I grew up in a family that stressed Standard English (SE). My mother stressed it to a point where it really got on my nerves. Now, I drive my husband crazy doing the same thing to him that my mother did to me. As an adult, I can appreciate that I can hold a conversation with anyone and know that 99% of the time, I am speaking proper English. As a child, it was annoying to be constantly corrected. I see the advantages now that my mother afforded me by correcting my verb tenses. Our language truly is a way of identifying who we are. The author’s opinions of her mother made it easy for me to relate to her. She too felt her mother’s burden of speaking proper English.
Regardless of what career we choose, our language identifies us from the beginning of every conversation. People establish opinions about us from what we communicate with each other. These opinions are not always correct, but they are established early on. As adults we can take the chance to go back and forth between our home language an pubic language, but society may not be ready for the home language all of the time.
Language today is not a priority in the school system. Students do not conjugate sentences and learn correct speech. There is a more whole language approach that involves the child obtaining correct grammar and speech through talking and writing. I personally hate to see it happen. I do think there are times and a places for Standard English. Children today are expected to gain so much for conversational talking rather than a back to the basics approach to teaching. It is a shame that language is so easily judged, but the fact remains is that often our first impressions come from the first sentence or two that we speak to each other.
The Ebonics issue brings up a rather hot topic for me. I adamantly disagree with the use of the language in the school system by teachers. We cannot change our language to make it more convenient for any child. Standard English needs to be a focus in the early years of a child’s education and continue throughout their learning. I know for the children who speak it at home that it is crucial that we as educators learn how to teach them. No child should be judged by their language, but Standard English should still be taught. The children speaking Ebonics are a lot like our ESOL students that are in most classrooms today. We as teachers need to give all students a chance to learn at their greatest potential and serve as a source of encouragement to further their learning.
Beth Rigsbee
Comments (46)
Beth,
I agree with you, we need to get back to the basics of teaching children how to write correctly. There is a time and place for free writing, but at some point it needs to correct. Children need to know there is a difference in written communication and oral communication. I work at Caldwell Community College. We offer many classes in developmental English. These courses are below college level and students are placed in these courses to help prepare them for college level English. Many students who place in the lowest level write exactly how they speak. They are very resistant to changing their writing. I do not know how to correct this. It may be an issue of maturity. When students realize how important writing is to their future, they will probably be more open to learning.
On the issue with Ebonics, Children may find it fun as with any other language to teach a few words to their friends or their teacher as a way to share language and culture.
Posted by Laura Wollpert | May 23, 2007 11:40 AM
Posted on May 23, 2007 11:40
I have to completely agree with what Beth said about “people establish opinions about us from what we communicate with each other.” The first time someone hears us speak they immediately form an opinion that may never change. You get one chance to make a first impression. People often judge you completely based on how you speak – smart, dumb, rich, poor, race, etc. While this isn’t always bad, it does happen.
Again, I agreed with Beth when she mentioned that language is not a priority in our schools. Even when I came from school in the 80s and early 90s language was not focused on. Everything I learned about grammar and subject/verb agreement, etc. I taught myself my freshman year in college. No one ever took the time to teach me these things and I knew if I didn’t figure them out for myself I was sunk. Today, I continue to see children who cannot write a sentence, or speak a sentence, with subject/verb agreement. If children do not learn this, they are not going to be able to learn to communicate in the various forms needed in life. They will not be able to send an email to their boss without it being critiqued. They won’t survive being able to write a paper in college. They won’t be successful in a job interview. These are the fundamentals of language that must not be forgotten.
Posted by Lisa outland | May 24, 2007 4:12 PM
Posted on May 24, 2007 16:12
Beth,
I have to say that I absolutely agree with your statement that "language is not a priority in the school system." Being in a rural county, I consistently hear students and teachers incorrectly use the English Language. I myself also have a hard time speaking correct SE because I grew up using the southern dialect that many of my students now speak. I constantly have to correct my students and pay close attention to the way in which I speak. The fact that language is not emphasized directly effects the way my 4th grade students perform on the writing test. The students in my classroom rarely receive many points for conventions on the writing test. The students in my classroom write the way in which they talk; therefore, our schools writing scores are directly effected. Ultimately when others look at our schools writing test scores they wonder what in the world we are doing wrong. One wonders if it might not be better to go back to our old way of teaching writing heavily focusing on the importance of grammar and correct language usage. It makes one wonder what we should do. Should we allow students to speak inappropriately because it is the way in which they have grown up and were raised? Or, should we make everone conform and speak in the perfect SE manner?
Posted by Kelly Mabe | May 24, 2007 5:02 PM
Posted on May 24, 2007 17:02
I personally loved grammar as a kid (I was geeky that way) and also agree that it should be taught in schools.
What I also believe is that it shouldn't be taught at the expense of home languages and cultures.
It is indeed a shame that educators have to work within this structure that privileges speech over other aspects of identity. Ours is a discourse-based culture, and when schools realize that, perhaps literacy learning will take on the multi-faceted approaches that it should in order to maximize students' potential.
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