How can AAE speakers become effective SWE Writers?

When it comes to teaching AAE speakers how to become effective SWE Writers there are some teachers who don’t even bother to SWE at all. They think that it is a waste of time, and that AAE speakers are too dumb or deprived to master it. Some teachers are motivated by the language barrier refrain from teaching SWE rather than force AAE speakers to adopt “a strange or hostile set of cultural values”.

Some argue focusing on SWE skills will stifle student’s fluency and creativity, so they just encourage students to “edit out” SWE errors on their own. Some teachers just simply gave up, because of conflicting theories. With these laissez-faire approaches, virtually the only AAR speakers who learn to “edit out” SWE errors are those who intensively read and write SWE texts outside of school. Students have to recognize SWE errors in order to “edit them out”, and such recognition normally requires some sort of instruction when Standard English is not the language of the home. There are variety strategies for teaching AAE speakers Standard Written English. The strategies range from the traditional approach, which excludes AAE from the curriculum and classroom, to the bridge approach, which uses AAE to build a “bridge” to SWE. These are only one aspect of writing instructions, like other composition students, AAE students need to read carefully, write frequently, and address different audiences for meaningful purposes.

ASL and Grammar

The ASL and Grammar article, was explaining how the American Sign Language is different from English. The article explains how ASL is different from English by showing examples of their differences. ASL is different because of the sentence structure that it has. In English, people use articles like an, are, the, of and by. In ASL they don't use them, because to ASL articles are not necessary. An example that was used was the English say "I am a student", while ASL, says "I student". Another difference is that in ASL, they use the topic first, so that the person that they are talking to establishes what they are talking about.

Other things that the article said that ASL do was using the "wh" signs. The "wh" signs are who, what, when, where, and how. The "wh" signs were signed at the end of the sentence. Also, they use time signs like "yesterday" to set the tense of a sentence, so that a person visually knows the time period that is being discussed.

As well as ASL sentence structure, the article was about facial grammar. Facial grammar is also called "non-manual markers". When it comes to ASL and answering yes/no questions the facial expression is to raise head forward slightly, and hold the last sigh in the sentence. When a ASL has a "wh" question, they lower the eyebrow, lean head forward, and hold the last sign in the sentence that is usually the "wh" sign.

The article made an important note, which was, when watching someone do sign language the other person should watch and focus on the signers face. Also, that approximately 60% of ASL conversation is based on expressions.

Down's Syndrome and Grammar

Roger Brown and colleagues conducted a study on children with down’s syndrome. They specifically looked at the development of morphemes and ages in which children acquired their language. Three children from middle class American families were selected for this research. The children were examined for two years. Brown concluded that between the ages of two and four children include many different morphemes in their speech. In all three children, there was a similarity in which these morphemes occurred. He studied the fourteen morphemes in which they appeared. The first being the ing affix on verbs. The second being the preposition on and the third is the preposition in. Fourth is the plural form of words, such as dogs. Fifth is the irregular past tense of verbs. Sixth is the possessive form of nouns, seventh is the form of be, and eighth is articles. Ninth is past tense verbs, tenth is third person present tense, and eleventh is the irregular first person present tense verbs. Twelfth is another form of be, thirteenth is the use of abbreviations where possible, and the fourteenth is using abbreviations for the form of be.

The results of this investigation were somewhat predictable. The first six of the morphemes were acquired by the children with down’s syndrome at a much later date. Those children were also producing their first ten words at a later age. Typically, children with down’s syndrome are about twelve months behind children without a retardation. Of the morphemes, the seventh, tenth, and twelfth, were not ever acquired by the children with down’s syndrome. Two out of those three involve the forms of be. These children might not understand the form of be because of how their mother’s speak to them. Mothers tend to speak more directly to children and not really give them the chance to pick up on the different forms. Not acquiring the morphemes as early in life will have a great affect on the children.This study informed us of how children with a retardation learn grammar at a much slower pace.

