RE_5539

linda,
those same questions ran through my head as well. how do we teach SE without hurting a child's soul. i often tell my children that there is "school talk" and "home talk". at home some of my children only speak spanish...but when we are in school we speak not only english but standard english. when im home, i dont always speak standard english. when i come to work i leave my "home talk" with my pajamas and bring my "school talk" with me. some of my children have that strong southern dialect. sometimes when they come to me and say..."i need to goed to the bathroom." i say, "oh, you need to go to the bathroom?" i ask it as a question so they dont realize i have just corrected them with standard english. little by little they hear the "school language". i try to never correct children by saying..."you said that wrong." i teach kindergarten children so i am careful about how i communicate with them. i want them to love school and learning.
donna byrd-wyatt

Linda,
You ask some profoundly important questions to which I do not have the answers!
All I know is that it is incredibly dangerous to set up hierarchies with language -- "this" is better than "that" -- because the implications of identity in the process.
How did you feel when you had to "lose" part of your dialect to fit in? Perhaps it was not an issue because you were still in the majority of culture. But maybe it was heartbreaking.
Is there a way to teach SE as a STRATEGIC manuever rather than a cultural imperative? That is the question for teachers, I think!
Prof. Alecia Jackson

Linda,

I agree with you whole-heartedly that language really and truly play a huge role in how others perceive us. Its unfortunate, but yet true. I do believe that it goes back to that old adage, "you can't judge a book by looking at its cover, well, we have Ernie Smith as an example for this cliche'. Yet, we are judged by the way we speak and do not say you are a teacher when you are enjoying the company of your family and does not speak Standard English. The ridicule is there also. It is like you are under a microscope and they are waiting for you to enter that comfort zone and bam--they picked up on the non-standard English language. They question and ask you what kind of teacher are you? My response is, a caring teacher that make mistakes and a person that will admit to err for I am human and still have room to grow and learn.

I understand your concern. I have the same concern when I am grading my student's writing because I want them to become better writers which in turn, they will be able to use the correct SE.

I do not know if this is the answer to your question, however, this is the approach I have taken to your question, what is the best way to teach Standard English to a child without tearing their heart apart and risking their self concept of themselves? I never correct the student when they are speaking. I will record those words they use or the sentence and it will be our Daily Oral Language (DOL)for the next day. We will read the sentence or the word and make the corrections at that time. We will define the sentence as a simple sentence, a compound sentence, or a complex sentence. I will then ask the students to compose two sentences and as a class we will vote on the sentence based on the way it sounds and is written. If it is a word, for an example, the word "ain't". I will write the word on the board along with other contraction words and I will give them the opportunity to make changes. Of course, an example is on the board but not the word ain't. The word would be isn't and we will, as I call it-break it down, which means, putting it in its correct formation. This may not be the correct way, however, I want to provide an environment that will allow my students to speak positively, freely, and to be risk takers.

Shirley Mathis

Linda,
I too grew up speaking the southern dialect. Throughout my elementary, middle, & high school years I attended school with children who spoke the same way that I did. Just like you I realized in college how very different my way of speaking was from others. At that point, I began to correct my lanuage so that I spoke primarily SE. I never once tried to correct my parents and I was wondering how your parents felt about your correction of them? My dad has always taken great pride in his southern heritage and language; therefore, I am sure that he would have been greatly offended if I had tried to correct him.

I too was mortified by the use of the term "verbal cripple" in the 2nd chapter. A child cannot change the environment that he/she is raised in. Who is to say that we should really want to "change" a child. Your last two questions truly represented how I felt after reading these two chapters. Maybe over the next few weeks we will find the answers that we are looking for.

Kelly Mabe

Like i always tell my students, there is a time and a place for everything (referring to your question about when should we correct students and when should we not). I think it's important for us to let kids speak to their friends how they want, but when speaking to adults or in front of the class, they need to speak with SE. I think it's ok to correct them in front of the whole class as well; not to embarass them but because the rest of the class probably would have made the same mistake as they did (and you should probably tell the class that also).
I was also heartbroken when i learned that Ernie was placed in remedial classes because of his ebonics. Teachers are supposed to be self-esteem boosters, not the ones that cause low self-esteem. I'm just glad that someone finally took an interest in him in college and taught him how to code switch between ebonics and SE.

The anonymous comment you received was from me...Andrea Lehman. Sorry, i hit the post button too fast! :)

Linda,
I teach Kindergarten so many things we teach/explain in the first few weeks are about rules and procedures at home versus at school. We even explain how to ask questions the correct way when there is a class of twenty. My point is I try to address that I expect good manners and good English when asking questions or making comments at school. It is modeled behavior. I have even taught then how to politely disagree and problem solve using acceptable terms. Certainly we show them how to speak with visitors or parents. The kids respond well, some just simply need to be exposed to this type of language. Then there are times we we are singing silly songs, discussing nonsense words, or just chatting on the playground when more casual English is naturally what is heard. I feel that it is ok to teach kids early on that different situations call for more formal language than others. I enjoyed reading your post.

Linda,

I enjoyed reading your post. You brought out some good points. I was also awakened by my Southern dialect when I got to college. I guess you could say I have a Southern accent. My friends from other areas seemed to like it so it didn't affect me in a negative way but I was aware of it. I agree that Smith's article was heartbreaking and no one should be judged based on their dialect. I teach kindergarten and I try to model SE to my children. I don't tell my children that they said something wrong. I may say it correctly when I am speaking to them and answering a question, for example. As educators, we need to be aware of languages and encourage our children.

Linda Younts,
Teaching SE in my classroom is challenging for me, too. I try to take a proactive approach by being extremely careful not to be demoralizing or harmful to a child’s identity. My students have some of the worst Standard English (SE) that I have ever heard. I have to be VERY careful when I talk to them about the “correct” way to say things because I do not want them to think that I am trying to teach them my “northern” accent. I say often, “Our accents ARE different but what is important is our grammar.” I teach many lessons on proper helping verb usage, along with proper tenses. I try to integrate literary models. I do not want to ever say, “You must speak like me or like ‘this’ because it is correct. I try to facilitate ways for them to actively find literary models in our reading to support my teaching. This approach seems to work well in my classroom. I have noticed recently that my students’ common phrases that I have become accustomed to hearing are changing. Phrases that I have heard are, “Mrs. Holland, I done did it!”, “I aint got none.”, or “I done it already.” Yikes! Hearing any of these phrases makes me cringe, but even worse, in formal settings, I hear their parents saying the same phrases. I have to be so careful because what happens when they go home and tell their parents “Mama, that is not right. Mrs. Holland says that you need to say it like this.” ---Very touchy for me. I am always open to more proactive solutions that work. I want to promote self-worth, positive self-images, and correct grammar all at the same time. Any suggestions?

Heather
Holland