RM Winter 2017 FINAL

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Reading Matters
Justice Matters
Reading Matters | Volume 16 • Winter 2016 |13|
Minority students may grow up in a distinct culture with
their own language systems of varying dialects and accents
(Hale, 1986). Unfortunately, these language systems are often
overlooked or even ignored in the classroom. Although it is
unrealistic for teachers to abandon their teaching of standard
English in the classroom, denying students the ability to use
the dialect that they feel comfortable with in the classroom is
ultimately alienating these students and creating a further divide
between SE and NSD students (Brady, 2015). NSD students may
feel unaccepted in the culture and environment of school. Ogbu
(1999) notes that a lack of acceptance in the classroom, pushes
NSD students further away from the school climate and creates an
‘us versus them’mentality and an unwillingness to participate.
African American English
Sometimes, the unwillingness of minority students to use SE
instead of their own dialects is due to the fact that they fear fitting
the stereotypes of White society. One of the most commonly spoken
dialects of minority students is African American English (AAE) or
Ebonics, as it is often referenced outside of academia. AAE is one
of the oldest, yet most scrutinized form of English and has sparked
many controversies over its usage in the classroom (Wolfram, 2007).
However, forcing minority students to use SE in the classroom could
have some negative repercussions as well. Some Black students
fear ‘soundingWhite’because it could signify adoptingWhite
attitudes and vindicating them as superior (Ogbu, 1999). There is
even a certain amount of mistrust from the minority community
for a minority child who wants to assimilate intoWhite culture by
using ‘proper’English. It is looked at as ‘turning their back to the
community’or ‘acting fake’(Ogbu, 1999). Some minorities describe
their use of ‘slang’as membership to their cultural community
and therefore, are unwilling to completely conform to using SE.
The dialect dilemma. Though this unwillingness to continually
use SE exists, NSD students still understand that SE is the language
of power - this creates the dialect dilemma. Ogbu (1999) defines
the dialect dilemma as minorities understanding the need to
conform to SE, but they also have a reluctance to do this for fear
of losing their cultural identity. Minority students understand that
SE is the way to obtain success in school and in the future, but do
not feel fully capable in their ability and willingness to use it.
Recognizing the Push-Back on NSD Use in the Classroom.
There has been a great deal of push-back on the idea of allowing
NSD students to use their preferred dialect in the classroom. The
1996 Oakland California School Board was one of the first school
districts to actually recognize Ebonics as a primary language for
some students. This school district then allowed those students
who actively used Ebonics to participate in Standard English as a
Second Dialect (SESD) classes in which Ebonics was used in the
classroom to help teach standard English (Messier, 2012). Though
this idea of using Ebonics to teach SE has since been rescinded,
the Oakland California School Board still advocates the recognition
of Ebonics as a dialect used by the majority of its students.
Similar methods of using Ebonics in the classroom through
SESD classes were used with African American inner-city
students just outside of Chicago. These methods produced
promising results when various samples of student writing
showed a 59% drop in the use of Ebonics (Messier, 2012). These
results clearly show that acknowledging language and dialectal
differences and specifically teaching SE through the use of
NSD examples in the classroom yields more success with NSD
students. This method of using Ebonics in the classroom and
recognizing it as a legitimate dialect is a more effective teaching
practice than ignoring the dialectal differences altogether.
Though there continues to be push-back on the use of Ebonics
or other forms of NSD in the classroom, Wheeler (2016) reminds
teachers to at least appreciate the dialectal differences of students.
Instead of trying to change the way students speak, teachers
should try to change the prejudices held against non-standard
dialects. If a low value is continuously placed on non-standard
dialects in the classroom, NSD students could then become less
confident in their oral expressions and more reluctant to contribute
to class discussions (Snell, 2013). This reluctance to participate in
class could have negative long term effects for these students.
How this Silence Affects Literacy
Delpit (1997) found that teachers are more likely to correct their
students who are reading a sentence correctly using a non-standard
dialect than those students who read a sentence incorrectly using
SE. Teacher corrections to a student’s dialect and speech does not
enhance their linguistic repertoire (Snell, 2013). Additionally, these
corrections are oftentimes not just limited to teachers, but soon
come from other student peers directed towards NSD students as
well. Teachers are sometimes more concerned with how a student
sounds, rather than the student’s understanding of the material.
NSD students who continually receive corrections for dialectal
miscues while reading aloud could soon learn to resist reading
and resist the teacher (Delpit, 1997). This resistance is seen with
Godley et al.’s (2007) study of NSD high school students and their
struggles with using SE during grammar instruction. Eventually
these students refused to even speak in class to avoid the
discomfort they felt being corrected by the teacher.“Students
should be encouraged to respond, question, challenge, and
elaborate their thinking using whatever [dialect] they find most
comfortable”(Snell, 2013 p. 22). Eventually, these disengaged
students are at risk for becoming poor readers (Gavigan, 2011);
minority students have been shown to dislike reading and
school work because they believe it will never benefit them
long term (Schwartz 2002). Some students may feel they will
never play an integral part in ‘White society,’which leads them to
believe that school is something unnecessary for their future.
Failed attempts at literacy. The majority of students who are
considered ‘struggling readers’have encountered some sort of
failure while embracing the literacies faced at school (Gavigan,
2011). This embarrassment of failure leads to an overall aversion
to the school literacies and languages. However, teachers often
forget that these ‘struggling readers’are already readers. Reading
is not just limited to ‘school material’; reading any genre is still
considered being a proficient reader. Reading does not just