{"id":144,"date":"2021-07-23T19:45:27","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T19:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/?post_type=chapter&p=144"},"modified":"2021-08-06T20:03:05","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T20:03:05","slug":"5-3-exploring-english-acquisition-into-ebonics-and-standard-english-synthesis","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/chapter\/5-3-exploring-english-acquisition-into-ebonics-and-standard-english-synthesis\/","title":{"rendered":"5.3.1 Exploring English: Ebonics and Standard English (synthesis)"},"content":{"raw":"English 102, October 2019\r\n\r\nWhen meeting someone for the first time, what is one of the first things that someone may notice? Do they notice the clean, crisp press of a V-neck shirt? Do people notice the white, dry, dusty flakes that coat a person\u2019s dark shirt in a thin blanket of white dandruff? Or do they listen with a strained ear to the diction, pronunciation, or grammar of a person\u2019s dialect? Dialect is one of the first things that people notice because it may give someone key insight into things as simple as what a person holds in high regard. Language paves a path of how we as people, perceive others. The way in which someone addresses someone is an insight into that person\u2019s character. And the way that a person talks gives a person a few ideas about what type of environment that person grew up in. It is the initial environment, that paves a path of what James Gee explains as a discourse.\r\n\r\nJames Gee\u2019s, who is a Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy at Arizona\u00a0State University,\u00a0wrote an article entitled \u201cWhat is Literacy?\u201d; in which he explains what literacy is by employing his knowledge of linguistics. To describe what literacy is, he explains what a discourse is, and what a primary and secondary discourse is. He states that in general, when referring to discourses, he is saying that a discourse is a \u201csocially accepted association among ways of using language, of thinking, and of acting that can be used to identify oneself as a member of a socially meaningful group\u201d (Gee 51). Discourses aid members in certain groups, in\u00a0finding others that may be a part of their group simply by the way in which they may speak or act. This would be what Gee calls a Primary discourse, which are mannerisms and speech that originate from the home. It is the things that people learn from observation, from when they were children. Secondary discourses are learned outside of one\u2019s group that may better fit social standards. So, regarding literacy, discourses, especially those found in English such as African American English, can be employed to help people from different social groups understand different forms of dialect, and ultimately, how to establish a universal understanding of the secondary discourse, that is mainly taught in schools, Standard English.\r\n\r\nBefore understanding how primary and secondary discourses apply to African American English, it is important to understand what African American English is. As described by John Rickford in the article \u201cWhat is Ebonics (African American English)?\u201d, Ebonics is a blend of phonics that is primarily spoken by African Americans. Its\u2019 origins found primarily from \u201cthe nonstandard dialects of English indentured servants and other workers with whom African slaves interacted\u201d (Rickard). With its root embedded deep within a group, it poses the question how educators should, who encounter Ebonics speaking youth, teach a secondary discourse when their primary discourse is heavily embedded within their speech.\r\n\r\nThe article found in the\u00a0Journal of Negro Education Vol. 67, no. 1\u00a0<\/em>entitled, \u201cEbonics and Academic Achievement: The Role of the Counselor\u201d, written by Frederick Harper, et al., addresses different aspects that counselors or educators need to think about when dealing with a student, whose primary discourse, is Ebonics. As well as understanding what educators could do to help Ebonics' speaking students understand how to take their primary discourse of language, and apply that knowledge towards a standard English, to better grasp the concept. To achieve this task, educators need to be able to grasp a few\u00a0key, yet basic, concepts of Ebonics in order to\u00a0effectively teach standard English. These concepts include but are not limited\u00a0to:\u00a0rules and idiosyncrasies; facts and misconceptions; and the role of the counselor (Harper et. Al. 26-29). Without having somewhat of a grasp on these concepts, educators and counselors may come off as seeming disinterested or in worse cases, disrespectful.\r\n\r\nRegarding rules and idiosyncrasies, Harper et al., starts off by stating that \u201cEbonics is a dialect or language system with its own distinct rules\u201d (26). Meaning that Ebonics does not follow the laws of grammar and pronunciation that the rules found in standard English established. Ebonics disregards common grammar rules such as tenses and pronouns, and instead, has its own set of rules.\u00a0These things include dropping final consonant sounds, substituting verbs such as \u201cbe\u201d for \u201cis\", or using double negatives (27). So, instead of saying \u201cShe doesn\u2019t have any money\", an Ebonics speaker may say \u201cShe don\u2019t\u00a0got\u00a0no money\u201d, which strongly emphasizes the point that the speaker is trying to make. With the assistance of counselors, educators can take their basic understanding to effectively aid young Ebonics students, in the understanding of standard English.