Uh Oh, Here We Go Again with Ebonics 2.0

Teacher U, a collaboration of teaching organizations -- including Teach for America -- made a frail attempt to exhume the 1990's Ebonics debacle by acknowledging African American English in their training curriculum. After having their teachers-in-training read the article, Phonological Features of Chile African American English, which appeared in a June 2003 use of American Speech-Language Hearing Association, they were assigned to "translate" the following sentences into their "African American English form:"

1. My aunt used to live in Baltimore with my three cousins but last year she moved to New York.

2. John doesn't mind being late for school because he doesn't like to go to Ms. Johnson's music class.

3. Deborah liked to play with the girl that sat next to her at school.

And so on. (Unfortunately, I don't have access to the teacher's guide so your translation guesses are as good as mine.)

Giving Teacher U the benefit of the doubt, they may have had good intentions. They may have been trying to make their next generation of teachers aware of inner-city culture. Sometimes, you have to know where someone is coming from before you can help them. For instance, years ago, I worked with an attorney from upper-middle San Francisco who had difficulty communicating with our African-American clients because she didn't understand that "having sugar" meant having diabetes.

However, what is African American English? With the mainstream using terms such as "kickin' it old school" and "holla," African Americans lost any market share they had on urban slang a long time ago.

Recognition of misspoken English will do nothing to help these children or Black people in general. The children cited in the study were just 4-6 years old. These children are at a crucial age where they are developing their vocabularies and rapidly gaining a better understanding of the English language. Like all children, the children in the article probably used a wrong verb tense or two. African-American children are not alone in mispronouncing words and having an occasional verb-noun disagreement. As any English as a second language learner will tell you, the English language is probably the most difficult.

Although Teacher U teachers may be patient and willing to translate incorrect English, Corporate America is not. I cannot tell you how many discrimination cases I've come across where someone was fired for pronouncing "asked" as "axed." Sorry Teacher U, but this assignment gets an F.

Follow Natalie Holder-Winfield on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nhwinfield

Comments

[PoliticalRockChick]

It's ask. Not axe.
It's we are going.... Not, We be going.....

[Libbydoe]

Coincidently, I am in the middle of watching a course on the development of language offered by an educational company. The professor, who is a linguist, actually addresses Ebonics in one of his lectures. According to him, Ebonics is real language. He points out that the world consists of many such languages that are learned at one's mother's knee, but not necessarily written. He speaks about the fact that at one time Latin was considered the proper language, and that the evolutionary romance languages such as French or Spanish were considered to be the speech of the lower classes. He also points out that high German is very different from the acceptible dialects spoken in different parts of Germany, or for that matter Switzerland.

Therefore, I do not think that the issue concerns whether or not Ebonics is a language. Clearly it is. The issue is an inability to speak in what our society considers to be standard English. If one is comfortable with both what we recognize as high English and with Ebonics as well, there is no problem.

[kylennblack]

Ebonics = Valley Girl Speak. It's just improper English.

Proper English is for everyone.

[sdskelton03]

Ebonics is the language of the unemployable.

I don't have a problem with teachers going to conferences to learn ebonics so they can better understand their students, so long as that understanding is used to teach the children to speak the language properly.

And I never allow anyone to "axe" me anything.

[MoeB]

Ebonics is not a language. At best, it is nothing more than urban dialect. Students are already required to learn standard english. That doesn't mean that you have to speak it 24 hours a day. It does mean you should know WHEN to use it.

But this whole "axe" nonsense is a very weak argument. I know of NO PEOPLE who pronounce EVERY word in the english language correctly. For instance, I tend to struggle when saying 'ruining'. Does that mean I don't know english? I'm sick of people using the "axe" bit. You don't have to be a genius to understand that the whole point of language is communication. If you know what the person meant, and you choose to ignore the meaning to harp on how they pronounced the word...you're being petty (unless you're an english teacher, or teacher of some sort).

[PoliticalRockChick]

There are slangs and there are proper standard languages. Please do not mix the two. Whoever thought of this Ebonics thing, was completely ignorant, ridiculous and utterly stupid. Broken English such as this Ebonics stuff, should not even be considered another language. It's broken English. And also not every black person speak this way. I'm a black educated girl, most of times, I can't understand some of these slangs and some who can't even speak proper English. Just cause these rappers today invent a new word of the day to their hit song, doesn't mean it's proper English.

[Shotgun Mary]

Linguists make a reasonable argument that what we recognize as ebonics is actually the English language spoken using traditional African speech rhythms and pronunciations. It has its roots in the slave culture of the 19th century. Its not just "broken English." Languages are living breathing things and when two cultures come together they often combine their languages to suit their new lifestyles. Spanglish is another example as is the combination of German, Russian, and English known as Volga German that is so commonly spoken in the area where I grew up. I think by teaching people about the existance of these hybrid languages we help facilitate communication between different parts of society.

