[PovertyRaceWomen 150] Re: dialect and standard EnglishAndrea Wilder andreawilder at comcast.netThu Dec 28 11:32:35 EST 2006
I think it's important for everyone to understand that they speak in "dialect." I have certainly been reminded enough n the past that I speak in a "dialect." Like so much (all?) in adult literacy, this is a question of power. The dialect I speak is closer in pronunciation to Standard English speech than many adult learners, I am guessing. There is also another part to the reading question--it seems to me that student dialect might change as the student learns to attend more to reading words on the page. This has happened to me, when I see for the first time a different language when I have been only speaking it previously. I have an Ah-ha! feeling--this is how the speech is recorded. Andrea On Dec 28, 2006, at 10:26 AM, Jenny Horsman wrote: > Thanks Angela - I was eager to read June Jordan's article but sadly > its not > available in the pdf "due to copyright restrictions" (along with a lot > of > other wonderful sounding articles which I assume must all have been > reprints > - can you give us the full reference of where it was originally > published > I'd love to read it. > > Thanks too for reminding me of the past issues of the Change Agent - > there > are many that have powerful articles for an online course that I am > designing on violence and learning - I love that at least most of each > issue > is available online. > > Jenny > > > -----Original Message----- > From: povertyracewomen-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:povertyracewomen-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Angela Orlando > Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 2:42 PM > To: povertyracewomen at nifl.gov > Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 145] Re: dialect and standard English > > Regarding "dialect" and "standard English"--a provocative and powerful > essay by June Jordan called "White English/Black English: The Politics > of Translation" addresses this dilemma well. The Change Agent reprinted > this in our March 2003 Language and Power issue, page 15. You can get > to > the article by downloading the entire PDF (but it's a big file) at > http://www.nelrc.org/changeagent/backissues.htm. There are a couple > of other articles on this dilemma as well in the same issue (page 6 and > 7) > > > Cheers, > Angela Orlando > > Angela Orlando > Change Agent Editor > World Education > 44 Farnsworth Street > Boston, MA 02210 > > tel: 617-482-9485 > fax: 617-482-0617 > email: aorlando at worlded.org > > Check out The Change Agent online at: > www.nelrc.org/changeagent > > >>>> <povertyracewomen-request at nifl.gov> 12/27/2006 10:57 AM >>> > Send PovertyRaceWomen mailing list submissions to > povertyracewomen at nifl.gov > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > povertyracewomen-request at nifl.gov > > You can reach the person managing the list at > povertyracewomen-owner at nifl.gov > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of PovertyRaceWomen digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. [PovertyRaceWomen 142] gender differences in pay and dialect > (Burkett, Barry) > 2. [PovertyRaceWomen 143] Re: gender differences in pay and > dialect (andreawilder at comcast.net) > 3. [PovertyRaceWomen 144] Re: dialect (Jackson, Wendy P.) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2006 11:41:47 -0500 > From: "Burkett, Barry" <Barry.Burkett at Franklin.kyschools.us> > Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 142] gender differences in pay and dialect > To: "The Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy Discussion List" > <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov> > Message-ID: > <5B5DF9F227918548AD5FF668A2E84EBC22E6B1 at ED181X1.franklin.ketsds.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Maybe this is jsut the man in me talking, but what I find discouraging > and disheartening is that some people are "less" professional than > others; i.e. Lawyers vs. Professional Teachers, Teachers vs. Bus > Drivers... or in my case "Certified" personnell vs. "Classified" > personnell. > > As the reporter was eluding to, some women do choose to make less, and > some women strive to make more, as do men. Maybe another issue is that > some people are more firm at vocalizing what they want, along with > being > more insistant that they get it. > > As far as dialect is concerned instead of using the term "Standard" > English I know many practitioners use the term of "Business" English. > But similar to what Andrea said in her previous posting, what is the > goal of the teacher, to reinforce miscues or correct. If one is able > to > teach "Standard" and the student owns it, the student will effectively > know two languges, one of their folk and one of business, it is > empowering to know both. Such