Ebonics has always interested me. I have wondered how it came to be and why it is so controversial. I wonder if people do not consider it to be “educated” sounding because it uses the mispronunciation of so many words?
I understand how Maya’s self-esteem was hurt when she felt like an outcast at her old school. I made a connection with her. When I was in middle school my southern dialect was so “southern” that I was picked on and it got to the point that I didn’t want to even talk anymore. I knew that if I didn’t talk no one could pick on me and the way I spoke. So I clammed up for several years.
I understand the author’s frustration at people being judged by the way they talk. Just like people who speak Ebonics are judged as inadequate and unintelligent so too are those with a strong southern dialect. I do feel torn between the author’s view and my own though. I understand where she is coming from and that people shouldn’t have their intellect judged by their dialect. I have been in that situation many times because of my southern drawl people look at me as if I am a peon. It has been to the point that I sometimes imitate my own father’s New Jersey accent. For some reasons he can say the same thing I say but with his northern accent and it just sounds better. But on the other hand aren’t people judged by their dialect because of the way they mispronounce words? I mean, if you are using double negatives and leaving off syllables and letters to words as you write or say them that looks very uneducated. So I believe that may be why these dialects are viewed as “uneducated.” I think what so many of us consider to be a mispronunciation of the English language is why southern and Ebonics speakers are considered uneducated. I understand why this is. But to judge someone’s voice over someone’s “ability” is inaccurate and wrong. I can understand both sides to this debate and am not really sure where I fit in.
Southern dialect is my mother tongue. I use is it all the time when I am with my friends and family, because it just feels right. It is also easier for us to communicate that way with one another. But when I am in front of my 3rd grade students I use my standard, proper English, simply because I don’t want to get fired. Life is just easier that way.
Maria Blevins
Comments (5)
Maria-
Just as you have been judged based on your southern drawl, so have I. I grew up on a farm and both my parents did as well. We are from a rural place, which is not becoming more populated due to the land and new schools in the area. Both my grandpas and dad speak with a deep southern drawl and because of this I have grew up repeating some of the same things they say. When I am somewhere, like on vacation or something, people will always assume I am from the south (which they are correct). But it is because of my accent. I can sense how they may look down on me a little bit because of me, but like Maya in the article, I have come to the point where I don't care what others think. For my brother, sister, and me we have been around people more so than our dad because we all three went off to college where we met people who were from other north or other places and who spoke differently. So, I feel as though we have learned the code switch. When my sister was in college at Carolina she would come home on the weekends and she would correct our English quite a bit. It frustrated me a little bit because it did kind of make me feel like I was inferior to her. However, I completely agree with the author of "No Kinda Sense" when she says that people shouldn't be judged based on their dialect. For people like my dad, I know he was taught proper English, but because he grew up around people who had a Southern drawl then this is the way he chooses to speak. It definitely does not make him anymore less intelligent because he is one of the smartest people I know. I would have to say that it depends on the person and whether or not they want to learn the code switch, and maybe it has to do with not being able to make connections with their learning, like the author. Either way, people should not be judged by the way they talk! I completely agree with you!
Katy
Posted by Katy Dellinger | June 4, 2010 10:22 AM
Posted on June 4, 2010 10:22
Maria,
I see your point in how people may be perceived as uneducated when using ebonics or southern when writing. I think all students should know the difference in formal and informal language when writing. I do think people should be able to talk how they were raised and shouldn't have to change their "voice" to fit in. When I first started teaching, I tried to not say words to my students such as "ya'll." That lasted about a month, and I felt like I was speaking a foreign language the whole time. It just didn't sound right to say, "You all get out your reading books." Once I went back to my southern drawl, things seemed to flow more smoothly in my classroom. I think students should use proper English when writing, but they should be allowed to speak how they were taught. No child should be forced to be something they're not.
Posted by Jamie Brackett | June 4, 2010 7:21 PM
Posted on June 4, 2010 19:21
Maria-
I too, understand the Southern Dialect situation. I am from a very small town, and I took on that dialect from my parents. I can recall that during my first year of college, I had many people ask me to say things again, just to either hear how I said them, or to make fun of what I said, and how I said it. I was able to differentiate when and how to speak in order to be understood, but then when I went back home, played the “country” role as well.
The same thing happened to my brother as well. He went to college at UNC-Charlotte. Within the first month of his departure to college, he had found himself changing the way that he spoke words and said things. I believe that he learned quickly how influential that sound coming out of your mouth can either help or hurt a situation. Obviously he was getting put down for the way that he spoke, and he was conditioned to drop the way that he spoke in order to get the desired response that he wanted. Unlike me, however, he still keeps that “city” accent and dialect (as my parents call it) when he comes home to visit.
Renee Hennings June 6, 2010
Posted by Renee Hennings | June 6, 2010 2:53 PM
Posted on June 6, 2010 14:53
Renee your comment reminded of man I know in college many years ago. Jimmy was from one of the Carribean Islands. He had an accent but it was not strong. When he talked to his mother on the phone, his accent became so thick you could not understand a word. It seems code switching is natural to a degree. Code switching may be a way fitting in with the group.
Posted by Zandra Hunt | June 8, 2010 11:43 PM
Posted on June 8, 2010 23:43
know = knew...sorry!
Posted by Zandra Hunt | June 8, 2010 11:45 PM
Posted on June 8, 2010 23:45