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| 1996 Ebonics Controversy |
African American English is spoken by many Americans all across the United States including school aged children. Statistically, children who speak AAE are more likely to fall behind in school than their peers who speak Standard English; this is largely due to the fact that most teachers do not obtain the pedagogical knowledge on how to help AAE speaking children develop literacy skills. Some may even hold a dialect bias, due to the controversy of AAE being in schools and dialect ignorance developing the belief held by society that AAE is the “wrong” form of English. These factors can lead children to feeling inadequate and unable to learn, which is something major that needs to change in schools all across the country. To the children speaking this dialect, Standard English can seem like a whole different language.
Julie Washington is a speech pathologist who studies African American English, she found that when a child who is fluent in AAE listens to a story written in Standard English there are a bunch of things that the child has to be able to do. They have to first understand the story in an unfamiliar dialect, then retain it, and translate it to their dialect to be able to fully comprehend it; by doing that they are code-switching the dialects. Some of these children learn how to code-switch naturally, but by the end of third grade about one third of them still are still not able to and are not going to unless it is taught.
Elementary school teachers specifically are on the front lines when it comes to helping AAE children with their reading comprehension skills. If the students are not taught how to properly code-switch they will most likely not be able to keep up with their school work due to the confusion it can bring them. Students who speak AAE may find it very difficult to be able to connect oral pronunciation with written pronunciation which means they may not be able to properly sound out written SE words leaving them unable to understand text. There is an approach to teaching these students Standard English that many teachers are using. The teachers will run different drills with the students to help them match words that they know in AAE with words that mean the same thing in SE. Code-switching between the two which are much healthier for students and shows them both dialects are respected and able to be used in the classroom.
Though the belief of anything other than Standard English being “wrong” is still present in some cases due to teacher bias and dialect ignorance. These are teachers who believe AAE to be “inferior”; where teachers automatically assume these children to be “at risk”. Studies have shown they will usually take points off of homework for grammar other than SE instead of the child’s knowledge on the subject, leaving them with low grades they do not deserve. In other cases these teachers will request them to be in special education classes. Both are damaging to the child’s self-esteem and can make them feel unable to learn, leading to them giving up. Teachers with the pedagogical knowledge on how to help these children will result in all students having the option to reach their full potential.
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI like that your post reflects the James Baldwin essay we read earlier in the semester. It is interesting that AAE can be treated as a language, especially when teaching in an English dominant society. This phenomenon is a lot like teaching in another language. When you are learning a language, the beginning time is often spent translating words into your mother tongue to fully understand the meaning behind the word. Eventually this will become a word that understandable on its own, but it involves working towards that goal. AAE is in a difficult position because it is English, but is still different enough that the students would need to code-switch. This is an interesting conversation to have in the Educational discourse.
~Skylar Daley
Hey Emily!
ReplyDeleteI also briefly discussed the fact that teachers tend to lack knowledge and education on African American English and the ways in which it impacts AAE speaking students in the classroom. It is so crucial for teachers and older generations to understand the importance of educating the youth on the variety of languages that we come across in our classrooms, as it does contribute to the growth and development of these students who may feel impacted by the views of society. Great job!
-Mallory
Hey Emily!
ReplyDeleteI talked about Spanglish in my post and touched on the importance of academics. As an Education Major I found your blog post very interesting and enjoyable to read. I agree on the fact that those who speak AAE can fall behind because their language isn't truly understood. Personally, I didn't know AAE before taking this class. Having this realization, I wonder how many teachers have no idea of its existence. How many students have been told their language was incorrect because it was been forced to fit into standard English? I feel that there is so much unknown that needs to be educated in order to benefit ALL students.
-Jessica Smith