There are several dialects found within the United States and these dialects are heard in classrooms throughout the country. It is important for acceptance of different dialects to be taught within these classrooms. While it is important to teach with the Standard English dialect, the dialects and language skills that a student possesses when they enter the classroom should not be ignored. Instead, they should be embraced and used to teach about different cultures that are within the classroom and the community. Not only is it important to teach the acceptance of the multitude of dialects, but it is also critical to help students understand why there are different dialects and that we can learn from the different people they come from.
The term dialect is often mis-defined. Many times dialect is confused with accent. The documentary American Tongues defines dialect as “the words we use, and how we pronounce them.” Only a portion of this definition is accurate. This definition confuses dialect and accent. The dictionary defines dialect as “a local form of a language.” When we define accent, we look at the pronunciation of words. Accent is also seen as a way of speaking that shows the speaker’s social identity. On the other hand, dialect is often associated with a particular region or subsection of a larger language community.
When looking at dialects, it is also important to be aware of the differences between Nonstandard English and Standard English dialects. According to Ross Burdette in his article, Developing Language in the Classroom, “the language spoken in schools, media outlets and the government, tends to be what is referred to as ‘Standard English’”. This is what we have come to know as “proper” English. However, whil...
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...aching their students the importance of accepting the different dialects within the classroom and are embracing these differences and using them as a tool to culturally enrich the students and possibly their families as well.
Works Cited
American Tongues. Dir. Louis Alvarez and Andy Kolker. Perf. Polly Holiday, Molly Ivins, and Robert Klein. Center for New American Media (CNAM).
1988. Online
Burdette, R. (2011). Developing language in the classroom. Retrieved from http://developinglanguage.weebly.com/index.html
Christian, D. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/christ01.html
Hazen, K. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0104dialects.html
Wolfram, W. (2000). Everyone has an accent. Teaching Tolerance, (18), Retrieved from http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-18-fall-2000/feature/everyone-has-accent
Lisa Delpit’s book, “The Skin We Speak”, talked about language and culture, and how it relates to the classroom. How we speak gives people hits as to where we are from and what culture we are a part of. Unfortunately there are also negative stereotypes that come with certain language variations. There is an “unfounded belief that the language of low income groups in rural or urban industrial areas is somehow structurally “impoverished” or “simpler” than Standard English” (Delpit 71). The United States is made of people from various cultures and speak many different variations of languages. As teachers we must be aware of some of the prejudices we may have about language and culture.
While some features of AAVE are apparently unique to this variety, in its structure it also shows many similarities with other varieties including a number of standard and nonstandard English varieties spoken in the US and the Caribbean. Speakers and writers of this dialect use some distinctive aspects of the phonological, lexical, and grammatical traits associated with this dialect. Many sociolinguists would reserve the term AAVE for varieties which are marked by the occurrence of certain distinctive grammatical features.
This chapter focused mainly on misconceptions and attempting to clarify those misconceptions about accents. In the opinion of linguists, accent is a difficult word to define. This is due to the fact that language has variation therefore when it comes to a person having an accent or not, there is no true technical distinction because every person has different phonological aspects to their way of speaking. However, when forced to define this word, it is described as “a way of speaking” (Lippi-Green, 2012, p.44). Although Lippi- Green identified the difficulty linguists have in distinguishing between accent, dialect, and another language entirely, they were able to construct a loose way of distinguishing. Lippi- Green states that an accent can be determined by difference in phonological features alone, dialect can be determined by difference in syntax, lexicon, and semantics alone, and when all of these aspects are different from the original language it is considered another language entirely (Lippi-Green, 2012).
After viewing the panel discussion about how our local school districts have implemented English Language Learning in their school, I am very intrigued. From what I gathered the field of ELL is a growing industry in education, especially in Colorado Springs. We have ELL’s students coming from all over the world. Here in Colorado Springs alone, school districts have to accommodate for over fifty different languages spoken by ELL’s. I can only imagine the challenge that comes with such a diverse group of non- English speakers in our community schools.
The article Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan is a personal look into how language, and the dialects of that language, can affect a person 's life. It 's a look into how the people inside the cultural circles who use dialect derivatives of a major language are treated by people who exist outside of those cultural circles. It shows us how society treats a person using a "broken" or "limited" dialect, and how society 's treatment of these people can also affect the children who grow up using these "broken" dialects. Tan wrote this article try and convey to the reader that English is a colorful, and ever-changing language that has many dialects. Tan makes the point, several times throughout the article, that society judges you based on the type of English that you use. Throughout the article, Tan uses both her mother, herself and society 's treatment of them as evidence to support her idea. The purpose of pointing this out is to show the reader that the language a person uses, whether it be taught to them in school or by a parent at home, isn 't indicative of a person 's intelligence or value, and they shouldn 't be judged as less for using it.
