RES 5535: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (summer 2010)

Your comment about "pin" and "pen" made me think about how my students, coworkers, and some parents make fun of the way I say "ten". I say it with the short e sound, and I also have a distinct pronunciation difference between "pen" and "pin". It doesn't bother me, I know I'm not from a rural area and speak slightly differently than the norm. When I say something my students don't understand we laugh about it...and we also laugh when I can't understand their deep southern drawl.
I also let my ELL students speak Spanish with their peers. Several teachers in my school do not allow it because they don't know what the kids are saying. I feel this is part of their identity and it shouldn't be stifled. When writing, I also tell them if they prefer to write in Spanish then they may. I think this is especially comforting to those whose English is not that great. It gives them freedom to express themselves and their content is much better when written in their native language.

Elizabeth,

I had a similar experience to the one with your student from Wisconsin when I was teaching kindergarten. I had a student who had moved from New York. During her first few days in class, I was talking with her and casually asking her some questions to assess what she knew. I asked her if she knew how to spell "cat." That was no problem for her. I then asked her if she knew how to spell "dog" (pronounced like "dawg"). She told me, "No, but I do know how to spell "dog" (pronounced with the short /o/). I had to laugh at this because no other child had ever said anything like that to correct my pronunciation, even though she didn't realize that's what she was doing.

I think it is interesting that you say that you don't correct the way they speak. I would have been tempted to say that as well, but the more I have thought about it, I think I do accept that various children speak in certain ways, but I also think that I "subconsciously" correct them more than I realize by repeating what they say, but using "standard English" when repeating. I'm not saying that I make the student repeat what he/she had previously said in standard English, but I want to clarify what the student said and I do so using "standard English." In many ways, this serves as the model for the "norm" that you spoke about. While the students themselves may not talk this way, it is important for them to hear "standard English" being spoken.

Clyde Rice

Elizabeth, I totally agree with argument that we should model correct speech for our children and that correcting them all of the time is worthless and annoying. I also love that you brought out your own “home speech” into the discussion as I too, have a direct home speech as well. As a matter of fact, when I am not in class or teaching class, I sound like the most rediculus redkneck one might ever meet. My question then becomes, as you had mentioned that you model for them, do you only model correct language? Do you ever use anything other than SWE? I only ask this because I think that there might be some value in sharing, as you mention it, some of our home grown soul, so that the students can see that we too use code switching in our own lives? I assume you do as a portion of the inclusion of and respect for their different backgrounds, but it was the only question that caught my eye from you well thought out post.

Often we can forget the sense of inadequacy that can come from not fitting in with what is considered to be "the norm." Our students struggle with this and it's not too far removed from our own lives as well. Last summer I traveled to Buffalo NY for a weekend trip. One of the first stops we made was to a drug store where I was questioned "you're not from around here are you?" Gee how could you tell?!? The next day I was speaking with another woman waiting, and she said she was so "happy" for us to have taken our trip as if our dialect implied that we aren't privy to new experiences. I also cringe when traveling abroad on cruises meeting people from other areas who think my accent is so "sweet." It's amazing how personally the interpretation of our dialect can affect us.

Elizabeth,
As I read your post, a big smile came to my face. I am from a small country town in NC where “Over Yonder” is used quite often. I do not know much about you, but the fact that those words make you feel like you are at home gives me a sense of connection with you. It is amazing how language is such a powerful tool. We can feel close or distant from people just by the way they speak. You mentioned having ESL students in your classroom. Do you ever let your students read a book or phrase to the rest of the class in their native tongue? I have an ESL student in my classroom this year and have allowed her to do the above and it is really neat to see her face light up. I can tell she takes great pride in getting to share a piece of who she is with the rest of the class.

Elizabeth,
I get it! I say p-e-n and p-i-n differently too. Having moved from Virginia to North Carolina as a teen, I don't have as much of the Southern drawl as some people who lived their entire life here. But I don't have the Virginian accent, like Dr. Gill, either. I knew the first moment he spoke to our class back in the fall of 2009, he was from Virginia. Interestingly, one of the topics we discussed was dialect. He told us not to try to change a child's dialect, which surprised me. The word "river" was pronounced "riva" when Dr. Gill, and most Virginians would say it. I thought that should be corrected as soon as possible so the child wouldn't leave the /r/ off the end of the word in early inventive spelling. He told us the opposite was true. That the child would learn that the /r/ sound went on the end and all words that ended like "riva" would end the same.
Karen

Elizabeth,
Providing a safe environment for your ELL students to express themselves in their native language is critical. I think the girls in the article didn't experince that and added totheir low self esteem. Maybe had they experinced more openness in their classrooms and at home they would have nad a different experience. I always find it amazing when public schools teacher are close minded. I often wonder why they went into public education if they are not open to the diverse populartion they will be serving. Seems to me they are exhausting themselves by trying to correct their speech and behavior to fit the teachers mold rather than embracing the divsersity and using that as a jumping off point for lessons.
Michael Lemke

Elizabeth,
I also work at a school that has many ELLs. Like you, I think it is so important that we teach the students to value their backgrounds and let them speak in their native language. I believe doing so allows the students to become more comfortable and more motivated to take instruction in English and in other subjects. I always cringe when I hear someone tell the kids that they are not allowed to speak their native language at school.

While I think we should allow the students to speak their native language, I also believe it is important to teach them standard American English. It is what they will encounter in future academic and professional settings, and they will need to be able to use it effectively in order to be successful.

Laura Corbello