that it has caused that much lingering pain for either party. Mrs. Valia, my stepdad’s mother, may certainly have some bad memories and of course she doesn’t have positive feelings towards those teachers, or maybe even the fact that it was allowed to happen, but again, I think she feels that it was in the past and she got over it.

Would it be so hard for those who speak AAVE to teach their children Standard English? If a parent has learned Standard English well, there’s no reason in my mind to not teach their children Standard English considering the years of the belief that AAVE is an obstacle to learning, or at least being perceived as an intelligent person. Maybe that’s harsh, but isn’t the education (or at least the positive responses from those in authority) of the child more important?

Inquiry 2: School Life Should Not Be Surrounded by a Moat.

Our brilliant instructor's paper highlights a lot of interesting and significant issues when dealing with AAL and LWC. Obviously, the focus rests on the attitudes of teachers towards the two languages/dialects considered in opposition to one another, but another, more general question was brought to light. How does the segregation between home life and school life impact students' performance in the classroom?

This dichotomy was mentioned in the paper in a number of places; however, as it was not the focus of the paper, and it is indeed a broad issue, no clear conclusion has been thus far presented. It was clear from the studies that were mentioned that there is a distinct divide in the minds of teachers (and probably in the minds of students as well) between life inside and outside the classroom. Is this positing of a dichotomy really genuine, though? How much of a difference is there between the two aspects of a student's life? After all, most of a student's waking hours will be spent in a school setting, and even outside of the school many of the same processes take place. Learning, colloquial interaction, problem solving, and interpersonal communication (both verbal and non-verbal) are key components to both in-school and out-of-school existence for a student. If school and home life were to be treated in much the same manner, what kind of impact would it have on learning? This would indeed be an interesting study to conduct, and one that could dramatically alter the paradigmatic classroom.