Sharing the commonality of punctuation and sounds with Southern American English, African American Vernacular English (AAVE), also known as Ebonics, has become one of the leading means of speech for people descended from black Africans, and has since asserted its independence from standard English through influences such as age, status, topics, and setting. Many linguists, those that study the art and diversity of language find nothing intimately wrong with African American Vernacular English since, like any other language, it is used to convey thoughts and ideas. However non specialists’ attitudes lean more toward the negative with African American Vernacular English, especially amongst African Americans themselves, as its usage can be misconstrued as ignorance and/or laziness. As a result of these negative connotations that derive from the usage of African American Vernacular English, many African American’sare now bidialectal, also known as code switchers, being that they are able to use both standard American English as well as African American Vernacular English.
As children we are taught the gift of language through mimicking and training. We are introduced to a bevy of words and sounds and their meanings. We learn tone and pitch and which words to use to emphasize a particular point(s) that we are trying to make. What we aren’t taught however is that the language that we may learn and speak at home may not necessarily be the language that is widely accepted in the outside world (i.e. school, work, interviews, public functions). Unfortunately our linguistics skill or lack thereof do define us as people and give unwilling clues to our level of intelligence and whether or not we are reliable sources of information (depending...
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...r not the negative aspects of the language outweigh the language itself. Does one lose credibility by speaking this African American Vernacular English? At home? In public? Personally? Professionally? It would seem so. Ultimately the definition of language is “a body of words and the systems for their use common to a people who are of the same community or nation, the same geographical area, or the same cultural tradition” For the most part Ebonics does this but if we are to look into the fact that Ebonics is a language unto the African American race and that many African Americans do not speak it, that it is not a form of speech that is widely accepted, or taught, or intensely studied, then what is the real purpose of this so called ‘language’ after all?
Works Cited
Brody, K. W. (2005). What's Language Got To Do With It? New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
As a result of many negative stereotypes associated with certain variations of English many students have adapted codeswitching. When this concept came up in the book it made me think about my own language. I realized that I code switch quite often between what is seen as Standard English and African American English or Ebonics. Usually with family or other friends that speak Ebonics I use that Ebonics to communicate, but when I am in school, in a
This marginalization is still prevalent today, as Black English is still overwhelmingly stigmatized and discredited in nearly all academic settings, particularly within American culture. Jordan’s demonstration that Black English is not given respect or afforded validity in academic and social settings still rings true today. Black English-speaking students see little to no representation of their language in the classroom, and are often actively discouraged from speaking the language of their community and of their upbringing. This suppression and delegitimization of a valid method of communication represents colonialist and white supremacist notions of language, social homogeneity, and latent institutional racism, and has negative, even dire, consequences for the students
In Verhsawn Ashanti Young’s article titled, “Nah, We Straight: An argument Against Code Switching,” he makes his objectives clear as he argues against people Right to their own language. The author questions the advantage of standard American English as opposed to other types of English. He refers to those aspect as code switching, which he believes can lead to racist thinking. Code switching, according to Young, calls out for one way of speaking to be omitted in favor of others, based on one's rhetorical situations. The author points out that students are required to translate from Afro-American English or Spanglish to standard English and not the other way around, which is concerning. Youngs method to get around this segregation is the usage
In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? by James Baldwin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan both shows idea of uses of slang and language in different context. In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? Baldwin states that how language has changed and evolved overtime, Baldwin describes how black English were used as white English, in civil rights movement where blacks were treated as slaves and the used slang language to communicate so that the whites won’t understand. This slang was taken from black language and now everyone uses to make the communication short. In the essay Mother Tongue Tan explains that how language could affect people from different culture. Tan states that how Asian students in America struggle in English. Tan also states that her mother is smart but she couldn’t communicate in English. Tan thinks that’s a big disadvantage for her mother and people coming from different countries cannot show their talent because of their weakness in communication.
In 1996, the Oakland School District proposed the inclusion of what is known as "Ebonics" into its curriculum. Ebonics, or Black language, has been referred to in various ways over the years: "African American Vernacular English," "Pan-African Communication Behaviors," "African Language Systems," or "West and Niger-Congo African Language Systems." By any name, Ebonics, when studied over the years, has been proven to be a real language with its own phonology, syntax, morphology, sentence patterns, and double interpretations of words. The pattern that Ebonics speakers in the United States speak is highly similar to the patterns seen in both the Caribbean Creole and the West African languages. No one would have thought that comedian Bill Cosby would have an opinion on this subject, but as I read through essay I realized the logic and validity behind his paper.
Smitherman is certainly qualified to address her colleagues about the treatment of “Black English” in academia, but with such a charged writing style it is possible that her audience would not make it to her conclusion. Smitherman assumes that the general base of her audience are “White English” speakers that can understand “Black English”. She also assumes that all African Americans speak the same way. These assumptions are her first major problem. At the time of this articles publication in 1973, it is conceivable that certain scholars would have ignored the piece because of its hybrid u...
