I am an African American female and I could identify with the basis of the articles. Coming from a small town I experienced a lot of what Michelle Obama addressed. I came from a community where there were only 6 black students in my elementary school. I never thought about how I sounded until I was a teenager and began to meet new people outside of my town. That is when I started to hear “you sound like a white girl.” I would always ask what does that mean and of course they had no answer. At the time it made me self conscious when I would meet another black person, because I didn’t know what they would think of me. Eventually, I became used to it and it rolled off my back like water.
As Delpit’s daughter mentioned in “No Kinda Sense” I have often code switched. I think I talk differently with certain groups of friends. One particular instance that comes to mind is changing how southern I speak. When I would come from college in the summers and hang out with some of my high school friends I noticed I would begin to talk on a deep southern drawl to sound more like them. I agree that there is so much pressure to fit in no matter where you go. Even if that means changing your clothes, hair or the way you speak. Society has created the illusion that we have to stay in a bubble and you are seen almost as an outcast if you aren’t in it.
One of the quotes from this article that stuck in my head was, “We cannot constantly correct children and expect them to continue to want to talk like us.” I now teach at the elementary school where I went, so I constantly thinking should I correct them for not speaking correctly. I don’t want them to sound like “country bumpkins” as some people may say. So, when I read that it spoke volumes to me. Are we hindering our students when we constantly correct on speaking properly? I know I have let “ain’t” slip a time or two, which I always think is so awful, but I am only human. That is how I want my students to feel as well. This is who you are and where you come from, embrace it!
Odessa Scales
Comments (6)
I'm just not sure that our students would stop communicating with us if we continue to correct they way they speak. I think it is all relevant to the type of relationships we have with our students. I know I don't always speak with Standard English with my students. We cut up and have fun and I cut up and have fun with the way I speak. So, in a way I code-switch even with my students. They know when it is okay to cut up and speak with a little slang, but they also know when it is time to buck up and learn and talk correctly. I feel that our students want to know they correct way to speak because they find it embarassing when others point out that they are speaking incorrectly. I feel that it is only fair to teach them the correct way and hope that they choose to use Standard English in life.
Posted by Angie Sigmon | June 7, 2010 9:28 PM
Posted on June 7, 2010 21:28
When you wrote that you talk differently when with certain groups of friends; is that a conscious effort or does it just happen? I’m curious because my husband tells me I do the same thing when I’m with my friends from high school. I code switch to adapt to my current situation. When I’m home with family and friends I feel more relaxed and the country girl in me surfaces. When I’m teaching or conferencing with parents I make a conscious effort to speak correctly. I think almost every individual at some point code switches. I was impressed with the Delpit article when reading that children as young as eleven have the ability to code switch. Pam Aubuchon
Posted by Pam Aubuchon | June 7, 2010 10:02 PM
Posted on June 7, 2010 22:02
I think it is an unconscious effort to speak differently around different groups of people. I, too, have been accused of it. I sound more proper around my professional community of friends and way more "country" when around family and old friends.
Posted by Sarah Hutson | June 8, 2010 1:07 AM
Posted on June 8, 2010 01:07
It's funny how some of us change the way we talk when coming home from college. I remember meeting people in school that were from the city and instantly they would always comment on my "country accent" and say I must be from the hills. Yes, at first this would hurt my feelings but after numerous accounts I just rolled it off. When I would go home for the weekends and summer my sisters and parents would say, "Who is this talking?" Gladly, now I have come back to my root and I have decided I could care less what everyone else made fun of and I am going to be ME!
Posted by Candace Barnes | June 8, 2010 1:25 PM
Posted on June 8, 2010 13:25
I agree we can't constantly correct children and expect them to want to speak at all. I agree with correcting improper language in some cases. But when you correct a kindergartener every time they open their mouth to speak soon they will stop sharing ideas and thoughts. In order grades I think that speaking correctly should be stressed. In the younger grades often times you are happy to hear the students thoughts spoken in correct standard English or not.
Posted by Angie Somers | June 8, 2010 5:32 PM
Posted on June 8, 2010 17:32
Pam, I don't think it was a conscious effort at all. I just automatically changed to talk like them. I think after settling back in with them I would just ease right into it. It was a while before I even realized that I was doing it.
Posted by Odessa Scales | June 8, 2010 8:13 PM
Posted on June 8, 2010 20:13