For my question, I would like to visit the Delpit article about how there is so much cultural conflict inside of the classroom, especially in areas with kids with strong dialects. My first question is why does the method of using the students dialect and way of speaking work in a classroom setting? Does it make it easier for the students to understand? Or does it perhaps make the learning more interesting? Secondly, when is it okay for teachers to stop using this method and go back to traditional learning (because they have to learn the basics eventually, right?)
1 thought on “Language Diversity and Learning”
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There was a lot of talk about using “ebonics” while teaching students during the 90’s. Some teachers in California thought that it would be a more effective way to teach students. The idea, as I understand it, was that instead of making the students filter the academic language of their teachers into language they understood, the teachers would just teach in the dialect that they understood. It was supposed to stop any roadblocks created by the difference between academic language and the language the children really used in life. As we have said in class it is important to teach children that their dialect is acceptable but in the long run not exposing them to traditional academic English would only hurt them in the long run. If anything I think you would need to start with the basic academic English before letting students use dialect in class so that way you know that they actually know the language but are choosing to use it a different way.