DW 4a

For project four, I have chosen to do my MGE on composition studies. I am going to focus specifically on teaching strategies. I am thinking it will be a reference packet put together for teachers to draw on new strategies to teach students whose main language is African American Vernacular English. I chose this theme of teaching strategies because I think it is very important for teachers to understand what they can do to become better teachers. I have had some very good teachers in my past and I've noticed that the best ones I've had have found different ways to help different students. By realizing that not all students learn the same way, teachers are able to draw on different strategies to accomodate for everyone. If teachers of AAVE students could learn to better teach these students then they too can succeed.

For this project I will use evidence from four different sources. They all come from my project three and were some of my favorite things I read all semester. Two of these sources we read in class and two of them I was able to find on my own. I absolutely love the ideas in these readings and absolutely think they would work very well if applied. The two in class are Ramsey and Nembhard and the other two I found on Jstor by Whitney and Hollie. All four of these readings have some similar ideas but in a little different way. They all start with the one thing that I think matters the most, respect. I believe that by using these four readings I can put together my MGE that includes different ways for teachers to teach better. It will hopefully give different suggestions for the teacher to try out and decide which approach they like best.

I am not sure exactly what genres I will chose yet exactly but I do have a few ideas. I am thinking of doing a news story that would focus on a black student who was able to get into a great school because of a particular teacher who taught them the right way. I am also thinking of doing a scene from a play or movie. I think I can put together a storyline that would involve these teaching strategies in action while making it entertaining. My other two genres I am completely unsure of. I would like to draw on something that involves more creativity but unfortunatly I don't have the best creative ability. I am thinking, however, that I may be able to come up with a collage or something depicting these different strategies in action. Also, I think a resume may be possible and the person could have been involved in activities on their resume that would use these strategies.

As you can see, I am not totally sure what I am going to do but I think my topic and sources are interesting enough to me that I can do it. The works cited page for my project four is as follows:

Hollie, Sharroky. “Acknowledging the Language of African American Students: Instructional
Strategies.” The English Journal 90.4 (2000): 54-59.

Nembhard, Judith P. "A Perspective on Teaching Black Dialect Speaking Students to Write
Standard English." The Journal of Negro Education 52.1 (1983): 75-82.

Ramsey, P. A. "Teaching the Teachers to Teach Black-Dialect Writers." College English 41.2
(1979): 197-201.

Whitney, Jessica. "Five Easy Pieces: Steps toward Integrating AAVE into the Classroom." The
English Journal 94.5 (2005): 64-69.

IAR paper 3

What is invention?
· AAVE in the classroom
· Research on strategies to teach Standard English to AAVE speakers
· Find the underlying cause of the negative perspective of these students
What is being invented?
· AAVE needs to be respected as a language
· It is possible for these students to excel
· Teachers should learn strategies to better teach their AAVE speaking students
What is being arranged?
· Language of education to how to teach AAVE speaking students Standard English
· How to teach to racism toward AAVE
· Racism to disrespect of AAVE
· Disrespect to respect of AAVE
· Respect to other strategies to help teach AAVE speaking students Standard English
What is arrangement?
· General to specific
· Problem to solution
· Examples of solutions
What is being revised?
· AAVE speakers are not dumb and can learn just like everyone else
· Incorporation of AAVE in the classroom can help teach these students
· AAVE does not have to be eliminated from these students lives
What is revision?
· Examples of teaching strategies
· How to gain respect for AAVE
· Citations from scholars who research AAVE in the classroom
· Systematic approaches to helping AAVE speakers learn better

DW 3b

In the article "Acknowledging the Language of African American Students: Instructional Strategies" by Sharroky Hollie he discusses how the American School System must search for a way to teach African American students in a way that will help to make them successful. He discusses six instructional approaches to help these students become proficient at speaking and writing Standard English while allowing them to achieve greater academic success. These six ways are to build the understanding and attitude of the teachers teaching these students, integrate linguistic knowledge of these other languages into learning, using the second language acquisition to support school language, employ a balanced approach that includes phonics, design instruction around strengths of these students, and use their culture to help teach them (54-55). He goes on to explain how these strategies can help teach an AAL speaker to learn Standard English by acknowledging the differences in the two.

