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?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I'm commenting now!
ReplyDeleteResponse 3
ReplyDeleteIn Lisa Delpit’s chapter, she watches her daughter code switch between the Standard English that she was raised on and the Black English that her friends teach her; Delpit is unsure about how to deal with her daughter’s new dialect. Eventually, she learns that her daughter knows exactly how to code switch effectively; she knows that she can talk to her friends and family in whatever language she wants, but when it comes time for formal interviews and such Standard English is preferred. Delpit is reassured that her daughter knows when to use each language, but she also asks herself: how did Maya learn a new language so quickly? She concludes that a way one can pick up a language easily is to completely identify with it. This makes perfect sense. For one to learn a new language, they must want to learn. She also brings up a point about how a student can learn Standard English for eleven years and still not speak perfectly, but one can spend three months with friends and learn their language. This makes me wonder what are teachers doing wrong in the classroom. To make a student want to learn, we as teachers must get them talking and teach using subjects that they want to learn about such as the hair situation in the chapter. To get other teachers involved, we must inform them because I’m sure they want their students to want to learn too. As for each individual student, we must connect with them and see how they learn to better teach them.