\r\n\r\nCounselors play an important role for Ebonics' students and educators. How do counselors go about doing this? Harper et al states that the goal of the counselor, especially for African American youth, is to act as a consultant with educators to \u201cincrease and improve students\u2019 use of Standard English without depreciating their culturally based dialect\u201d as well as \u201cimprove the teacher-student relationship in the language learning process\u201d (29). The counselor acts as a bridge for students and educators. Counselors assist each group in figuring out and understanding the needs of each other, so that they may both be able to succeed. Counselors can perform the task by being familiar with standard Ebonics, and different teaching styles that can be implemented by educators to more effectively help the student. Counselors can provide\u00a0creative tools and exercises that educators can utilize when they are unsure of how to teach standard English in a way that is both educational and exciting. But in order to find creative tools of teaching, counselors and educators must be able to understand how Ebonics\u2019 speaking youth transition between their primary and secondary discourses.\r\n\r\nUnderstanding how standard English and African American English effects students is an important aspect that Brennan highlights from Washington\u2019s observations of what she calls \u201ccode-switching\u201d. The \u201ccode-switch\u201d that Washington notices is the result of the students switching from their primary discourse to their secondary discourse. This observation assisted Washington in the understanding of how African American youth, who primarily speak in Ebonics, could go about understanding standard English. If all it takes is for them to understand when it is appropriate for which discourse to be prevalent, then these students can have a better grasp on standard English.\r\n\r\nThe authors\u2019 goal, in each article, is to inform current and future educators of the importance of respecting the language of African American English. That although this English is not the standard English that they have become accustomed to, none-the-less, it is still English. Each author wants educators to keep in mind the history behind Ebonics. Although it is not typically \u201cgrammatically correct\u201d, it still has its own set of rules. If schools are going to start implementing a program to help these young people understand standard English, they need to do it with care. The teachings of standard English to these youth should not in any way demean them. Instead it should highlight their differences, while also highlighting the differences founding standard English, in a way that would teach them properly. Ebonics is more than just \u201cimproper\u201d speech, it is a way in which a group, in certain communities, communicate with each other.\r\n\r\nEbonics highlights the importance of language. It shows that language is always changing and that it is not the same in every single place. Certain groups from certain communities may have accents. That the difference in dialect does not correlate with how well they can read, write or speak. Ebonics shows that literacy means more than just effectively reading, writing and speaking in a typically proper way. Take the four-year-old little girl that Washington encountered (Brennan).\u00a0She never had any formal training on the ins and outs of literacy, yet she was able to listen, encode, and recount the story in a way that she understands. At the end of the day, that is all that literacy is. Despite differences in dialect or education, literacy means a few things. In regards towards reading literacy, it means having the ability to extract important information from a reading, and relay it in an effective, and clear manner. For writing literacy, it is the ability to take thoughts and ideals, and convey it in a way that is interesting and thought inducing. Lastly, communication literacy is the ability to have a conversation across groups with little to no, misconceptions. Each author wants their audiences to understand that Ebonics, and any other dialect of English that may arise, is important and great care should be taken if by chance, schools have programs for the teaching of standard English.\r\n\r\nSo, what is the first thing that a person notices when they encounter someone for the first time? Is the relaxed nature of their posture? The slight raising of their eyebrows when they get sucked into a topic that they are discussing? Or is it the sly way in which they change their dialect, depending on the group of people they are talking too? It may be one of these things, or maybe even all of these things. At the end of the day, communication, whether imploring the use of Ebonics or Standard English, is all the same.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nWork Cited\r\n\r\nBrennan, William. \u201cJulie Washington's Quest to Get Schools to Respect African-American English.\u201d\u00a0The Atlantic<\/em>, Atlantic Media Company, 12 Mar. 2018, Bren\r\n\r\nGee, James Paul. \"What is literacy.\"\u00a0Negotiating academic literacies: Teaching and learning across languages and cultures<\/em>\u00a0(1998): 51-59.\r\n\r\nHarper, Frederick D., et al. \u201cEbonics and Academic Achievement: The Role of the Counselor.\u201d\u00a0The Journal of Negro Education<\/em>, vol. 67, no. 1, 1998, pp. 25\u201334.\u00a0JSTOR<\/em>,\u00a0www.jstor.org\/stable\/2668237<\/a>.\r\n\r\nRickford, John R. \u201cWhat Is Ebonics (African American English)? .\u201d\u00a0Linguistic Society of America<\/em>, 2019, https:\/\/www.linguisticsociety.org\/content\/what-ebonics-african-american-english.","rendered":"

