Want to "empower" more DCPS students? Have schools offer speech class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Black Former Ward 8 DCPS Teacher Here,

While this topic has the potential for racism and classism, a lot of teachers wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. I remember reading about "African American Vernacular" in college, and I find it offensive to suggest that the broken English, mumbling, and slurring of words fits that category. We don't teach our students to "talk white," but we do expect them to speak clearly and enunciate.

"You got me guh" is not AAVE; it's slang and inappropriate for professional settings. Many of our students grow up in homes and areas where this is all they hear, so they are unprepared for the workplace. I don't chastise or belittle them for the way that they talk, but I do teach them alternative, professionally appropriate ways to communicate the same message. Call it "Codeswitching 101." I hold them to that standard as the year progresses.

I appreciate everyone who is trying to be culturally sensitive, but when you step into a room full of ninth graders and every other word is a curse word or slang, you quickly recognize that something is wrong. The peculiar thing is that a lot of them don't even understand that expletive-laden dialogue with a teacher or administrator is wrong. They will sit there and plead that they aren't disrespecting you. "What you mean, Bob? ("Bob" is a general pronoun, not a person's name) I'm just talking! I ain't even say nothing to disrespect you like that."

P.C. has its limits.

+1

And the lack of exposure to standard English in the home certainly has a detrimental effect on students' performance on standardized tests. You cannot close the achievement gap without recognizing the factors that contribute to it.

+2. I'm black and grew up in the South, but am of West Indian heritage. Depending on who I'm talking to, I can code-switch between what you would call AAVE (southern variant) and a West Indian patois and Standard American English like a champ. It's important for kids to know what's appropriate in different contexts.

The fact that so many black people are able to consciously and seamlessly switch between language variants has always impressed me.

I'm white and I lived in the south until I was about 10. When my family moved to the Midwest, I was teased a lot for being a "hillbilly", so I quickly learned to speak standard English. In doing so, I lost the ability to speak southern. It comes back a bit if I spend a lot of time around my southern extended family, but I definitely can't consciously switch.

Two days ago, I was driving my son and one of his AA friends home from sports practice, and noticed that his friend could switch between at least three variants of English -- the kind he spoke to with son (which I followed only about 85% of), the standard English he spoke to me, and an exaggeratedly standard English that he used sometimes as a joke -- like when he was jokingly chastising my son for swearing. I also noticed that this kid didn't once swear in front of me, while this is something that my son struggles with (despite the fact that he genuinely makes an effort).