It seems that Hollie is trying to say that it is very possible for AAL speakers to be academically successful as long as we acknowledge that they do speak a different language and we find ways to teach them through what they already know. African Americans have been labeled as bad students for years because no one took the time to find out the best way to teach them. Hollie discusses research done by Orlando Taylor in which Taylor compares two groups of African American Students. One group was taught in a traditional setting while the other was taught using what he calls the "non-standard language awareness approach." Over the course of the study the second group of students actually reduced their use of AAL in writing by 59% and the first group surprisingly increased their AAL use by 8.5% (57). With such a huge difference in the result of each group of students it is easy to see that by acknowledging the fact that these students do not use Standard English as a first option will dramatically increase their ability to become better students. It seems that once teachers are able to accept AAL as a rule governed, natural language, they are able to help these students more. By respecting AAL as a language, it gives students the belief that they can handle learning Standard English as well. Hollie ends his arguement well, saying, "It is time that other methods of instruction for this failing system be seriously considered" (59).

Annotated Bibliography

Balester, Valerie M. "The Problem of Method: Striving to See with Multiple Perspectives." College Composition and Communication 52.1 (2000): 129-32.

Balester talks about how it is difficult for use to see other viewpoints since we have been so narrow minded for so long. She agrees that we need to work at seeing more perspectives but recognizes how difficult that may be. She herself tried to study African American students and work to understand them although it was very difficult to do. By avoiding looking at these students as basic or alien, she was able to take a look through their eyes. Even scholars why speak AAVE find it hard to accept it by saying they use it and instead may refer to it as slang. She goes on to talk about how AAVE can actually help students to become better writers. She discusses how the features are not a barrier but enhance the writing. It is damaging to ignore the greatness AAVE can bring and we should learn to embrace it and accept it.

Hollie, Sharroky. “Acknowledging the Language of African American Students: Instructional Strategies.” The English Journal 90.4 (2000): 54-59.

Hollie says that African American students continue to fail because they are told their home language is bad language that should not be used. In fact, this language can help a student become a better writer. She discusses a set of six instructional approaches to help teach AAVE speakers Standard English. They include teacher’s building knowledge of non standard languages, integrating that knowledge into instruction, utilizing the second language acquisition, employ a balanced approach of both languages, design instruction around strengths, and infusing their culture into learning. By using these approaches and allowing AAVE in the classroom while still teaching students Standard English, they will become successful learners.

Marback, Roger. "Ebonics: Theorizing in Public Our Attitudes toward Literacy." College Composition and Communication 53.1 (2001): 11-32.

Marback initially discusses how the reaction to the Oakland Ebonics Resolution was immediate and hostile. The CCCC issued a statement shortly after that talked about the negative attitudes toward Ebonics and how teachers will unwilling to adapt their teaching practices to fit Ebonics speakers. He says that we should listen to the critics and evaluate what they are trying to tell us. The Ebonics debate was really about how attitudes of language affect attitudes on social relations. These people believe that it is the students who should want to talk themselves out of poverty and know that it is up to them to overcome their attitudes that isolate them from mainstream America. The article says that students should pride themselves on find ways to perform at the highest academic levels.

Palacas, Arthur L. "Liberating American Ebonics from Euro-English." College English 63.3(2001): 326-52.

Palacas initially discusses the different features of Ebonics such as the use of the “be” verb and the double negative. He goes on to discuss how he has and effective teacher of writing to Ebonics speakers and how he has taught all students to respect Ebonics and therefore, respect its speakers. He says the goal is to relieve the pressures of the stereotype that since they are Ebonics speakers that they are intellectually inferior and this pressure is often self held. He says that once students are liberated of this pressure, they are able to become confident and realize that they are not stupid but just capable of speaking two different ways. This is when students think of Standard English as another language and approach the learning of it more positively.

DW 3a

In P.A. Ramsey's "Teaching the Teachers to Teach Black-Dialect Writers," he discusses his experience teaching a class of grad students how to teach these black dialect speakers to write well. The class was focused around discussing and analyzing articles written by scholars on the topic and papers written by black dialect speakers. Ramsey and his students quickly realized that there are many theories on how best to teach these black dialect speakers and they varied greatly. The interesting part about this class Ramsey taught was that the discussion always went from "teaching writing to dialect speakers" to "teaching writing." They realized there was a bigger problem than just the dialect speakers. In fact, how do you effectively teach writing to any student. The fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter if your grammar is correct if you cannot realize exactly how you are supposed to organize what you are writing so that it come off as logical and clear. He also goes on to say that the only way to teach a black dialect speaker standard english is if they are willing to do so and want to do so.

