After reading Laura Jones' essay concerning teachers’ attitudes toward African American Language, I found myself asking, "What exactly is AAL?" I have the general idea, but now that I have learned that it entails rules and certain grammatical attributes, I am less educated in the subject than what I previously thought.
Jones' point that it might be worthwhile to "improve teacher education around language diversity" is a great one, and my main reaction was concern for the already large amount of untrained and uncertified teachers. If teachers are trained to value language diversity in attempt to being able to better the education process, what about those that are not even trained in the profession that they teach? I understand that the language diversity in the classroom is the root of some major challenges. If teachers are to teach American Standard English and the students do not speak or use it, it would indeed cause frustrations for the teacher. I do see the importance of having this knowledge, but the simple fact as we can see from the studies is that a good percentage of teachers do not possess it.
I had no previous knowledge that AAL was considered an actual dialect of English. I think that if this issue were to be more broadcast and widespread, the efforts in ridding the negative attitudes would be more affective.
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ReplyDeleteThe Clash of “Common Senses” was about two girl’s experiences with being black in their teacher preparation courses, and how they were viewed as prospective teachers. They had to figure out their own way to cope with being viewed as incompetent. Through the whole experience they developed Black self love, and that was their saving grace.
ReplyDeleteI was uninformed as well about AAE. I have never had the term come up so much as I do now since I am an English major. Apparently, the teachers that Linda and Tanya worked with were uninformed as well. I agree completely that it is very important that we as perspective teachers learn the importance of and understand AAE. It is said that we should learn from history so as not to repeat our mistakes, which explains why we should learn from the mistakes of the great Ebonics controversy. They said that the reason for the severity of the situation was because the population was uneducated and misinformed about the topic. If the teachers and mentors that Linda and Tanya dealt with understood what AAE was, Linda and Tanya would have had a better experience throughout the process of achieving their teaching degrees. If future teachers are better informed about AAE, black students will not feel “ashamed and hopeless” like some have for many years.
In my observations at Park Forest Middle School I have noticed that the students are much more accepting to the teachings of their African American English teacher. When I observed other classes I noticed that the black students are not as accepting and willing to learn from teachers who speak differently than them. Shuaib Meacham mentions the same point in his paper; he says that teachers who are culturally diverse reach culturally diverse students more easily. If I were a minority in an environment where I was being taught something that many of the other students already understood, I would enjoy having a role model who was easy to relate to.
"In my observations at Park Forest Middle School I have noticed that the students are much more accepting to the teachings of their African American English teacher. When I observed other classes I noticed that the black students are not as accepting and willing to learn from teachers who speak differently than them." This is a good point--but it's not inevitable that you have to speak the same dialect in order to teach students well. When you're next at Park Forest, pop in and see Ms. Emily Compton teaching Science. Although language isn't the topic of the lessons, you'll see how a teacher with a different cultural background can still make students feel comfortable and accepted (and in turn, gain their acceptance and respect).
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