Throughout countless ages the English language has been constructed, comprehended, and perfected in so many different ways. For many years including the present time there are well known linguist and many different sorts of writers who have studied the English language to the absolute core. These linguists as well to writers have researched how different cultures, people with different backgrounds had taken the English language and converted it in their own types of speech, slang, dialect and grammar proving the flexibility of the English language. It is being altered in a vast variety of ways depending on certain circumstances. A specific type of speech that has been studied and still to this day is being argued about is called Ebonics. …show more content…
Ebonics is very much different from a real foreign language such as Italian, or Arabic. Arabic, for example, has a completely different alphabet, sentence structure, words, and sounds than English; while Ebonics basically uses the same alphabet, words and sounds as English. The only variance between Ebonics and English is that some pronunciations of words and grammar are somewhat different. There have been many opinions about the use of Ebonics as it vaguely different from Standard English. John Baugh argues that Ebonics is not “proper English”. When he was about four years old the eldest sister of his church told him ‘‘you sho’ is a fine young man.’’ To which he replied, ‘‘are! You are a fine young man.’’ (Baugh 4-5) This can only conclude that Ebonics is not an instinctive language to non-African Americans. Standard English has been practiced by many immigrants by the way, yet the African Americans wish not to speak it. Ebonics should not be recognized as a language at all. It is a dialect that some African Americans use to communicate with each other more effectively. Though it is not proper English, Ebonics is still used as a primary dialect in many African American homes. This is the reason to educate the youth of today. Ebonics should not be taught in school at all. Professional work places should also use only Standard English to encourage the practice of proper …show more content…
Every language that has enough speakers has dialects. It is not slang; it is one of the most distinctive varieties of American English. (Rickford 279) Most of the rules we follow when speaking Standard English are followed unconsciously. Many individuals regard Ebonics as being lazy English because of its tendency to omit consonants at the end of words. (Rickford 280) The Working class and adolescents who attend school use Ebonics in America. The school system uses Standard English. This is the reason for children who use Ebonics to be left out. Teachers who have actually tried using Ebonics in reading and teaching English, actually helped the child understand the concepts of English much better. Ebonics is a way that people from the African American culture communicate to each other and most people including teachers feel that they should be allowed to express themselves for who they are, and also be able to be taught in a language they understand. This is why they want Ebonics to be implemented as a second language. I believe that even though Ebonics is spoken freely among our African American citizens, it still should not be adapted as a second language added to our English language. I belive it is a dialect that conflicts with proper English. For the most part more people speak proper English more than people speak Ebonics. African Americans are often harassed if they speak proper English and talk in
“Standard English was imposed on children of immigrant parents, then the children were separated from native English speakers, then the children were labeled “inferior” and “ignorant” (Hughes 70) because they could not speak Standard English. In addition to feeling inferior about their second language skills, these students also felt inadequate in regard to speaking their own mother tongues” (qtd in Kanae)
This marginalization is still prevalent today, as Black English is still overwhelmingly stigmatized and discredited in nearly all academic settings, particularly within American culture. Jordan’s demonstration that Black English is not given respect or afforded validity in academic and social settings still rings true today. Black English-speaking students see little to no representation of their language in the classroom, and are often actively discouraged from speaking the language of their community and of their upbringing. This suppression and delegitimization of a valid method of communication represents colonialist and white supremacist notions of language, social homogeneity, and latent institutional racism, and has negative, even dire, consequences for the students
As a result of many negative stereotypes associated with certain variations of English many students have adapted codeswitching. When this concept came up in the book it made me think about my own language. I realized that I code switch quite often between what is seen as Standard English and African American English or Ebonics. Usually with family or other friends that speak Ebonics I use that Ebonics to communicate, but when I am in school, in a
Everyone has various styles of speaking and various ranges of vocabulary that they utilize depending upon with whom they speak. This concept, known as code switching, portrays an integral part of our lives in today’s society. The fact that different groups of people speak in different ways necessitates the use of code switching. One would not speak to a group of high school students in the manner that one would speak to a scholar, or speak to a prison inmate in the same regard that one would speak with the President of the United States. Speaking in standard American English and then in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), or Ebonics, portrays the most prominent use of code switching in today’s society, especially among American youths. Today, people utilize code switching to associate better amongst a group of people. In William Wells Brown’s Clotel, code switching plays an important role in the escape of two slaves, outwitting a train employee, and simply showing the difference between a slave’s behavior with other slaves and the slave’s behavior in the presence of his owner.
