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December 01, 2005
In Response to Zaya's Question
Q5: In the end, what is Lisa Delpit’s feeling towards Standard English? Is she encouraging the rest of the community to be more respectful to Ebonics so African American children will “adopt our language from as one to be added to their own”?
It seems as though Delpit is negative towards Standard English. She believes that most people think that Standard English is the highest form of language that one can speak. Sometimes, we may become too wrapped up in the idea that English is superior so we tend to disregard other languages and refer to them as "lazy". I do believe that she is encouraging the rest of the community to be more respectful of Ebonics, but not just so that African-American children will adopt our language from as one to be added to their own". I think that Delpit encourages African-American to learn English, but also to retain their roots, specifically, their mother tongue languages. She places high value on these languages because they are unique and hold importance for each person.
-Christina
Posted by lcisgancarz at December 1, 2005 10:48 PM
Comments
Hi Christina,
Your answer was helpful. I agree that Delpit was also encouraging the children to keep their mother tongue, as they could "switch code". Great response,
zaya
Posted by: Zaya at December 2, 2005 09:54 AM