[Jimboy17]

Wonderful. Pidgin and Creole are other examples. However, modern business culture and the workplace in general require that every individual be capable of using a relatively standard English vernacular. This is the English that needs to be taught in schools, and doing otherwise disadvantages those who, in many cases, desperately require fundamental skill sets in order to compete in the job market. One can still speak dialects, or versions thereof at home, at play, and in the community.

[MoeB]

Not all ebonics is "broken english". And, ironically, there are words in standard english that would fit the term "broken english". See contractions.

[Threefifths Tes]

To Janey Cat
My mother and Father Had they own Business which was Real Estate. From 1950 to !980
my parents own Nineteen Brownstones In Harlem and Nineteen Downtown Brooklyn.My father also had six New York Yellow Cabs wihich have a net worth are $400,000 for one cab. and we have real estate in the South.My mother and father had no high school education. P.S. Most of the people who are trying to buy are Brownstones work in corp american. So my Gullah speaking parents could by you house with cash and pay you salary what even you are making now.

[oregonbird]

Good lord. At least make an effort.

[euripedes923]

Ah, the internet...where anonimity allows us the luxury of making up whoemever we want to be.
Word.
:-)

[gettingitright]

To Laughing Man:
You make some good points and these are arguments I could easily make, but from a totally theoretical point of view. But there is a tendency for those who saddle their kids with the most bizarrely concocted names also to also demonstrate a certain lackadaisical quality to actually imparting good, wholesome values (like education, hard work, marriage, etc.) to their kids.
As a black woman, I care less about defending and justifying the reasons behind these names and more about building and maintaining stronger African-American families and communities. To the extent that blacks can name their kids Hummer and Alize' and still make sure they get a proper education and moral upbringing, then they have no problem with me.
As for people like Gwyneth Paltrow, of course she can name her kids Apple or Orange or anything else because her kids are born with built-in advantages,namely being rich, white and insulated. We don't have the luxury to be whimsical and cute when it comes to charting the trajectory of our kids' futures.

[PoliticalRockChick]

In the real world, If Gwyneth was just an average Jane and named her children Apple and Moses, we would find her very odd. We would be sad for the kids, since we know, they will be tormented in school or be refused a job as they get older. But since Gwyneth is a well known Oscar winning actress, who never have to take her kids to school, cause she will be homeschooling them, or might end up never schooling them, the kids need not to worry, cause their mommy is a well known Oscar winning actress.

[LiberalBuzz]

I will never understand the people who are trying to make horrible English (and that is what it is) mainstream as though corporations should be speaking "Axed" vs Asked. Or any of hundreds of versions of how the black community in some sectors speaks.

That type of English is deplorable. And I would never frequent anywhere where that was how customers or guests were spoken to. If the local liquor store hired people to service the people who spoke like that in their neighborhood then they are only contributing to the lowering of the standards in that community.

BUT I have to say this is a fascinating and most intelligent discussion going on here. Some of the commenters are exceptionally well versed in English history and writing.

[Nommo]

Where do you get off describing any language as "horrible"? The advertising agencies got all to spend their hard earned dollars with all manner of "non-standard" English, though no one here has yet to define what "standard" English is, and who speaks it. Would you include former President G.W. Bush or S. Palin in this group? America elected one and damn near elected the other though neither can be accused of speaking that standard English or even making a smidgen of sense whenever they speak!

As for corporate America, how many euphemisms can one create for racist, thieving liars? Any reason for not hiring Blacks no matter their language skill will do. In point of fact, teacher training is clearly a lost art, given the results apparent to anyone with even a modicum of observing. I have heard the speech coming from many a teacher and I'd say that a good number of them don't belong in a school building period, never mind a classroom.

Linguistics should be part and parcel of any education curriculum given the variety of languages all teachers may encounter these days. Enough scorn has been heaped on all Black linguistic expression by those who have little or no comprehension of how language works though they use it all the time!

[oregonbird]

Non-standard English is not the same as horrible English. The best writers throughout history have produced works that involved dialect, slang and invented linguistics. But they did that having mastered, beyond the norm, the full lexicon of standard English.

Slurred diction, poor posture and over-emphasized hand gestures all combine and are part of Ebonics -- or ghetto-speak. Anyone who watched reality TV can "speak" hip-hop, far better than the chairman of the RNC.

Anyone who is incapable of dealing in basic language skills, however expressive they might be in a dialect, is unlikel to be welcome in any position that involves the need to communicate with others.

