Over the past few days we have studied the dialect (or language, depending on your view) of African American English. Learning to understand and accept AAE as being different, not incorrect, has been the main goal thus far. However, this presents us with a complicated question: if AAE is not wrong, how do we approach and justify teaching students the ways of Standard Written English?
Today’s article presents five different approaches to efficiently teaching AAE students SWE.
The Traditional Approach
Also known as current traditional rhetoric, the traditional approach uses the concept of immersion (the idea that students must be fully immerged in Standard English while in the classroom in order to compensate for its absence at home). Instruction includes correcting all oral and written mistakes, a huge emphasis on grammar practice exercises, and standardized testing.
The Second Dialect Approach
The English as a Second Dialect (ESD) approach borrows many of its methods from ESL programs. The ESD approach focuses on the differences between AAE and SWE. It incorporates metalinguistics (the study of the relationship between language and other cultural behavior), code-switching practices (being able to switch from AAE to SWE as a situation demands), and contrastive analysis (combining the features of two languages). Error analysis is often used when assessing the students.
The Dialect Awareness Approach
The goal of the dialect awareness approach is to stop linguistic prejudice as a whole. Students studying under this approach will find themselves actively learning about the differences among many dialects. Dialect awareness programs have shown to be quite successful at teaching acceptance. Testing involves looking at students’ writing throughout the class in order to gauge their progress.
The Culturally Appropriate Approach
Culturally appropriate teaching (CAT) focuses on strategies, knowledge, and experiences from African American students’ culture. Instruction involves studying works by African American authors, and incorporating music into lesson plans. CAT attempts to disprove the idea that “learning to write is learning to be white” that some AAE students tend to believe.
The Bridge Approach
The bridge approach focuses on teaching AAE students how to write (i.e. how to formulate a thesis, structure paragraphs, get across meaning) within AAE before attempting to teach them SWE. SWE is not focused on until the end of the composing process, and is generally not required on all assignments (but on most).
Each approach has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. One approach may work best with a certain topic or student, where as a different approach may work superbly for another. Overall, research suggests that a combination of the different approaches is the most successful way to go about teaching SWE to AAE speakers.
For discussion:
Which approach do you believe would be the most effective? Why? Would you focus on one approach or combine multiple?
-Alex Rude
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13 comments:
I think a combination would work best. I would focus mostly on the Second Dialect Approach, as it allows students to continue keeping their own dialect but stresses code-switching so that the students will know that while it is alright that they speak in their own dialect, they should try to write in standard written English. However, adding in dialect awareness would also be important because it encompasses all dialects, and wouldn't make a certain group of students feel like they were singled out. (In addition, if there were multiple dialects in the classroom other than just AAE, this would also be helpful because it would make every student feel like their dialect is unique and worth studying.) The culturally appropriate approach makes learning about dialects actually come alive, though, and would probably be a great way to start the lesson and engage the students. The bridge approach might work well with students who are struggling with writing as well as with their dialect, though. I liked the second dialect approach best as far as which one to use the most, but a combination would definitely be a good idea!
I think a combination of The Second Dialect Approach,The Bridge Approach, and The Dialect Awareness Approach would work well. I have learned about code-switching in other classes and I think that it is important to teach ALL students that the type of speech that they use at home is appropriate in some (especially informal) environments, while it may not necessarily be appropriate in others.
I also like the idea of the Bridge Approach because it stresses the importance of the concept that the student is writing about, rather than the way that it is written. However, it may be hard for students to change the way that they write if they are taught in AAE first.
I like The Dialect Awareness Aproach because it teaches students that just because some people have different ways of speaking and writing, they are not more or less intelligent. It is important to recognize AAE as a specific dialect and stress this to students so that linguistic prejudice can be addressed and stopped.
It seems that the Second Dialogue and Bridge Approaches could be used together effectively. The Second Dialogue is very important because it stresses the differences between the two and shows the student how to switch between them at any needed time. This allows the student to learn without having to worry about abandoning any cultural identity. Using the Bridge Approach simultaneously with this lets the students use the dialect that they are most familiar with to smoothly transition their thought process into the required structure of proper outlines. Then, if the secondary dialogue approach was used and the students are familiar with the differences, they should have a firm foundation in the standard writing form.
