This article presents five different methods of teaching AAE speakers to write in SWE. Each method has its ups and downs, but there are some methods that have fewer negative side effects that go along with them.
Of the five approaches, the traditional approach is the most dictatorial and uncompromising. In the traditional approach, the teacher eliminates almost all forms of AAE in the classroom. This means that she does not allow her students to speak it, write it, or even read it. By preventing her students from reading texts that are written in AAE, she is keeping them from some influential literary works that would help expand their understanding of the African American culture. Also, the method of assessment that is used in the traditional approach is flawed. The traditional approach relies on standardized testing to assess whether or not the students are becoming more adept at SWE. However, standardized testings can at times be unclear and a student may score lower than he/she normally would. Finally, the traditional approach completely eliminates the language that AAE speakers grew up hearing. With the use of this method, students are being told that those who taught them to speak this way are uneducated and incorrect.
Fortunately, the other four approaches to teaching SWE are substantially more tolerant to AAE than is the traditional approach. In The Second Dialect Approach, the teacher underlines the differences in AAE and SWE as though they are two completely different languages and students “translate” works from AAE to SWE. It is true that this approach is much more tolerant to AAE. Teachers will speak in correct Standard English to the students but not necessarily correct the students when they speak AAE. This approach allows students to still embrace their background of language. However, I still do not feel that this is the most effective method when it comes to writing in SWE because it does not enforce consistency in writing. Students may write poetry in AAE but are told to write essays and reports in SWE.
Between The Dialect Awareness approach-which teaches the importance of all dialects/languages, the Culturally Appropriate Approach, and the Bridge Approach, I feel that the Culturally Appropriate Approach is the most effect. This approach is founded on African American culture. In essence, it teaches that using SWE can empower a student just as the usage of AAE can. It creates “Black Standard English: the combination of SWE grammar with the rhetorical styles that marks authors and speakers as black.” It also explains how the usage of SWE has been an important part in African American history. It uses the example of Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking in Standard English and at the same time using AAE characteristics. This Culturally Appropriate Approach gives AAE speakers a reason to feel proud of using SWE. It gives them the knowledge that they are not simply conforming to what is considered acceptable in the English language but are instead modeling themselves after some of the great African American speakers and writers in history.
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15 comments:
I agree with what was said in this summary. The traditional approach is flawed. Personally, I feel as though it is even discriminatory against AAE speakers. I believe that students learn best when they are comfortable in their surrounding environment. If a teacher eliminates AAE language all together in the classroom, students who speak AAE will not acheive and perform to the highest level. In my opinion, you have to meet kids half way. That is why I also feel as though the Culturally Appropriate Approach is the best. It combines SWE with AAE without eliminating it all together. I don't think it is right, nor do I think it is appropriate for teachers to dictate what they feel is the only acceptable way to write. Yes, SWE is the proper way to write. However, taking away and discouraging kids from taking pride in their culture isn't right. As the summary does say, it does give kids who speak AAE a sense of pride when they can see someone like Martin Luther King JR. deliver a speech using Standard English with AAE characteristics. It gives them hope that they too can combine what they grew up speaking with proper Standard English.
I would have to say that I agree that the Culturally Appropriate Approach is the one I feel is the best for Ebonic speaking students. It captures the culture that the language was founded on. And it does give them something to feel proud of. I also liked that it encompassed the work of Martin Luther King Jr.
I'm inclined to agree. The traditional approach shows a lack of tolerance and respect for sub culture. However, I think that those who practice this method have good intentions; they are just misguided.
Every English speaker needs to know the proper way to use the language. But phasing out sub cultures in the process is unacceptable. Kudos to those cunning people who devised the Culturally Appropriate Approach.
It seems as if the traditional approach does more to make AAE speaking students feel bad about themselves then to help them learn SWE. Constant correction is overwhelming and will most likely result in students shutting down. I also thought there were problems with the ESD approach. It still seems to attach a stigma to AAE because the flow only goes one way. The other three approaches all seemed to have good ideas and to have a lot of pedagogy in common. I think that the best results would come from a mixing of these three approaches. I especially thought that reading many types of literature instead of those written in only SWE is a good idea. Students will get a much broader sense of literature and language, and I've always thought that reading was the best way to learn grammar and writing.
I believe there needs to be a relaxed approach to the language. Work with these students while still having an understanding that they are trying to learn a new type of speaking. Their language is something many of them grew up with and want to continue to speak because it reminds them of who they are and where they came from.