Just to state the bleeding obvious.

[PoliticalRockChick]

Yes Palin and George Bush can't speak proper English.

[noaxe397]

All you good people here are playing with fire. If the GOP/RNC, O'Hannibaugh, WSJ, Fox get hold of this information then the president is a one termer for sure. Look at how the right wing extremists took a simple concept like end-of-life counseling and turned it into "death panels," to the point where the legislation was withdrawn (giving Sarah Palin her first victory in the 2012 campaign.)

If the RW extremists find out that the ebonics debate is back, well, I shudder.

They got immeasurable political mileage with it in the early 90s as it represented a perfect storm of minorities+public education ("their" tax money)+Kalifornia (socialist capitol of the world)+Oakland (no greater example of failed social welfare) for them to bash.

AS they did back then, the birthers/d­eathers/te­abagers will say today that gummit wants to take their tax dollars so teachers can teach students black slang, when in reality the program is to teach TEACHERS the slang so they can correct the students.

GOP disciplined message machine will clean the Democrats's clock with this one.

Please, make it go away.

[tonysopranolives]

It's not just Ebonics-specific mispronunciations and grammatical errors that are causing problems for young people entering corporate America. I know a young woman who lost a job that had been promised to her with a major corporation because she used "LOL" in her hard-copy cover letter that accompanied her resume.

So do we now start accommodating, or at least acknowledging, e-mail and text-speak in English composition courses, too? I teach English Composition at the college level at two universities and find it challenging enough to correct students' writing at its most basic, fundamental level. Sentences, verbs, paragraphs, spelling, etc.

Students need to know the basics of traditional grammar and writing to get ahead in this world.

[LaughingMan]

.........I'm trying really hard to figure out in what context it would even be remotely appropriate or acceptable to use "LOL" in a cover letter, - over a resume, no less - and I'm honestly hitting a complete blank.

That's just mind-boggling. I hope that young woman realizes why they lost the job.

[gettingitright]

Let's RAISE our children, not LOWER our standards.

[ItHadToBeSaid]

Say it, Sistah !!

I could not agree with you more. I'm so tired of hearing excuse after excuse as to why we can't do better. I get especially tired of parents (of all people!!) making excuses as to why their kids can't do better. When *WE* start doubting and discounting OURSELVES, our abilities, our possibilities, and those of our children, well . . .

Bill Cosby's admonition to the Bl. ack community needs to be repeated loudly and often. HOLD PARENTS ACCOUNTABLE for the education, the actions, and the well-being of their children. Stop walking on eggshells out of fear of hurting some parents' feelings. Better to dent an irresponsible parent's ego NOW than ruin his child's opportunity for a well-rounded education FOREVER.

[gettingitright]

Thank you, we are losing a generation to foolishness and a prevailing mentality that anything goes in our community. Couple that with the need for immediate gratification and lack of long-term, appropriate goal-setting and we have a disaster.

[jcwtts1]

The method that has worked best for me is school and home. There is one vocabulary and behavior mode for school (work when they get older) and one for home and off campus with friends. What I told my students is that using home mode in school or work damaged their ability to be understood clearly, and made success more difficult. The key, at least for me, was to not privilege one mode of speaking or writing over the other. To not put them in competition. Rather, to put them into a whole life picture. We walk a fine line as educators, because if you lecture a child and instruct him/her that only one way of speaking is right, only one way of communicating has value, and their parents don't share that mode of speaking and writing you alienated the student, the parent, or both. The child feels the need to defend his mother or father, to prove that the teacher is wrong and that his parents are right. It ruins the ability to teach anything. Children, especially young children, pre puberty, have a facility to learn languages. Teach them standard English rather than vernacular and teach it to them without functionally saying their parents are idiots.

[EminemsRevenge]

I PERSONALLY KNOW that there are Black writers writing LITERATURE:
http://travelerblue.xanga.com/575973123/book/
yet America turns its back on THAT because, as President Obama shows us, a Black man that sounds TOO intelligent is a pariah!

Zola Neal Hurston and Mark Twain both used "Ebonics," and no one with any sense vilifies THEM.

Whilst I think that every kid should be exposed to the literary classics, Ebonics has been part of American "culture" for 400 years

[oregonbird]

I really think you should look up the definition of pariah. A pariah isn't elected to office... he's denied any right to enter the building.

Mark Twain did not use Ebonics, he used *dialect*, quite effectively.

Hurston was the daughter of a town mayor and a highly educated woman, who studied the societies and dialects of many societies, from the Honduras and Haiti to Harlem. Unfortunately, her works utilizing dialect were so extreme, they were considered caricatures by her own contemporaries -- which included Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman.