Survey Topics and Links

2. Samantha Holland:

4. Jessica Roby:

5. Joana Balliu: "Differences in Grammar between Native and Non-Native English Speakers"

6. Josh Evans:

7. Stile Smith:

8. Samantha Barnes:

9. Mike Springston:

10. Dionne Jackson:

11. Dan Wainright: "Relationship Between Gender and Grammar"

12. Abby Morgan:

13. Janelle Medernach:

14. Jamie Franklin:

15. Guadalupe Garcia: "Grammar and Retention"

16. Kanika Blair:

17. Tashina Craig:

18. Zachary Solomon:

19. Mike McGeady:

Twins and Language Development

Jennifer Ganger’s article on twin language capabilities compared with singletons of the same age provides insight into the common belief amongst psychologist that twins are at a disadvantage in language development. Ganger summarizes several studies that are used in determining this assumption. She points out flaws in the experiments themselves. Although she points out that there is evidence to support twins are at greater risk of having language problems, there is nothing that is concrete about any of the experiments in her opinion.
Ganger produces several case studies on the subject of twin language. Twin development versus singleton development has been studied since at least the early 20th century according to Ganger. She summarizes these early studies have problems with unintentional biases towards the twins.

The first two studies analyzed were Day and Davis. The Day Study concentrated on early childhood development, while The Davis Study focused on children from age five to nine. The Day study concluded that twins are likely to be up two years behind children without a twin. The Davis study, which was essentially the same study with older children, concluded the language deficiencies were almost always corrected around the age of five to nine. However, twins in the five to nine age groups were still more likely to have articulation problems. There were a few problems with these studies according to Ganger. One of the biggest problems was the twins studied were not always studied separately. This would skew the results, because the singleton children tested were alone. A few other problems were found and tested in other studies. Other issues that were not taken into account were birth weight, order of birth, time of gestation. These problems directly correlate to learning in all children.

Ganger shows more recent studies have concluded that there are a number of problem with the idea that twins will have language issues simple because they are twins. These more recent studies take into account the weight of the children at birth, the order of their birth, and the gestation period. Researchers took these problems into consideration and found evidence to support the theory that twins are more likely to lack their peers in language development. These studies found the cause of this problem is not simply because twins are born at the same time to the same mother, but the factors that causes slower development in children is usually present in a household with twins. For instance, twins have to share time speaking with adults. This gives the individual twin less time developing language skills. Twins also have a smaller birth rate than singleton children, which is a factor that causes slower development. The cause of a twin’s slower development is not by the presence of another, but the factors the other twin can bring.

The article concludes with a reminder that these tests are averages and do not doom people who are twins. There are many factors that can account for language delays. The language development of twins can be greatly influenced by the parents or guardians. Granger reminds her readers that nothing is concrete or exact in this type of study.

(by: Josh Evans)

Embracing Ebonics and Teaching Standard English

This article is a interview with Carrie English who is a teacher at a school called Prescott in Oakland.

During the interview, Carrie English explains the CACSEA (Center For Applied Cultural Studies and Educational Achievement) and SEP (Standard English Proficiency Program).

Carrie English explains that the CACSEA program highlights nine cultural aspects that permeate African-American life: spirituality, resilience, emotional vitality, musicality and rhythm, humanism, communalism, orality and verbal expressiveness, personal style and uniqueness, and realness. These concepts help teach students which leads to the SEP Program.

SEP is a program that recognizes Ebonics as a language that stands on its own rather than as a dialectical form of English. Carrie English explains that she is teaching Ebonics as a second language but not fixing the language that is brought to school from the homes of the students that she is teaching. The three cornerstones to the SEP Program is culture, language and literacy which is basically meaning that the program itself dosnt only focus on Ebonics as a language
grammatically but also relating it to the students everyday lives and backgrounds. Even though Carrie English is teaching Ebonics as a language , she also encourages the students to practice English most of the instructional time which means that she also enforces that her students know the correct way to use and write English as well as Ebonics.

While thinking about Ebonics as a whole or even reading this article, think about if you agree with Carrie English and the SEP/CACSEA programs. Do you think that the SEP/CACSEA programs work? Do you think that Ebonics could indeed be a second language and could be taught in unison with the English language or is Ebonics just street slang?

The Order of Words, by Ken Macrorie

The article talks on the order of words and how they effect meaning. There are basic rules and sentences that most people educated with some grammar wouldn’t make, such as:

“Johnny and Bill has his own bike.”

In our system of English, the words he, she, or they that have prepositions in front of them show their relationship by switching to the object form (him, her, or them). The author goes on to explain that one problem we have in grammar is when somebody says something like:

“You and me should go get some coffee.”

A lot of sticklers for grammar might be quick to correct the person who says this and demand they say:

“You and I should go get some coffee.”

