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?