I find it very interesting that the problem is actually teaching writing and not teaching writing to black dialect speakers. I think it is a wonderful idea, that if a student who speaks any dialect can learn how to formulate paragraphs and organize a paper, then they can become a great writer. I agree with Ramsey's view when he talks about what is really the important part of a paper. Since Ramsey is seen as a bridge in the dialect gap where he teaches, his collegues often come to him with papers that they claim have dialect problems. However it is not the dialect problems that are the problem, but as he says "Most of the time the paper is indeed poorly written, but the problem is usually that the student simply does not know how to write a paper"(200). There is nothing in this paper by Ramsey that says a black dialect speaker cannot learn to write effectively. Teachers just have to be open to they way they do write and as they become more confident in what they are writing, then the papers will in fact begin to make more sense to the reader.

I think this paper offers a great way to teach not only black dialect speakers but any speakers of any dialect of english, including Standard English. I've always though it isn't how you write but what you write that matters in a paper and Ramsey backs that up. The grammatical stuff isn't the problem if you cannot effectively organize your thoughts. Teachers will always find it difficult to help a student who does not speak their dialect but if they teach what they know the student will catch on and become a better writer. Other dialect speakers do not necessarily need to be taught differently but they, like all writers, need to be shown ways to become confident in their writing. Ramsey had one last thought about teaching writing and it just about sums up the whole idea. He said, "for I learned that one of the worst things that can happen to either students or teachers is for teachers to be too blind or too afraid to teach what they know"(201).

IAR

"Taking Black Technology Use Seriously: African American Discursive Traditions in the Digital Underground" by Adam J. Banks

What is invention?

• research on AAVE, its uses and rhetoric/gramatical features
• research previously written information on this topic by scholars
• Smitherman, Powell, Rickford
• find websites that use and discuss AAVE, blackplanet.com

What is being invented?

• how do African Americans express themselves in different situations online
• BlackPlanet allows them to express who they really are
• African American accessibility to the internet and digital space
• interaction with others let them know they are not alone

What is being arranged?

• the internet to AAVE
• AAVE to the "underground"
• the "underground" to the digital divide
• the digital divide to Blackplanet.com
• Blackplanet.com to feedback from peers
• feedback from peers to rhetoric features
• rhetoric features to allowing blacks to use their own language

What is arrangement?

• example of what is not used much
• general to specific
• specific problem
• problem to solution
• example of solution
• general to specific
• what should be done

What is being revised?

• allow blacks to use their own language
• allow greater access to the internet
• let them explore their culture
• they need an outlet to be themselves
• bridge the gap of the digital divide

What is revision?

• examples of real life and how blacks can express themselves
• examples of specific AAVE language
• quotes from scholars, many resources
• solution to bridge the gap

DW 2b

Professor Peter L. Patrick created an Ebonics frequently asked questions site and provided some simple answers. On his website through the University of Essex near London, England provides reasons and perceptions of Ebonics as a language and a dialect. He does not say what he thinks it is, but instead gives the reader the opportunity to discover what they think about Ebonics, or African American Vernacular English (AAVE). He discusses how linguists argue over whether it is a language or a dialect and even he admits there is no right answer. His website allows us, as readers, to form our own opinions and judgements so when we see the use of AAVE, we will understand it that much better.

Our in class readings have also discussed the use of AAVE and have actually provided examples of AAVE, especially in the use of digital space. Adam J. Banks' work is in A Reader For Writers and is entitled "Taking Black Technology Use Seriously: African American Discursive Traditions in the Digital Underground." In this piece, a website called BlackPlanet is the primary base of discussion. This website is intended to give blacks a place where they can express themselves. The use of AAVE is very prominent on this website. There are certain rules and regulations that determine that something is considered to be AAVE. In this blog post by a BlackPlanet user, we can see the use of sermonic tone and repetition, "Be Strong. We are not here to play, dream, or drift. we've got hard work to do and heavy loads to lift. Shun not the struggle, for it is God's gift. Be Strong (107)." It is obvious to hear and see the use of AAVE in this passage. It is obvious that this particular user is a typical AAVE speaker and uses it in her everyday life.