Throughout the span of the past few weeks I have traversed the globe, visiting several countries and regions, only to realize that although new methods develop, language as a way of expressing ones self has remained the most effective. Despite this fact, language still has its pitfalls. Neil Postman, in his essay “Defending Against the Indefensible,'; outlines seven concepts that can be used to aid a student in better understanding the language as a means of communication. He describes how modern teaching methods leave a student vulnerable to the “prejudices of their elders';, further stating that a good teacher must always be skeptical. He urges teachers of all subjects to break free from traditional teachings as well as “linguistical tyranny';
Rickford, John R. "What Is Ebonics (African American English)." What Is Ebonics (African American English)? Linguistic Society of America, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
Elements of minority cultures are continually hijacked, re-invented and commercialized until the origin and cultural significance becomes unknown to its consumers. Notably, languages and dialects such as Spanish and African American Vernacular English, often crossover into popular culture and mainstream media. In Jane H. Hill text, “Language, Race, and White Public Space,” Hill points to the appropriation of Spanish by Whites through the usage of “Mock Spanish,” a mix between English and Spanish. According to Hill, Mock Spanish is harmful because it reduces Spanish to a colloquialism and reproduces stereotypes that construct “white public spaces” in which it is only acceptable for white people to use Spanish. In the same way that Mock Spanish is a “racist discourse,” the crossover of African American Vernacular English into popular culture is pervasive and dangerous because it erases the voices of black people and belittles the cultural significance of African American Vernacular English in Black
Having an understanding will determine whether or not one will have an indulgent of language. As Berry states, “illiteracy is both a personal and a public danger. Think how constantly "the average American" is surrounded by premeditated language, in newspapers and magazines, on signs and billboards, on TV and forever being asked to buy or believe somebody else's line of goods.” If a person reads a newspaper and can’t understand what’s written, it’s definitely going to be a personal danger. Now when that person is asked a question about the news spread or what a product does that is shown in a magazine, if one can’t understand what’s scripted that same person won’t able to clarify it and that’s public danger. Even if the product looks good in a magazine or billboard, but if one can’t understand what the product does than he or she won’t be able to purchase the item. Majority of the Americans watch debates on TV and if one person doesn’t understand anything that the candidates are saying, then that person will have a hard time conversing with family members or even colleagues. Being illiterate will have a toll in a person’s ordinary ambiance, but having knowledge will make it easier for a person to have discussions about their understandings on what’s written, seen, read, or
Around 1858 over 400 slave from Africa were brought straight to Georgia and none of them knew a word of English.(Smitherman) Being that these two groups merged together they adapted each others language whether it was correct or incorrectOn the east coast of America, the Blacks spoke a different degree of
Not only does this happen in the real world, but it also occurs in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, when Calpurnia talks to the people at her church differently than the way she talks with Scout and Jem. Scout and Jem go to church with Calpurnia (their “second mother”), but this church is mainly for the people of color--which Scout and Jem are not--but Calpurnia is. At church, Calpurnia is greeted by Lula, who starts to speak in a way that seemed strange to both Jem and Scout. The way that African Americans and white people spoke were different from each other, because the African American way of talking sounded more like “slang”, while the white people had a more “sophisticated” way of speaking. Lula and Calpurnia ended up talking to each other in their “slang,” which shook Scout because Calpurnia spoke “in tones [Scout] never heard her use”(135). Scouts reaction leads you to believe as if Calpurnia was speaking a whole different language--even though it’s in English-- but, it’s in a different pronunciation of words. Even though Calpurnia knows how to speak “better”, she doesnt because “folks dont like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do,” (143). Calpurnia doesn’t need to show everyone at church that she can talk a different way, almost seeming better than the people at her church. She has a character that makes her seem on top of the people that she is
Ebonics, also known as Black English, is a nonstandard dialect spoken in many homes in the inner cities of America. This nonstandard language is often looked upon as low-class or lazy talk. This is not the case, however. Due to consistencies found in the dialect, there seems to be an order. It has been found that, when learning English, African-Americans adapted the language using some of the structure and rules of their own native tongue. This Black English has carried on through slavery and then freedom for hundreds of years. Although there is a coexistence of more than two dialects in our society, those in power forget the flexibility of our language and see no other way than the use of Standard English.
Children’s acquisition of language has long been considered one of the uniquely defining characteristics of human behaviour.
Language is the basis of human communication. It is a cultural and social interaction, and the way language is used is influenced by the circumstances in which it takes place (Emmitt, 2010, p. 49; Green, 2006, p. 2). Children become aware that there are different types of language, including languages used at home, at childcare and at school, as they observe and participate in various language situations (Fellowes & Oakley, 2014, p. 39). Some of these languages may be unfamiliar, and children will need to learn the different roles and uses of language. The different roles of language in a child’s life are, therefore, part of their growing understanding of how to behave in society and in a particular context. As they experience different types and uses of language, children develop an understanding of how to use language appropriately for any given situation.