I think that I would try to incorporate the Bridge approach with the CAT. With the CAT, a teacher could slowly introduce Standard English without making it "white." With the Bridge approach, a teacher could encourage students to write and then teach the students Standard English. On the other hand, the Bridge approach could backfire. Students could get frustrated with all the rules that Standard English has. Even so, I think that these last two approaches are the best choices. In these two ways, a teacher can slowly introduce Standard English so that it does not seem like something evil.
I think a combination of two of the different methods would work the best. I would probably mix the ‘traditional’ and ‘dialect awareness’ approaches together. I think it would be a good idea for all the students to be immerged into the SAE language and it would help all students, even the students who use AAE, to just hear the language outside of the home. As a teacher, it will be important to still correct the students on their oral and written mistakes. If you don’t, the student will continue to keep making the same mistakes over and over again never knowing that what they are saying is wrong. The ‘dialect awareness’ approach is a good one because it gets the students to actively learning the differences between the dialects. The students will be able to find out for themselves the differences and be able to pick up better habits of speaking correct SAE.
The Second Dialect Approach seems to be the strongest approach on its own merits. I have spent time in southern California with many people that are in the process of learning English, and listening to their conversations can be very interesting. They speak a Spanish-English mixture which seems to help in the learning process. After all, if a person throws an unknown word into a sentence that you understand, there’s a good chance that you can figure the word out from the contextual evidence. This would be beneficial to students who learning a new dialect in much the same way it helps those learning a new language. Combining the ESD approach with the CAT approach and including written work and music that they can relate to on a cultural level would also help tear down walls and make learning easier without making anyone feel like they are leaving their own culture behind.
I like the Second Dialect Approach. I think it would be good for students to learn about their own dialect, as well as other's dialects. I think it is best to write in standard English because it is universally known, but I think it is important for people to know about their own dialect. Since people are going to speak in their dialect, it is important for everyone to understand what they are saying. I also think it is important for people to understand other's dialects. If one understands everyone's dialect, that would help cut out on racism.
I think a combination of the Traditional and Bridge approach will be best to use in this particular situation, because the more corrections your paper has the more conscious of a writing you will end up becoming. By me being an African American writer I have to be cautious of the type of language I use in my writing. With the traditional approach the student will notice where their strength and weaknesses are and how to correct them. I know for a fact that's how I became a stronger and better writer, because my English teachers marked everything that was incorrect in my papers with a big red marker! The Bridge approach will be successful because it will show AAE writers how to compose a proper essay with the correct format. It's surprising to me how many people, no matter what type of writer they are, don't know how to properly write a thesis or compose a proper essay. This will help AAE writers not only master the grammar part of writing, but the structure/construction of it as well!
I favor the Dialect Awareness Approach and the Culturally Appropriate Approach, because they focus on appreciating the culture of AAE as a language, giving it the respect it deserves. I also would use the Bridge Approach in order to teach them how to write using their own language and eventually translating it into SAE. The combination of methods would work well if done with the right intentions. If a teacher does not have the right frame of mind when dealing with AAE, it can be a stressful and irritating experience. A teacher must incorporate patience as a major virtue.
After reading this I feel that it would be best to use more than one of these approaches. I think that using one might be a little bit effective, but if you could use two or more that would be best. Students need variety, not every person learns the same. So, thats why different approaches need to be used. I really liked the cultural one. Many ethnicities lose their culture when living in America. If teachers could help incorporate different cultures into teaching SWE than that would help them a lot. When students feel that they lost their culture it becomes hard for them to learn, so incorporating it would help them to feel not as lost.
The Culturally Appropriate Approach sounds like a great idea. I feel like it's important to get students to understand concepts based on their own experiences. It's easier to get students involved when it's their own culture that's being discussed. It also keeps students close to their roots so they don't have to feel like teachers are trying to mold them into another race.
I feel the The Dialect Awareness Approach and the
Bridge Approach would probably work best. I say this because the student is still learning without feeling as though the teacher is attacking them for the way they speak. I also feel that it would give the student a better appreciation of how to write in standard English.
I believe the combination of the second Dialect Approach and The Culturally Appropriate Approach would work the best with AAE students. The Culturally Appropriate Approach focuses on strategies, knowledge and experiences from African American students culture. If the class learns about African American culture by reading works from Aferican American authors, they will learn more about AAE and where it comes from. The second Dialect Approach borrows many methods from ESL programs. This approach seems to work well for students who have trouble with standard English therefore, it should help AAE students as well. It also incorporates metalinguistics, therefore would help AAE students learn the relationship between language and culture behavior.
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