Her determined use of painfully over-worked dialect was *directly* responsible for the decline of her fame and fortune. Or, to put it bluntly -- her credibility as an educator and writer was lost because of her immersion in Eubonics.

Know your history, or be doomed to repeat it. Hurston is an object lesson on the importance of standard English.

[Nommo]

What is "standard English" and who speaks it? I would hardly attribute Hurston's issues to her study and use of "dialect". All Hurston did was document how people spoke. Then, as now, too many tie intelligence to the way people speak without ever imagining that if the listener or reader is not capable of discerning the structure of the language being spoken that the speakers are less intelligent or aware than the listener.

Segregated communities have their own values and expressions. What informs the structures of "non standard" expressions is often beyond the casual observer. This is particularly so when the observer is tainted by prejudices or ignorance. Most speaker of the standard can hardly explain what the standard is, or how it functions. How might they comprehend that all languages have structure and rules. It is amusing when white attempt to utilize Black English Vernacular without a clue. The double insult is the attempt to correlate their ignorance with a failure on the part of speakers of BEV.

Hughes may have had his issues, but Thurman and Hurston were actually sympathetic toward one another and Thurman was not around long enough to be a factor in Hurston's later years.

[db08]

Twain's lanugage use is dialect but Hurston (and let's include Chesnutt, Hughes, Dunbar and many others) was not? Ebonics is another term for African American Vernacular English, a dialect. All societies privilege the dialect of the dominant and devalue that of people who are not valued in the society. That does not make it the right thing to do. Perhaps you should read Baldwin's essay on Black English and take a course or two in linguistics. Read the book English with an Accent.

Hurston is an esteemed American writer who work was not valued while she was alive in a society that supported legal racism and sexism. Study your history.

[EminemsRevenge]

According to Merriam-Webster online definition of *pa·ri·ah*
Pronunciation: pə-ˈrī-ə
Function: noun
Etymology: Tamil paṟaiyan, literally, drummer
Date: 1613
1 : a member of a low caste of southern India
2 : one that is despised or rejected : outcast

One of the reasons people of colour USE their own variants of the language is because they are tired of hearing their beneficent Massuhs telling them WHAT'S RIGHT...WE had culture whilst y'all were still in caves!

[jmpurser]

Another clueless flogging of the Ebonics legend.

The teachers trying to get "Ebonics" recognized were not doing so in order to get it officially recognized as a language which should be taught in schools. They were trying to get access to resources they needed to teach AMERICAN kids English instead of slang similar to what Hispanic kids received to learn English as Spanish speakers. This was an explicit recognition that "Although Teacher U teachers may be patient and willing to translate incorrect English, Corporate America is not." so the assignment gets an A, not an F, from a competent teacher.

In short Ms. Holder-Winfield, the Ebonics camp is on your side.

[jcwtts1]

But it is a dysfunctional attempt. The first black cadet at West Point was expelled for cowardice. They attempted to get him expelled for a violent act and his lawyer argued that being black he wasn't capable of that level of violence, because at his core blackness made him a coward. So the kid didn't go to jail, but we didn't get a black combat commission for a generation and our enemies used it against us for a hundred years. See what I mean. I understand gaming the system but I refuse to say that the vernacular spoken by blacks in this country is a different language. I have seen kids who being without a significant understanding of standard English flourish in the right environment.

[jmpurser]

And all the "Ebonics" crowd wanted was to get the right environment for poor black kids. Good thing we caught them in the act and prevented it!

[rocketman19]

a lot of words to say what?

[S1m0n]

African American english is typified by different rules for conjugating the common verbs to have and to be, as well as a great deal of vocabulary. Understanding this, like understanding anything, is valuable. Particularly to teachers who are going to have to take children who speak perfectly grammatical, if non standard, english, and coax them through the process of learning another way of speaking their native language.

Why this induces hysteria in various parts of the American media and public surpasses understanding.

[oregonbird]

We can teach our own children to fail in life. All we have to do is sit them in front of reality TV for hours on end, send them off for summers with the relatives in Idaho, have them visit us every week in jail and make sure that no books ever enter the house.

How about we keep "different rules" for a basic skill to a minimum? Maybe college students will find it 'broadening' and if they think their employers or prospective mates will find slurred diction and alternative vocabulary (consisting of approximately 50 words, repeated every five minutes) an exciting approach to literacy -- then they can immerse themselves. But before we switch to new math, let's make sure that 1 - 1 still = 0.

I had a far ruder reply, but it didn't pass! I think it was the animal ref.

[S1m0n]

You're objecting to something else, so no argument will reach you. What you're talking about has nothing to do with the actual content of this proposal.