Quote:
|
Originally Posted by !@#$%!
when black kids from certain communities go home, to their parents and neighbors, they don't hear "standard" english, they don't speak "standard" english, yet they are expected to read and write it without any adjustment? additionally, these kids aren't taught to read and write in their colloquial language. does the educational system account for this difference? or does it simply overlook it? that depends on the school district i suppose...
|
The question for me is whether ebonics constitutes a radical enough difference from other dialectical/ cultural variations on the language - by which I mean, the above is true of anyone, no matter where they're from. No one speaks standard English, absolutely no one. Thinking of myself, I can write in standard English as well as idiosyncraticly... my parents both have very thick accents (West country (UK)/ rural Irish) and in no way speak anything like standard English, but everyone in my family writes in standard English - is there enough of a case for ebonics being radically different enough to warrant the leniency that isn't afforded to other linguistic variations on English? I know plenty of people of Jamaican origin who write in standard English, or if they write in patois, they began to write it after they finished school, as an assertion of identity or as a idiosyncratic, creative way to express themselves. They all know the rules, however, and are happy to abide by them where necessary. I use Jamaican because, in it's thicker variations, can be radically different to the way non-Jamaicans speak.
So the question, to re-iterate: On what grounds may we say ebonics is
more than a dialectical variation on English? What, then, precludes us from teaching Glaswegian children to write as they speak?