As I read, I wanted to be shocked by what I read, but I wasn't. I grew up in a poor, white family in the South. While I will not compare myelf or what I experienced entirely to the articles due to the differences related to race, I do see some comparison to Hillbilly-ese. (I am not sure what to call it exactly.) My mother warned me about how people perceived those that did not speak the way "they" thought people shoul speak. I learned to code switch very early. I didn't know what to call it, but I knew how to do it. Was it entirely out of fear of what people would think? No. It had much more to do with (like it stated in the articles) what I felt it could gain from speaking "properly". Just as the girls in the articles identified with the people whose "language" they spoke, speaking "country" was who I was.
I do think that it is important that we teach students code switching very early, but it should not be a punishment or in a way that tells the kid "lose who you are". I had a teacher in 7th grade who made me stay in during break on a regular basis for saying "ain't." So what did I do? Did I learn to not say it? No. I learned to say it as often as possible, because I knew she hated it. I had little respect for her, because she treated me poorly based on my oral language. I had proven that I was a good student.
The same issue of code switching becomes prevalent when you look at texting, email, and speaking. If our students (and us for that matter) do not learn that there is a difference between text messages and more formal writing, then they will encounter many of the same issues as those who speak non-standard dialects.
Comments (1)
I understand how you feel. As an southern American dating a Canadian who likes to speak "the Queen's English," those conversations come up quite often. He is disgusted when he picks up on the lack of grammatical correctness that his coworkers speak. In fact he was horrified so much that he is insistance about not staying here for long. In his mind that demonstrates ignorance. Little does he realize that his attitude towards southern dialect makes me feel that is his attitude towards my speech. I was saddened that those ideas didn't shock me. It's typical to feel like our dialect is challenged just as Dowdy's native Trini language was looked down upon. I agree that code switching is important to talk to children about and they recognize that depending on their audiences there are different language expectations. THat is the biggest challenge though. How and when do they draw the line and as a teacher when do you acknowledge it and accept their language as they are? I find this challenging when dealing with my students who speak southern dialects and transfer this to their formal writing. Often I speak the same as they do informally, but when I write and teach formally I make the effort to speak as an English teacher. I want to support their inner voice, but also ignite an understanding for the value of standard English conventions.
Posted by Amy Hardister | June 17, 2010 10:08 AM
Posted on June 17, 2010 10:08