English 102, October 2019<\/p>\n

When meeting someone for the first time, what is one of the first things that someone may notice? Do they notice the clean, crisp press of a V-neck shirt? Do people notice the white, dry, dusty flakes that coat a person\u2019s dark shirt in a thin blanket of white dandruff? Or do they listen with a strained ear to the diction, pronunciation, or grammar of a person\u2019s dialect? Dialect is one of the first things that people notice because it may give someone key insight into things as simple as what a person holds in high regard. Language paves a path of how we as people, perceive others. The way in which someone addresses someone is an insight into that person\u2019s character. And the way that a person talks gives a person a few ideas about what type of environment that person grew up in. It is the initial environment, that paves a path of what James Gee explains as a discourse.<\/p>\n

James Gee\u2019s, who is a Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy at Arizona\u00a0State University,\u00a0wrote an article entitled \u201cWhat is Literacy?\u201d; in which he explains what literacy is by employing his knowledge of linguistics. To describe what literacy is, he explains what a discourse is, and what a primary and secondary discourse is. He states that in general, when referring to discourses, he is saying that a discourse is a \u201csocially accepted association among ways of using language, of thinking, and of acting that can be used to identify oneself as a member of a socially meaningful group\u201d (Gee 51). Discourses aid members in certain groups, in\u00a0finding others that may be a part of their group simply by the way in which they may speak or act. This would be what Gee calls a Primary discourse, which are mannerisms and speech that originate from the home. It is the things that people learn from observation, from when they were children. Secondary discourses are learned outside of one\u2019s group that may better fit social standards. So, regarding literacy, discourses, especially those found in English such as African American English, can be employed to help people from different social groups understand different forms of dialect, and ultimately, how to establish a universal understanding of the secondary discourse, that is mainly taught in schools, Standard English.<\/p>\n

Before understanding how primary and secondary discourses apply to African American English, it is important to understand what African American English is. As described by John Rickford in the article \u201cWhat is Ebonics (African American English)?\u201d, Ebonics is a blend of phonics that is primarily spoken by African Americans. Its\u2019 origins found primarily from \u201cthe nonstandard dialects of English indentured servants and other workers with whom African slaves interacted\u201d (Rickard). With its root embedded deep within a group, it poses the question how educators should, who encounter Ebonics speaking youth, teach a secondary discourse when their primary discourse is heavily embedded within their speech.<\/p>\n

The article found in the\u00a0Journal of Negro Education Vol. 67, no. 1\u00a0<\/em>entitled, \u201cEbonics and Academic Achievement: The Role of the Counselor\u201d, written by Frederick Harper, et al., addresses different aspects that counselors or educators need to think about when dealing with a student, whose primary discourse, is Ebonics. As well as understanding what educators could do to help Ebonics’ speaking students understand how to take their primary discourse of language, and apply that knowledge towards a standard English, to better grasp the concept. To achieve this task, educators need to be able to grasp a few\u00a0key, yet basic, concepts of Ebonics in order to\u00a0effectively teach standard English. These concepts include but are not limited\u00a0to:\u00a0rules and idiosyncrasies; facts and misconceptions; and the role of the counselor (Harper et. Al. 26-29). Without having somewhat of a grasp on these concepts, educators and counselors may come off as seeming disinterested or in worse cases, disrespectful.<\/p>\n

Regarding rules and idiosyncrasies, Harper et al., starts off by stating that \u201cEbonics is a dialect or language system with its own distinct rules\u201d (26). Meaning that Ebonics does not follow the laws of grammar and pronunciation that the rules found in standard English established. Ebonics disregards common grammar rules such as tenses and pronouns, and instead, has its own set of rules.\u00a0These things include dropping final consonant sounds, substituting verbs such as \u201cbe\u201d for \u201cis”, or using double negatives (27). So, instead of saying \u201cShe doesn\u2019t have any money”, an Ebonics speaker may say \u201cShe don\u2019t\u00a0got\u00a0no money\u201d, which strongly emphasizes the point that the speaker is trying to make. With the assistance of counselors, educators can take their basic understanding to effectively aid young Ebonics students, in the understanding of standard English.<\/p>\n