We can read passages such as these and see how they are considered to be AAVE. It is obvious that many people speak this but we still do not know if it is a language or a dialect. When we see a passage such as the one in the previous paragraph, it is easy to think back to the thoughts of Professor Peter L. Patrick and determine what we think about the passage. From my interpretation of the passage I would conclude that AAVE is a language. It is obvious that the rhetoric features are very much AAVE features. However, when you read Patrick's page, you realize that in fact, the passage still follows many similar features of Standard English. This is very conflicting viewpoints. This one passage could be written in both, its own language, or a dialect of english. Which is it? I don't think we will ever really know what to consider AAVE. The important thing is that people in this world speak it and those of us who do not, are able to recognize it and still understand it. Patrick's ideas give us a background to AAVE but it is our own perception that really matters. If we can learn to accept the use of this language or dialect then the world will become a stronger place. As long as we can all be understood, that is all that ultimately matters.

DW 2a

Professor Peter L. Patrick of the University of Essex near London, England uses his website to try to give readers a better understanding of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or Ebonics. He answers generic questions to give an overview of AAVE. On his website he says that AAVE is a dialect of english. Patrick says, "AAVE is an English dialect, too. Most of its components in the dimensions of grammar, lexicon, and pronunciation are widely shared with English - either with standard American English, or with Southern White English, or with vernacular dialects of English around the world." This helps to give us a comparison to other dialects. We've all learned Standard English through our schooling and we've all heard what a southern accent sounds like. We hear the differences but we know they are both dialects of english. When Patrick compares all of these to we are able to think about AAVE and how it really does sound like English with just a few differences that aren't too noticable.

An interesting question Patrick discusses is that if AAVE is a language then how come it isn't spoken by a particular country. Before this I had never thought about how we associate English with the United States and England, Spanish with Mexico and Spain, Japanese with Japan, etc. We know that these are all languages and they also have countries associated with them. Peter Patrick goes on to say that, "Languages existed long before the modern world became organized into "countries", or nation-states. A languages doesn't need to be the official speech of a nation-state in order to be real. Yet it is a fact that giving such official status tends to increase the prestige of a language." A language is spoken by a particular type of people. Those who speak AAVE are African American. African American's are a particular type of people. Many of these people are decendents of the slaves directly from Africa and still encompass the African culture. By sharing this culture, they developed their own language and there is no reason for us to refer to that as being a wrong way to talk. We never say that something such as French, which we do consider a language, as being wrong. If AAVE is a language then African Americans have the right to speak it and we must accept that.

AAVE is not specifically for African American use. While many African Americans use this language at the very least, at home, not all are fluent in it. In fact, while some African Americans are not fluent in it, some members of other cultures, whether it be white or latino, are fluent in it. As Patrick says, "almost all African Americans have some command of other forms of English, including Standard American English." Not only do African Americans have the ability to use more than one form of English but everyone else usually has more than one form of their language that they can use. We all have some knowledge of different forms and we can use them whenever we need to. AAVE is just another form and there is nothing wrong with that.

*Website* http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~patrickp/aavesem/EbonicsQ&A.html

DW 1b

One of the ideas what stuck out to me from our readings was mych #3 in Leah A. Zuidema's "Myth Education: Rationale and Strategies for Teaching Against Linguistic Prejudice." The myth states that standard english is better than all other varieties of english. Leah asks us about what really is "good" and "bad" english. She also talks about how we think that only the most educated and intelligent people speak perfect standard english all the time. In reality, does anyone actually speak this type of english?

All throughout my school years teachers have taught us to use standard english. They made sure we knew the proper grammar and spelling. We had to put things in the correct order all the time. These teachers pounded into our heads that if we could not use this standard english all the time then we would not be successful. We were always corrected if we said something wrong and papers were always graded on how perfect our grammar was. It is hard to be perfect all the time. Especially when away from school no one uses that standard english because it is too formal.

When I think back to high school I can remember the paper that I wrote that I am most proud of. It was first semester of my sophomore year and we had to write a paper on a moment in our life that changed the way we looked at things. I knew exactly what I wanted to write about and how I was going to do it. When I sat down to write that paper it was easy and I loved the way it sounded after my first draft. It said everything I wanted to say how I wanted to say it so I didn't bother doing too much editing besides a few commas here and there. I may have gotten points marked off for my improper grammar but even my teacher thought it was a fantastic paper with great content.

