Ebonics have gained prominence in the American education system. However, ebonics continues to receive mixed responses from the academic communities. The following bill proposes the "Equality in English Instruction Act." The bill would require the State Department of Education to immediately terminate the proficiency in Standard English for speakers of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) program, which is encouraging the teaching of “ebonics” or street slang in our schools. The bill would prohibit the state, its subdivisions, and local government agencies, including school districts and community college districts, from expending state funds or resources, or applying for federal funding, for the purpose of, or support for, the provision of AAVE instruction. The bill would require that any funding that already has been obtained for the purpose of, or support for, the provision of AAVE instruction be instead used for the classroom teaching of linguistic or communication skills in the English language.
This memorandum contains a recommendation to the bill after identifying the major problems in the bill. I will reason from a linguist’s point of view and explain the rationality for voting against the bill. I will refute each of the statements that have been given in the bill to conclude logically that voting against the bill is an effective stance.
• The bill states that by adopting the AAVE program the teachers are incorporating slang and avoiding to rectify the bad grammar in the “home language”
Slang as often conceived is not sloppy or inexpressive. As matter of fact slang cannot be imitated easily and is very precise and expressive than the standard form. AAVE is what the African Americans have encountered since...
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Ability to communicate in Standard English will not improve your economic status or intellectual capacity. Access to politically mandated language in no way would guarantee economic success. Empirical evidence suggests that there has been a positive trend in the unemployed African Americans holding doctorates. Knowing Standard English form will not make students intelligent nor will it teach them the lessons of life. Access to the standard language may be necessary, but it does not guarantee success.
Conclusion:
In this irrelevant debate about the language form, we are deviating from the intention and purpose of education. To educate, means to make a child fully aware of his environment and open him to the act of thinking. As a well-informed society we should learn to appreciate the beauty of every English form and integrate it into standard form.
Unless one could speak English they will not be able to get the best education possible i...
All students begin school with different levels of literacy development; English-speaking natives have obtained oral language proficiency in English which helps t...
Usage of English language has its purpose, to convey meaning and understanding to a certain audience. But how does that affect one who does not speak or understand the language? People still communicate in their own Native tongues and have so for many years. With the globalization of many companies today, communication is very critical. Without effective communication, markets of today would be limited as there would be no exports or imports, etc.
Because America is such a diverse country, public schools are faced with the challenge of providing students from all over the world with a quality education. As Chen points out “public schools have embraced the linguistic challenge presented by immigrant students” (¶1). Then, No Child Left Behind law was approved, and it required every public school should have an English Secondary Language (ESL) program that will provide the “academic support” for English Language Learners (ELLs). ELL parents are happy that their children are getting education help from the school, but it has raised the question of how successful are the ESL programs? Do ESL programs provide enough “academic support” to all ELL students? Do ESL programs have enough tools to help students learn English? Some ELL parents complain that ESL programs do not help their child learn English. A successful ESL program is not based solely on the test scores, but also the ability to connect parents, teachers, and students together to strengthen tools that will help ELL students to learn a new language in reading, writing, and speaking.
Stories have existed since the beginning of mankind. Going back as far as ancient Greece in history, or even further back, one can examine the many different types of stories that have been passed down. The Ancient Greeks wrote about gods and developed drama; the Romans passed down biographies of Caesars containing their life achievements as well as their failures; numerous stories questioning the institution of slavery were produced here in American. Usually by reading the work of an author one is able to find a message or a moral hidden beneath the storyline. In most cases, authors dictate their writings in their culture’s dialect for many different reasons, many reasons of which that would not conclude them as being racist for using it.
160). When boarding schools were first introduced the staff did not take into consideration that our language and culture were different than theirs. They labeled us as being dumb, passive, and having a learning disability just because we did not understand their language and lifestyle. Not only was that a problem during the boarding school era but still a problem in today schools. Dominant society does not want us to use our language they want to have control of us minorities. When my grandpa was attending Wingate High School he was placed in SPED just because he did not pass the English administered test. He was a Navajo fluent speaker and was labeled as being dumb for not comprehending what was said in
the Oakland School gone too far by wanting to teach a black slang language in
...i, Jamal, and Ron Dietel. "Challenges in the No Child Left Behind Act for English-Language." Weber.edu. Phi Delta Kappan, June 2004. Web. 4 Mar. 2014.
David A. Fein and Milton Millhauser have both written articles pertaining to the topic of slang. Fein and Millhauser provide two different viewpoints, and they employ information and their opinions in different ways. David A. Fein’s article, “Vulgarity by Teaching Slang in the Classroom”, makes a good argument as to why slang should be utilized in teaching, while Milton Millhauser’s article, “The Case Against Slang”, explains that slang is to be avoided in teaching, but fails to provide a good argument for his claim.
One student stated that “as long as I know how to speak slang and proper English, I should be ok” (Godley, p. 708). However, nearly all students felt a need for speaking AE or, at least, avoiding slang in work settings (Godley, p. 708). Students’ arguments in favor is maintaining AE in work situations appeared to be navigated by the belief that AAVE is perceived as negative in mainstream society (Godley, Page 709).
What students need is encouragement and an environment where they can grow. If continuously told that they are incorrect they will feel ostracized, and will be afraid to take the steps necessary to improve themselves in reading and writing in standard English. Rather than making students ashamed of their language, we should seek to teach a transition from that language into Standard English.
In our society, there are many cultures with language and dialect variations, but Standard English is the language of the dominant culture. Therefore, it is necessary for all students to learn to write and speak Standard English effectively. However, for many students of Urban school districts, especially African Americans, writing and speaking effective Standard English can occasionally pose a problem. Many African American students speak a variation of Standard English (Black Vernacular Speech) whose linguistic patterns sometimes conflict with those of Standard English. It is true that African American speech is an essential aspect of their African American culture, so the educational system would be doing African American students a disservice by insisting that they learn Standard English as a primary discourse. It is also a fact however, that in order to be viewed as a successful, functional member of society, Standard English, if learned as a secondary discourse, should be written and spoken as fluently as the primary discourse.
Language is a very powerful thing. It is the way that people communicate with each other. For a foreigner living in America I think that this is essential. This is why I believe that if a foreigner only attempts to learn English, then they are already assimilating to American culture. Whether or not they choose to change their whole lifestyle into an American way of life, if they take on the English language then they are assimilating to a certain extent.
International students may be sent to America to study, speak, write and read in English but the chance of encountering difficulties and struggles is high. According to researchers, learning English in America especially for foreign students is a difficult decision because one may not be able to become accustomed to the environment, behavior of difference culture and the acts of other around. English learners will also encounter reading disability because one cannot read English in a short time; additionally, international students usually struggle with reading English even though one may have the knowledge of the English language. No matter how many disadvantage the English language has, the world most common language will not be extinct because jobs, education and many other parts of the world use English as a primary
...ncements in their current employment. Over all, a good English education will help with enhancing a person’s life.