Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (Summer 2011)

As I read the Delpit and Dowdy articles I could relate to their sense of struggle in regards to the use of a “home” language versus the use of a “public” language. Growing up in a rural town in western North Carolina I spoke “country”. As I prepared to go to the University of North Carolina, I was somewhat worried. I did not want to sound “too country” because I thought people would think that I was less intelligent than they were. I did not want to be judged by my dialect alone.

Delpit and Dowdy both emphasize the importance of looking past a person’s speech patterns or language form when determining a person’s intellectual competence. We must listen to what a person says, not how they say it.

Unfortunately, this is extremely difficult for most. We have grown up in a society that constantly affirms prejudices and misconceptions. As a result of this, many children and adults alike have become adept at “code switching” as Delpit refers to it. Code switching is the ability to switch dialects based on the situation or audience one is speaking to, and has seemingly become standard practice for many members of society.

I think that the ability to code switch has been viewed as a necessity for many different cultures, but especially for African Americans. As stated in the clip with Michelle Obama, oftentimes African Americans face stereotypes from both white Americans and African Americans. They are afraid of sounding “too white” or “too black” depending on the audience.

I agree with Dowdy when she states that people should be free to go back and forth between their home language and their public language without feeling inferior in some way. This brings me back to my feelings about my own dialect. I never realized that I, too, had become adept at code switching. I speak one way with my friends here in Hickory, but when I go home I often slip back into my “country” language. Otherwise, my friends at home might accuse me of “puttin’ on airs”. While I should feel free and comfortable to speak in either dialect in both settings, I do not because as Delpit points out, there are not many people who can actually “listen beyond” a person’s language form.

I think that as educators it is our responsibility to provide a balance between nurturing our students and encouraging them to use their home language and teaching them Standard English. Students should realize that they are not “less than” because they speak differently than others. However, because of the world we live in, they need to know, and be able to effectively use, Standard English. When trying to teach our students Standard English, we need to consider Krashen’s (1982) theory of an affective filter as referenced by Delpit. We must find a way to identify with the students, implement a curriculum that affirms them and their interests, and make them feel safe and comfortable while doing so. As Delpit points out, in order for our students to acquire this new dialect we are trying to teach them, we must recognize the worth of their home language because as Delpit so accurately points out, when we reject our students’ languages, it seems to the children that we are rejecting them.

Leslie Rothenberger