« Response to Yasmin | Main | Ch. 5 "Sociolinguistic Concepts" »
December 05, 2005
Ch. 3 No Kinda Sense
I thought it was correct in saying that people "code-switch" and speak differently in front of different audiences. She later writes that there isnt a necessity in teaching one language for twelve years if students can pick up multiple within a little bit of time. The fact that she puts this code-switch as "the child's camouflage is in order when she must encounter potential enemy forces" is a sadly ridiculous statement. Those that critisize black english to the extent that they become enemies aren't linguists in any way or even grammatarians, they are only close minded.
I thought it was interesting that as a professor, who was hypocritical in her thoughts of being unconcerned about what others think, she kept her "love and use" for ebonics a secret. If she thought ebonics was something to keep a secret, it is hypocritical for her to say that "we've been trying to prove ourselves good enough and this is a setback" (concerning the looking down upon ebonics.
That ebonics may be a "greater source of collective disgrace" in the african-american community is a sad truth. We always consider any sort of ebonics as "improper" and not suited for the work field. I happen to see an integration of both "languages" or "dialects" (whichever way you view it) that could cause tension in the future between different generations.
I thought it strange the tension the author felt was so great. She was happy her child handled the new situation so quickly and in such a good manner yet she was unhappy she adopted to Black English so quickly. If the author knows how to code-switch, I think she should have trusted in her daughter to learn also. It was odd that she didn't speak of students who had much trouble because of their lack of code-switching ability. (She only spoke of adults)
The fact that the workforce "cannot appreciate expertise" with Black English being spoken is unusual in today's world. Though communication is a huge aspect in "getting the job done," high production levels and less time on projects are usually wanted more. In an office where I worked over the summer, one woman spoke Black English, even in front of her boss, and her career with this company has not been sacrificed because of it.
Questions:
Baldwin's article claimed that Black English is a seperate language whereas Maya Angelou believed it was appalling to think so. Why is there such a difference in thought? Angelou continues to say that it makes people "not want to learn other languages" but why would this be?
The author embraces ebonics as a unifier of Black Americans but why would she say "how dare anyone suggest that ignorant sounding trash was 'our language?'"
The author says she must change her "natural self just to be adequate" yet further in the article she admits her use of ebonics. Did she actually change her "natural self?"
Could a solution to hearing only American Standard English speaking teachers be to incorporate teachers who use different dialects?
Is this tension that the author feels something that all African-Americans feel or it is something she feels because she is a professor? Are there other reasons for her confliction?
Posted by lcisyeich at December 5, 2005 01:01 AM