As I read the introduction to this book, I became intrigued by the many studies presented by the author. I was shocked that children in the preschool age could recognize and stereotype the BE speaker and the SE speaker. To be honest, I guess I never realized that children could make such distinctions/assumptions at such an early age. I began to wonder who these children picked up these assumptions from. Do we as adults influence our children that early in life? This really made me think about the way in which I respond to other people and the way in which I speak about them. As adults we should appropriately model correct English; however, I do not think we need to degrade/stereotype others because they do not. When thinking about my 4th grade students, I feel that they would probably say the same things that these 3 to 5 year olds said. Just like adults, students equate money, prestige, and power with those people who appear to be "perfect" speakers. It scares me to think that I myself may even be judged intially by the way in which I speak.
As I read further I have to say that I completely agree with the speaker when she states that teachers "do not know what to do about language diversity in their classrooms." As a fourth grade writing teacher I am constantly faced with the incorrect usage of language and grammar. Ultimately, students write the way in which they speak. The students in my classroom who use BE or speak with the "southern dialect" do horribly on the conventions portion of the writing test. As a teacher, I constantly correct and discuss the importance of proper language usage. However, these students are so accustomed to their dialect and way of speaking that it is very hard for them to let it go. My main questions is: How do I teach children to write the opposite of the way in which they speak?
As I read chapter 1, I felt very sorry for Mrs. Dowdy. Her mother and grandmother it seemed were almost to stringent in their desire for her to speak SE. Growing up in rural NC, I myself acquired the wonderful southern dialect of the south. My parents never corrected my language because I spoke the same way that they did. My southern way of speaking did not bother me until I entered college. I remember recieving a lot of flack from my teaching advisor after observing me teach a lesson to a group of Kindergartners. The lesson that I taught involved the poem "Five Little Pumpkins". When I came to the word pumpkin in the rhyme, I said "punkin". After talking to my advisor, I had never been more humiliated in my life. From that moment on I began to pay more attention to the way in which I spoke. After this experience I began to code switch quite often. At home I used my southern dialect and at college I tried my best to speak SE. This was and is still very hard for me. After college, I chose to teach in the county that I had grown up in. I think I did this partly because I new that I would "fit in" and I would not have to worry so much about my SE being absolutely perfect.
As I read chapter 2, I was very disturbed by the labels that were placed upon Mr. Smith. I am ashamed of the fact that these people labeled him deficient just because of his language. If this was truly the case, then 75% of the students in my classroom would be labeled deficient. Mr. Smith goes on in the chapter to discuss the negative effects of being labeled. Mr. Smith ended up living a teenage and young adult life that was to most of us very undesireable. I am very glad however that he had some wonderful influences who allowed him to turn his life around. This chapter truly made me think about how quickly we as teachers can "label" a student. I feel we all need to stick to the old adage "You can't judge a book by its cover." We each need to make sure that we give each child a chance regardless of their language, ethnicity, or socio-economic status.
Kelly Mabe
Comments (5)
Kelly,
I agree with when you stated, "You can't judge a book by its cover." How many times have we all judged someone hastily? I remember one time I after moving to Wilkesboro from Ann Arbor Michigan I met a man who to looked like the biggest "hillbilly". I was so wrong. He was a writer, a business owner, and he spoke very eloquently. At that point, I thought I needed to change my thinking. I can work on myself, but what about other people? We grow-up open to everything around us. We don’t care about language or color. I remember my niece asked her little sister if she could be any color she wanted what color would it be? She said she wanted to be purple. I thought it was lovely because she was still so little that she wasn’t even aware that purple wasn’t a choice.
I guess what excites me about this class is that we do have a choice about how we teach and we do have an impact on our students. Beginning a dialog such as this is the first step in making changes that can affect the lives of so many.
Posted by Laura Wollpert | May 24, 2007 3:38 PM
Posted on May 24, 2007 15:38
Kelly,
So often people stereotype young children as these empty vessels that need to be "filled up" with knowledge. I agree with you that these chapters reminded me that young children are smart, observant, and critical. Teachers cannot hide things from them.
Your "punkin" story is heartbreaking. You must have felt the intense connection between language and identity at that point. In some ways, it is probably good that you had that experience in that it helps you to be careful of the language/dialect hierarchies that can get created in classrooms.
Alecia
Posted by Prof. Alecia Jackson | May 24, 2007 9:28 PM
Posted on May 24, 2007 21:28
Kelly,
In your pursuit of exploring, “How do you teach children to write the opposite of the way, in which they speak,” is a challenge within itself. During this journey of your quest to HELP and to CHANGE, do not become so stressed and lose focus. Remember that people deal with change differently. Many of us tend to resist change, however, in the beginning, change is slow, gradual, and in this it might be barely noticeable. You must continue to find ways to solve your quest and burning desire to teach your students to write the correct way. Keep these words in your mind as you teach your students, foundation and building. You are laying the foundation for your students and they are building in their minds upon your expertise and knowledge. In doing this, you are giving your children a chance to CHANGE and the “ability to survive” and “to fit in” regardless of their language, ethnicity, or socio-economic status.
Shirley Mathis
Posted by Shirley Mathis | May 24, 2007 11:37 PM
Posted on May 24, 2007 23:37
Kelly,
I teach 7th grade, and I too thought of your question, "how do you teach children to write opposite of how they speak?" It continues to be an issue I deal with on the everday basis in the classroom. If students don't hear the proper language, how will they ever know how to write in standard english? I continue to tell myself this where we as teachers come in. It is so hard to explain to a child that what they wrote, in their own words, is not actually 'correct', due to the words of standard english. I so often try to focus on audience at this point to help students understand which 'speech' formal or informal to write in. There is certainly no easy answer.
Posted by Sarah McMillan | May 25, 2007 4:08 PM
Posted on May 25, 2007 16:08
Kelly Mabe,
Children do write as they speak and this is definitely a problem with the fourth grade writing test. I do not know how to adequately teach SE on a continuous basis. I have a few ideas, but I feel like I have much room for improvement. My biggest success in teaching SE is to continuously and constantly use literary models to emphasis correct grammar usage. An idea that I have…. Expose the children to books using slang, or phrasing uncommon to them. Seeing differences in language could trigger a keener ear for noticing language differences. However, this is just an idea. I enjoy trying new things to find out if they work in the educational setting. I will have to try this. I am amazed by how the format of this online class is really making me reflect on my teaching practices. I never thought that an online course could trigger so many views and feelings about my teaching techniques or practices.
Standard English—why is this format best? Why are other forms inadequate? I have seen, for myself that SE is placed on a superior level, but I do not fully understand it. Does it all go back to the hierarchical levels in society?
Heather
Holland
Posted by Heather Holland | May 25, 2007 10:36 PM
Posted on May 25, 2007 22:36