In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? by James Baldwin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan both shows idea of uses of slang and language in different context. In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? Baldwin states that how language has changed and evolved overtime, Baldwin describes how black English were used as white English, in civil rights movement where blacks were treated as slaves and the used slang language to communicate so that the whites won’t understand. This slang was taken from black language and now everyone uses to make the communication short. In the essay Mother Tongue Tan explains that how language could affect people from different culture. Tan states that how Asian students in America struggle in English. Tan also states that her mother is smart but she couldn’t communicate in English. Tan thinks that’s a big disadvantage for her mother and people coming from different countries cannot show their talent because of their weakness in communication.
Baldwin’s essays are well written in formal English where he discusses the real problem of socially constructed idea of the Negro’s. According to Baldwin, language is an important to group identity, further connected to the power of the black’s identity. According to the James Baldwin essay If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?, demonstrate that the language is something through which you convey your message to others. The native language can also be called as a
In 1996, the Oakland School District proposed the inclusion of what is known as "Ebonics" into its curriculum. Ebonics, or Black language, has been referred to in various ways over the years: "African American Vernacular English," "Pan-African Communication Behaviors," "African Language Systems," or "West and Niger-Congo African Language Systems." By any name, Ebonics, when studied over the years, has been proven to be a real language with its own phonology, syntax, morphology, sentence patterns, and double interpretations of words. The pattern that Ebonics speakers in the United States speak is highly similar to the patterns seen in both the Caribbean Creole and the West African languages. No one would have thought that comedian Bill Cosby would have an opinion on this subject, but as I read through essay I realized the logic and validity behind his paper.
Smitherman is certainly qualified to address her colleagues about the treatment of “Black English” in academia, but with such a charged writing style it is possible that her audience would not make it to her conclusion. Smitherman assumes that the general base of her audience are “White English” speakers that can understand “Black English”. She also assumes that all African Americans speak the same way. These assumptions are her first major problem. At the time of this articles publication in 1973, it is conceivable that certain scholars would have ignored the piece because of its hybrid u...
Ebonics, also known as Black English, is a nonstandard dialect spoken in many homes in the inner cities of America. This nonstandard language is often looked upon as low-class or lazy talk. This is not the case, however. Due to consistencies found in the dialect, there seems to be an order. It has been found that, when learning English, African-Americans adapted the language using some of the structure and rules of their own native tongue. This Black English has carried on through slavery and then freedom for hundreds of years. Although there is a coexistence of more than two dialects in our society, those in power forget the flexibility of our language and see no other way than the use of Standard English.
However, there has been a "language" use among African American students; "language" that has not been examined closely nor acknowledged until recently. Ebonics is classified as "Black English" or "Black sounds", or "Pan African Communication Behavior" or "African Language systems" which originates from the West African languages such as Ibo, Yoruba, and Hausa (Amended Resolution of the Board of Education, 1997. P. 1)." During the times of slavery, ebonics was also spoken as Gullah, which is a combination of West African languages, and English. Ebonics is a term coined by psychologist Robert Williams, resulting from the combination of two words, "ebony" and "phonics" in order to describe its dialect (The Daily O'Collegian Editorial Board. 1997. P. 1). The controversy behind ebonics is whether or not it is actually a language or and should it be instructed as a foreign language.
MacNeil, Robert, and William Cran. "Bad-Mouthing Black English." Do You Speak American? Orlando: Harcourt, 2005. 115-49. Print.
In Baldwin 's article If Black English Isn 't A Language Then Tell Me What Is? starting off by telling the readers about French speaking people. He is explaining how different dialects doesn 't mean people aren 't speaking the same language. Going deeper about language saying that it ties into the culture. Give an example of Black Culture and how their expression of English is different. Talking about the phrases like jazz me, baby, sock it to me, and funky; being used that way they weren 't meant to. Finally introducing how the African American culture has been disrespected or ignored. Telling
Rickford, John R. "What Is Ebonics (African American English)." What Is Ebonics (African American English)? Linguistic Society of America, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
African American Slang has had many other names: Ebonics, Jive, Black English, and more. The Oxford English Dictionary defines slang (in reference to language) in three different ways: 1) the special vocabulary used by any set of persons of a low or disreputable character; language of a low and vulgar type 2) the special vocabulary or phraseology of a particular calling or profession; the cant or jargon of a certain class or period 3) language of a highly colloquial type, considered as below the level of standard educated speech, and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense. Whatever one’s perspective on slang, it is a natural and inevitable part of language. In this paper I will discuss examples of current slang being used that some people may not understand.
Language and dialects as unintelligent and not beautiful. Folk linguistics can be visible when comparing Standard English and African American language. Some individuals