Jones paper “Teachers’ Attitudes toward African American Language” takes a look at the attitudes shown by educators towards African American English. This paper is a reflective overview of information drawn from various studies. Educators were surveyed and the results are shown in graphs. The majority of answers from most of the studies show that while many teachers agree that African American Language is not necessarily wrong, many also agree that it should be pushed out of the classroom as much as possible. In her paper, Jones acknowledges that many educators have negative views on African American Language because despite taking classes instituted to diversify, many of them have been subjected to media that has reinforced the idea of non-standard English dialects as bad English.
However, these viewpoints raise questions; in particular, if African American Language has no place in the classroom and yet still it takes years to grind it out of students (and does not always succeed) what could be the reason? Is it possible that maybe part of the reason is that African American Language is the language used by the children in every other aspect of their lives other than school? In which sense, it may not be as pressing a matter to learn to something that only counts in school. Perhaps, if at a younger age, students understood the value, they would try harder at a younger age to incorporate standardized English into their speech. However, it seems that in order for that to happen, teachers need to recognize that the language these students speak is not bad English, because as studies have shown, it has rules of grammar that govern it as well as the rules that govern standardized English. If students are to accept that standardized English, a dialect that has little connection with their current world, is relevant, teachers have to acknowledge that the non-standard English dialect of their students has a strong relevance to the students’ lives and that it cannot be stamped out or treated as a vice.
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ReplyDeleteIn reading Chapter 11, The Clash of “Common Sense”: Two African American Women Become Teachers, both Tanya and Linda come from backgrounds that put importance on being African American. They both struggled with embracing their culture and being forced to learn the “proper” language (Standard English). It doesn’t make sense to force a language down their throats if they aren’t practicing it at home on a daily basis. It is like my German class. I only study right before a test, therefore, I am not fluent in that language yet. If I studied and spoke it everyday then I would be better at speaking and understanding it. AAE is the same as learning a foreign language. Studies show that if we introduce a foreign language to students at a younger age then they grasp it better than if they were introduced to it at an older age. Why aren’t we doing this with Standard English? Demonstrate the value of Standard English early on, so they aren’t following behind later in life and school.
ReplyDeleteTeachers must recognize the importance of the culture and the language working as one before they start teaching Standard English. Tanya and Linda both come from two different styles of learning SE but both share their struggles of how they became teachers and the impact this controversy had on them. Linda’s intelligence was questioned because she spoke AAE, which aided to her doubt of her supporters (family). Tanya, on the other hand, was a speaker of SE and she struggled with being professional and “black” at the same time. Both women became insure with their identities. So should we let the language die and force students to learn SE only? I don’t think we should let the language die, because it is apart of these children. It is our job to teach, not to dictate. Even within the SE there are many dialects, therefore, I think we should work with students. Teach them the importance of both languages.
Good stuff here.
ReplyDelete"If African American Language has no place in the classroom and yet still it takes years to grind it out of students (and does not always succeed) what could be the reason?" A very incisive question with no simple answer. Some would say that there's much more than just language at stake--that it has roots in our nation's incredibly complex and troubling history with issues of race.
"Demonstrate the value of Standard English early on." What might that look like? How would it be different from what these essays assert is the current state of affairs?