What's so funny about another dialect? I mean, I guess the better question is why is it so easy to laugh at or correct someone's dialect when they are not speaking the "standard way of speaking"? Most people who speak a different language or dialect try not to speak in front of people because of the fear of being ridiculed. I was one of those people. I grew up on the southside of Indianapolis in an area which would be described as "the ghetto". I used a lot of "slang" when I was with my friends, as well as when I was at school. It wasn't until I got in fourth grade when my teacher, who was one of my favorite teachers, and still is to this day (shout out Mrs. Apple :)), told me that if I ever wanted to go anywhere in life "you cannot talk as if you do not have an education!"
Needless to say that made me feel very uneasy about my language and how I perceived the world and my place in it. My mother told me that I had to "play the game". I did not know at the time that she was referring to codeswitching, however I took it upon myself to learn when and where to speak the "appropriate language". My teacher meant well. I honestly want to say that she did not know any better as a young white woman in the 1980s. I will say that other than that bit of advice she never corrected me, even when I slipped out of the "right" way to speak. That may be why she is still one of my favorite teachers. Delpit states "Correction may also affect students' attitudes towards their teachers" (Delpit, 2003,51). I think this is why my favorite teachers did not question the way I talk.
I think that most children don't like to read, because teachers are always correcting them, instead of embracing if they actually are understanding the words on the page. My mother, and the teachers the were my favorites, never did that. They fostered my love of reading and did not say anything about if I was saying it right or not. Just that I understood it. Eventually, I learned to say the words in the Standard English on my own. I try to foster this level of instruction in my own classroom.
After reading the reading for this week, I am left with a few questions;
- Why are do teachers push themselves to focus on the way a student is saying the words on the page instead of whether he/she is comprehending what the words are saying? I find myself doing this also, ever so often until I catch myself. I do not know why I do that though.
- It is good for children to be proud of their language, but at what point should the teacher press standard speaking on them? It is unfortunate that differences in appearance, religion, and sexuality separate people in society and language is just as divisive as the others that were just mentioned. People that do not speak a certain way will have a harder time trying to succeed in society. So, at what point do we try to help them, and does helping them by pushing our notions of correct speaking on them push them further away? How can we do this without alienating them? Is there a better way to do this than how it has been done in the past? Should we do anything or just allow them to find their way on their own?
- All students come to school with a wealth of knowledge and personal experiences and most teachers acknowledge that. If that is the case, then why is it so hard for teachers to accept a students's home language or dialect? Most students engage more freely with a lesson when they can see themselves or their culture in the lesson.
- Why is it easier for teachers to correct dialect miscues instead of non-dialect miscues?
- Why is it so much easier to fall into dialect intervention instead of actual reading intervention?
Although the readings did not go into codeswitching too much, it did make me think of it and how children have to "play the game" as I did. Regardless, if they feel comfortable talking in Standard English or not, it never really feels like it is a part of them like the language they speak around family and friends. I included this video as a homage to that.
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