Finegan says this is something “living languages must do”. For me, I was raised in a military home in which we moved to a new region every couple of years. Coming from Germany, moving to Rochester, and then to Lowville, my dialect is a combination of all three speech communities. It is different than my parents, and will mostly be passed down to my children. As I age and move locations it is opted to change again as well. So it is not that I speak differently or incorrect than the rest of my family, my speech community is merely growing and changing as it is passed generation to generation. Richard Lederer stated in his article, “We are a teeming nations within a nation, a country that is like a world.” (150) He was portraying how our country, with a universal language, can be so diverted by each region’s version of the English language. I agree completely that although we all “sing” the same song of the American language, “we talk in melodies of infinite variety.” (150) The way our country was built was by different American regions doing their own work, for example, the south had plantations, where my ancestors were small town farmers who worked with manufacturing in mills and
It is important for teachers to realize that everyone communicates differently. Some people have different dialects, vocabularies, and some people even communicate without using words. As a teacher, it is our job to support and teach the concept that there is no such thing as a superior language. According to Stubbs, people all have their own basic language and it is what we do with those languages that matter (????). We should not judge someone and try to make them change just because they sound funny to the supposed superior language. Did anyone ever stop to consider that for some of these children, they think that there teacher sounds funny? Instead of trying to make students change we should be helping these students embrace their
American Tongues Response EssayThe documentary American Tongues (1987) examines an array of American dialects and accents in all regions of the United States, as well as the perceptions tied to specific ways of speaking. The film does this by interviewing people of multiple ethnicities, geographical locations, education-levels, and socio-economic classes. The information presented in American Tongues makes the audience consider its distinct way of speaking and the insight it may provide to those around them. The film clearly shows that the way individuals speak, as well as the diction they choose to use or eradicate from their vocabulary, is intricately tied
The purpose of this study is to figure out which ways experienced teachers work best with culturally and linguistically diverse students. This study illustrates which strategies experienced teachers have found to work best. The diversity in school in the United States has increased each year. This means that there are an increasing amount of students who are learning English, English language learners (ELLs). This article comes from the perspective that each child should be taught to their specific needs. All students deserve a fair chance to learn. Fair means that every student is treated differently, not equally. Every student learns differently. In order to give every student a fair chance at learning, you must teach them according to their needs. An experienced teacher, Tiffany, describes her experiences working with culturally and linguistically diverse students. This study watches her methods and discusses what works based on data analysis of the success of her students.
The video “American Tongues” is about variety of English dialect in America, and people still carry prejudice and stereotypes in people’s accents and dialects. These accent and dialects are not limited in pronunciation. There are different words, phrases and grammars in their dialects, therefore, some people are noticed where they are from. As a premise, everyone has an accent. However, some people believe they don’t have an accent because people around them have the exact same accent and dialect in their community. Therefore, they haven’t noticed differences. In the video, there was a scene of a woman was correcting her accent for work to speak “standard dialect”. It was required for her to speak “standard dialect” for work because when she was out of her original community where
Wright, Katy M. “The Role of Dialect Representation in Speaking from the Margins: “The Lesson” of Toni Cade Bambara.” Style. 42.1 (2008): 73-87. Proquest. SEMO Kent Lib., Cape Girardeau, MO. 12 April 2009. .
Have you ever been to another country, state, or even city and realized how different your accent may be? Have you been asked to repeat a word or phrase that you may say differently? Sometimes we were asked for a good laugh, but that’s not always the case. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldúa and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, both authors use personal narrative to demonstrate how their lives and identity are affected by their language and culture.
Those dialects are affected by the communities that use them. People add slang or shorten words to make the language their own. This has an immense impact on how authors write. Some authors will attempt to use proper English, but often times will use words common to their community. In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara (DiYanni, 2007, pp. 1).
Analyzing dialects can be difficult due to the fact that is it hard to transcribe the pronunciation of an individual dialect because English is not spelled the same way it is pronounced. Furthermore, one person’s interpretation of spelling a dialect might not match up with another’s, so the reader might not “hear” the dialect properly. Regardless, written versions of dialects are essential to discussing dialectical differences.
In a sociolinguist perspective “the idea of a spoken standardized language is a hypothetical construct” (Lippi-Green, 2012, pp. 57). They are the form of Britain English and American English that are used in textbooks and on broadcasting. Giles and Coupland observe that “A standard variety is the one that is most often associated with high socioeconomic status, power and media usage in a particular community” (1991, p. 38). Both native speakers and learners of English, where English is taught as a second or foreign language (hereafter ESL/EFL), speak dialect of English in everyday conversation (Kachru, 2006, pp. 10-11; Owens 2012, p.