While I do agree that the Traditional Approach is flawed, I'm not sure that I agree that the Culturally Appropriate Approach is best. I'm really interested in the Bridge Approach. I like the philosophy behind the Bridge Approach, and I would like to see some test results based on this approach. I think that I would try to use a combination of the last four approaches to teach SWE because I think that each has some strong points that would be helpful in the classroom.
I thought the summary covered the main points of the article about the different approaches to teach AAE speakers to write in the SWE style. I feel that taking away a person's culture by forcing them to only speak the way you want them to is wrong. Everyone should be taught to be professional in the way they speak and write in the "professional world," but I feel that people should speak in a way that they feel comfortable on personal basis. I think that schools have done a decent job at doing so in my experiences and I don't think it is as big of an issue as people are making it out to be.
I agree that the traditional approach is not the best way to teach. I think that students should be "influenced" by thier culture, whether it be by reading, writing, or speaking it. I think that the Second Dialet Approach sounds interesting. I like that there is a comparision of Standard English and AAE. I think that if this approach was used in a classroom that the teacher would have to make sure they taught it carefully.
I am sort of in agreement with this summary. Students should be about to feel comfortable with their teachers when they are learning. It makes the learning process much easier.However, even teachers try to take away the ebonics or african american english from the students,that does not mean that they are going to improve on an academic level. So I agree with the author of this summary that the Cultural Appropriate Approach is the most effective. It gives the AAE speakers the background of their culture and it might make them want to speak more SWE language since they now know that some powerful people in their history used that particular language.
One of the most attractive goals of the Culturally Appropriate approach is the effort in “countering the cultural resistance to SWE.” From what I have read so far in this class, resistance of some form or another seems to be the biggest problem in teaching SWE to AAE speakers. It can be resistance because of constant error correction or resistance to what is seen as an attack on one’s own culture. I think it is necessary not only to avoid painting AAE as broken English, but also to use these lessons as a way to instill pride and ownership of cultural roots. I think this street can go both ways by teaching non-AAE speakers to be more understanding of those who are AAE speakers. I’m sure that there would be community resistance in some areas to such a program, but I think it could be very valuable in broadening students’ cultural awareness.
I agree with all that was said in the summary. Some of the approaches are not working or are unforgiving to the AAE speakers. The Traditional Approach tells them their language, culture, and basic way of life is wrong. That should not be the way teachers are towards their students. I think the two best approaches are the Second Dialect Approach and the Culturally Appropriate Approach. They both made room for AAE speakers to use AAE while still teaching them the importance of SWE. I think it is very important for students to know both and to use both when it is a part of their culture or daily lives. You can not deprive someone of their own culture.
The whole debate comes back to the constantly fluid nature of language. It is against a language's best interest to limit it to a certain degree of rules, arbitrarily decided by a group of linguists. Not even these panels can agree on what is and is not acceptable, so compromises must be made, and through these compromises we have the grammatical rules that are in place today. I do believe there should be a universal language for writing, but this language should not become the only language. Fluidity must be maintained.
I agree that this approach is not the best. As mentioned it has flaws. It completely dishonors the AAE language. But the biggest thing to me is that it limits the knowledge that these students have of other cultures. There is not an ideal approach that can be made on this subject. However, I believe that the Culturally appropriate approach would be a step in that direction
Asking how we can help AAE speakers become better SWE writers another very important question: why do we need to make them better SWE writers. On the surface, the answer seems simple--after all, SWE is the "proper" way to speak and write English. However, there is no such thing as right and wrong when it comes to language. AAE is simply a dialect of English and should be treated as such. We don't attack Joe-Bob and Merry-Lou in Kentucky when they butcher English (and trust me, they do), so why should we when someone speaks/writes AAE. I believe that the importance lies in what SWE has become. SWE is the written standard for all major publishing organizations. However, that doesn't mean we should require children to learn it. This simply means we have to give them every opportunity to learn it. Learning SWE when one is familiar with a completely different dialect can be very much like learning a new language. If there's one thing I've learned in learning languages, it's that you won't learn a language you don't want to. That initiative has to be present before any margin of success can be made. The Culturally Appropriate Approach comes closest to this by encouraging a middle ground and a bit of understanding between the involved parties.
Yes, AAE is difficult to handle in the classroom, but students learn best when they are comfortable. Saying that the language that those students grew up with is poor and unacceptable can cause some distress. SWE should be taught to all students. Society needs a formal language to connect everyone together, but you cannot stop the evolution and shiftiness of language.
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