I don't really think it should matter so much if you use perfect standard english. I think communicating is really all about the content of what you say. I understand that people have to be able to understand you but its ok to not be so perfect all the time. There are and always will be times when it is necessary to use this proper english but I don't think its nearly as often as we are told. As long as we say what we mean and mean what we say it shouldn't matter that I misplaced a comma or switched a few words around. No one is perfect. Not even the smartest people in the world. There are so many dialects of english that who says we all have to use this "standard" english. We don't even really know what that is since no dialect is even close to that.

DW 1a

My use of language in both reading and writing are so different at home then it is at school. Throughout all my years, teachers have pounded into my head the "proper" way to talk. What really is the proper way to talk though? I can hear the differences in me depending on where I am and I can hear it in other people as well. Teachers and employers have this image that there is only one way you should talk but even they do not use the same language all the time. There are even differences in reading and writing.

It really amazes me how different the same conversation can be either at school or at home. I can be talking about the exact same thing but minus the context of the sentence nothing is similar about it. The other day I realized that I have a statistics test on the same day as a career fair I was hoping to attend. They were at the same time and obviously I can't skip a test but I really wanted to go to the career fair to get a feel for jobs that interest me. Originally I talked to my mom about how I was going to talk to my professor to see if I could take the test on another day. That conversation sounded something like this, "Yeah, so I found out the time for the career fair and guess what, I have a test that day. I guess I'm gonna have to talk to the prof to see if maybe I can take it some other time. I hope he lets me do that, it would suck to miss this thing." Those few sentences sound so casual. When I asked the professor if I could take the test another time the conversation sounded more like this, "We have a test on February 11 and there is a career fair in Detroit that I was hoping to attend. Is there anyway I can come by your office to take it at another time?" Those two conversations are talking about the exact same thing but they are said in completely different ways. Neither is necessarily more correct but they fit the situation at hand.

Not only is my speech different but the way I write at home and school are very different. This blog post is for school so it sounds much more formally written than if I were talking to a friend online. If I were to type this paper as I would talking to my friend, the previous two sentences would look more like this, "speech and writing are diff at home and school..im doing this post for school..its more formal..not like im talkin to you..." It is easy to see the differences. They say the exact same thing but the second one is very choppy and not real sentences. There is little to no punctuation and the grammar is far from "proper."

Despite the obvious differences between language from home and school the point of the conversation still gets across. We all learn early on to switch our language depending on the situation. We learn when to use formal speech and when we can be informal. I recognize the differences but I know that both ways are okay and they can both be understood. The "proper" way to talk may not necessarily be correct as they tell us in school.

IAR of "It Bees Dat Way Sometime"

What is invention?
-study of AAE language
-comparing and contrasting AAE to SAE
-translating AAE to SAE and vice versa
-determine rules for AAE

What is being invented?
-AAE has its own specific rules to follow
-There is correct and incorrect AAE
-AAE speakers can generally speak AAE and SAE depending on the situation
-AAE is a proper way to speak even if everyone doesn't realize it
-AAE has a language of words and a style of what to do with the words

What is being arranged?
-language to style
-style to specific sounds
-specific sounds to use of the word "be"
-use of the word "be" to non use of the word "be"
-non use of the word "be" to use of word "been"
-use of word "been" to to use of word "done"
-use of word "done" to use of context or conversation to determine time
-use of context or conversation to determine time to the same verb for all subjects
-the same verb to all subjects to plurality
-plurality to stressing subjects
-stressing subjects to use of negatives
-use of negatives to not every black using the all the rules all the time
-not every black using all the rules all the time to poems by Langston Hughes

What is arrangement?
-one point to the next
-building on previously known things
-examples
-comparing and contrasting
-general to specific

What is being revised?
-idea that AAE has no rules
-proving that AAE is a language
-dismissing beliefs that AAE speakers are "dumb"
-showing how AAE relates to SAE

What is revision?
-examples of conversations
-examples of specific sentences in AAE and SAE
-incorrect forms of AAE compared to correct forms
-use of poet to get final point across
-using both AAE and SAE styles in context