Counselors play an important role for Ebonics’ students and educators. How do counselors go about doing this? Harper et al states that the goal of the counselor, especially for African American youth, is to act as a consultant with educators to \u201cincrease and improve students\u2019 use of Standard English without depreciating their culturally based dialect\u201d as well as \u201cimprove the teacher-student relationship in the language learning process\u201d (29). The counselor acts as a bridge for students and educators. Counselors assist each group in figuring out and understanding the needs of each other, so that they may both be able to succeed. Counselors can perform the task by being familiar with standard Ebonics, and different teaching styles that can be implemented by educators to more effectively help the student. Counselors can provide\u00a0creative tools and exercises that educators can utilize when they are unsure of how to teach standard English in a way that is both educational and exciting. But in order to find creative tools of teaching, counselors and educators must be able to understand how Ebonics\u2019 speaking youth transition between their primary and secondary discourses.<\/p>\n

Understanding how standard English and African American English effects students is an important aspect that Brennan highlights from Washington\u2019s observations of what she calls \u201ccode-switching\u201d. The \u201ccode-switch\u201d that Washington notices is the result of the students switching from their primary discourse to their secondary discourse. This observation assisted Washington in the understanding of how African American youth, who primarily speak in Ebonics, could go about understanding standard English. If all it takes is for them to understand when it is appropriate for which discourse to be prevalent, then these students can have a better grasp on standard English.<\/p>\n

The authors\u2019 goal, in each article, is to inform current and future educators of the importance of respecting the language of African American English. That although this English is not the standard English that they have become accustomed to, none-the-less, it is still English. Each author wants educators to keep in mind the history behind Ebonics. Although it is not typically \u201cgrammatically correct\u201d, it still has its own set of rules. If schools are going to start implementing a program to help these young people understand standard English, they need to do it with care. The teachings of standard English to these youth should not in any way demean them. Instead it should highlight their differences, while also highlighting the differences founding standard English, in a way that would teach them properly. Ebonics is more than just \u201cimproper\u201d speech, it is a way in which a group, in certain communities, communicate with each other.<\/p>\n

Ebonics highlights the importance of language. It shows that language is always changing and that it is not the same in every single place. Certain groups from certain communities may have accents. That the difference in dialect does not correlate with how well they can read, write or speak. Ebonics shows that literacy means more than just effectively reading, writing and speaking in a typically proper way. Take the four-year-old little girl that Washington encountered (Brennan).\u00a0She never had any formal training on the ins and outs of literacy, yet she was able to listen, encode, and recount the story in a way that she understands. At the end of the day, that is all that literacy is. Despite differences in dialect or education, literacy means a few things. In regards towards reading literacy, it means having the ability to extract important information from a reading, and relay it in an effective, and clear manner. For writing literacy, it is the ability to take thoughts and ideals, and convey it in a way that is interesting and thought inducing. Lastly, communication literacy is the ability to have a conversation across groups with little to no, misconceptions. Each author wants their audiences to understand that Ebonics, and any other dialect of English that may arise, is important and great care should be taken if by chance, schools have programs for the teaching of standard English.<\/p>\n

So, what is the first thing that a person notices when they encounter someone for the first time? Is the relaxed nature of their posture? The slight raising of their eyebrows when they get sucked into a topic that they are discussing? Or is it the sly way in which they change their dialect, depending on the group of people they are talking too? It may be one of these things, or maybe even all of these things. At the end of the day, communication, whether imploring the use of Ebonics or Standard English, is all the same.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Work Cited<\/p>\n

Brennan, William. \u201cJulie Washington’s Quest to Get Schools to Respect African-American English.\u201d\u00a0The Atlantic<\/em>, Atlantic Media Company, 12 Mar. 2018, Bren<\/p>\n

Gee, James Paul. “What is literacy.”\u00a0Negotiating academic literacies: Teaching and learning across languages and cultures<\/em>\u00a0(1998): 51-59.<\/p>\n

Harper, Frederick D., et al. \u201cEbonics and Academic Achievement: The Role of the Counselor.\u201d\u00a0The Journal of Negro Education<\/em>, vol. 67, no. 1, 1998, pp. 25\u201334.\u00a0JSTOR<\/em>,\u00a0www.jstor.org\/stable\/2668237<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rickford, John R. \u201cWhat Is Ebonics (African American English)? .\u201d\u00a0Linguistic Society of America<\/em>, 2019, https:\/\/www.linguisticsociety.org\/content\/what-ebonics-african-american-english.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":253,"menu_order":7,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":["akrone"],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[63],"license":[],"class_list":["post-144","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","contributor-akrone"],"part":118,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/253"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":528,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/144\/revisions\/528"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/118"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/144\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=144"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=144"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understanding-literacy-in-our-lives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}