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.