J. D. Salinger had his character Holden Caulfield talk in a strange sort of manner that addresses this issue – Caulfield often saying things like: “I think I probably woke he and his wife up…”

Most editors find the following problems in writing: confusing word order, lack of clear signal by pronouns, and verbs that don’t signal the nouns they belong to.

An example of a word order signal choice given is: “When green, I love the woods most of all.” The problem with this sentence is that because of the word order, it isn’t clear on the meaning of the sentence. Does it mean that when I’m feeling sick I love the woods more than anything, or does it mean I really love the woods when they look green? The word order must be changed and thought upon to construct meaning here, as you can make two different meaning sentences with this – either:

“I love the woods when green most of all.”

Or

“I love the green woods most of all.”

The goal of a writer is to master their writing, which is usually done by having a hold of the rules of grammar to near perfection. However, like Salinger used his character Holden Caulfield to great success through his careful and deliberate choice of words, so can other writers. English writer William Hazlitt began a paragraph on an essay on Sir James Mackintosh with: “To consider him in the last point of view first. As a political partisan, he is rather the lecturer than the advocate.” True, the first sentence doesn’t really show who’s doing the considering, and it’s questionable as to how much of a sentence it really is, but it works.
The author gives another example from Hazlitt in how word order can be used to create more impactful sentences that defy traditional structure. He shows that Hazlitt wrote of Sir Walter Scott: “The old world is to him a crowded map; the new one a dull, hateful blank.” If this were rewritten in a traditional order, he would have made the less impactful “The old world is a crowded map to him; the new one a dull, hateful blank.” The way Hazlitt had it written, the “essential” words were put at the end of the sentence where they gathered power and achieved parallelism. Moving words out of the normal position, when used effectively, can surprise the reader in a good way.

The article sums up that writers need to gain an ear for regular and correct word order, because if they continue to scramble it, it’ll confuse the readers instead of surprise them, which is sometimes the writer’s goal that just doesn’t come out right. The author then recommends this strategy: repeat and vary – vary the normal pattern but only on occasion.

(by: Zach Solomon)

What is AAE?

I do apologize for the lengthy summary--the article itself was pretty extensive.

In this article, the writer (whose name does not appear on the handout) argues that naming and labeling is extremely important, and is no less important when discussing AAE. AAE is short for African American English, and in the past has been labeled as "broken" English, "Black English" and "Ebonics", among others. AAE, he or she estimates, is spoken by about eighty to ninety percent of African Americans, but other races and ethnicities, though in the minority, are also a part of the AAE speech community.The article aims to point out that AAE is either a dialect or a language, not simply slang or "broken" English. Though the writer concedes that AAE appears to break the rules of Standard American English, he or she argues that there is no universal standard for speaking English in the United States. There is a formal written standard known as SWE, or Standard Written English. In accordance with SWE rules, AAE implements errors such as subject/verb disagreement, misuse of verbs, and poorly constructed sentences.

Many have attacked AAE as an incorrect form of English, through which attacks there are implications that AAE speakers are uneducated or lack the intelligence to learn Standard English. However, linguist John Rickford argues that AAE speakers are, in fact, implementing their own rules in the dialect or language. These rules simply differ from those of Standard English. The writer then shows an example of someone trying to replicate AAE unsuccessfully because they fail to follow the rules of the language. She also states that AAE compares to many other forms of language, and specifically cites that AAE is much like French--as AAE stems from English, so does French stem from Latin.

The author then further attempts to prove AAE is not slang by showing that slang is a short-lived group of words shared by a particular group of people. However, AAE has endured and evolved for centuries. He or she then attempts to prove AAE is either a dialect or a language, showing that a dialect encompasses rules of English while at the same time varies in systematic ways. A language, he or she states, consists of phonology, semantics, and syntax. While a dialect can encompass these as well, many try to distinguish between a dialect and a language by implementing the use of mutual intelligibility--that is, if AAE, Appalachian English, and Standard English speakers can understand one another, it must be a dialect. However, mutual intelligibility has proved unreliable, as Chinese speakers from different dialects do not always understand each other, just as those from different Swedish languages are able to. He or she states that, more than anything, distinguishing dialects and languages is more of a political judgement, not a linguistic one.

Finally, AAE incorporates camouflaged forms of phrases--ones that look similar to Standard English but possess unique meanings in AAE. AAE speakers also invent their own slang from previously known phrases. For example, the phrase "get my groove on" was adapted for slang to encompass phrases such as "get my chill on" (relax) or "get my grub on" (eat).