as me being college educated, I grew up > in varied urban settings, and more recently began farming, the > backgorund allows me to work and connect people of many different > backgrounds at their level. Or like many of Hip-Hop's nouveau riche, > who compare their business skills to hustlin to make ends meet; > language, in its varied forms, is a powerful tool. > > Now, how does dialect and sex tie in with pay? I think that would be > interesting to find out. > > Does the Newsweek editorial, "My Black Skin Makes My White Coat > Vanish," from April 3, 2006 have anything to add to the discussion? > Peoples perceptions... pre-conceived notions, etc.? > > Barry Burkett > > > ________________________________ > > From: povertyracewomen-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Andrea Wilder > Sent: Mon 12/25/2006 7:19 PM > To: The Poverty, Race,Women and Literacy Discussion List > Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 141] Re: gender differences in pay > > > > This is discouraging and disheartening. > > Andrea > > > On Dec 24, 2006, at 1:50 PM, Daphne Greenberg wrote: > >> I thought that some of you may be interested in the following > article >> found at: >> http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/business/24gap.html?th&emc=th >> THE NEW GENDER DIVIDE >> Gender Pay Gap, Once Narrowing, Is Stuck in Place >> By DAVID LEONHARDT >> A decade ago, it seemed that men and women with similar > qualifications >> might soon make nearly identical salaries. >> Today, that is far harder to envision. >> And a quote: >> "Nothing happened to the pay gap from the mid-1950s to the late > '70s. >> Then the '80s stood out as a period of sharp increases in women's > pay. >> And it's much less impressive after that." >> - FRANCINE D. BLAU, a Cornell economist, on gender differences in > pay. >> >> http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/business/24gap.html?th&emc=th >> >> Daphne Greenberg >> Assistant Professor >> Educational Psych. & Special Ed. >> Georgia State University >> P.O. Box 3979 >> Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3979 >> phone: 404-651-0127 >> fax:404-651-4901 >> dgreenberg at gsu.edu >> >> Daphne Greenberg >> Associate Director >> Center for the Study of Adult Literacy >> Georgia State University >> P.O. Box 3977 >> Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3977 >> phone: 404-651-0127 >> fax:404-651-4901 >> dgreenberg at gsu.edu >> ---------------------------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list >> PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen >> > > ---------------------------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list > PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen > > > -------------- next part -------------- > A non-text attachment was scrubbed... > Name: not available > Type: application/ms-tnef > Size: 6778 bytes > Desc: not available > Url : > http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/povertyracewomen/attachments/20061226/ > 627c9fcf > /attachment-0001.bin > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 00:08:52 +0000 > From: andreawilder at comcast.net > Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 143] Re: gender differences in pay and > dialect > To: "The Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy Discussion List" > <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov> > Message-ID: > > <122720060008.21094.4591B993000C143E0000526622058860149D0A0B0407990E0A9 > D0B02 > 0E at comcast.net> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > OK, so I'll have to go over the article more carefully. > > Another thing I find disheartening and discouraging (also curious) is > the lack of outcry (in print) from the husbands of these women, it's > their bottom line that is affected, too. Let's see, how much of a > dollar discrepancy in pay would make a partner sit up and take notice? > $5,000? $10,000? How much of a dollar discrepancy would make women > fighting mad? > > Andrea > -------------- Original message ---------------------- > From: "Burkett, Barry" <Barry.Burkett at Franklin.kyschools.us> >> Maybe this is jsut the man in me talking, but what I find > discouraging and >> disheartening is that some people are "less" professional than > others; i.e. >> Lawyers vs. Professional Teachers, Teachers vs. Bus Drivers... or in > my case >> "Certified" personnell vs. "Classified" personnell. >> >> As the reporter was eluding to, some women do choose to make less, > and some >> women strive to make more, as do men. Maybe another issue is that > some people >> are more firm at vocalizing what they want, along with being more > insistant that >> they get it. >> >> As far as dialect is concerned instead of using the term "Standard" > English I >> know many practitioners use the term of "Business" English. But > similar to what >> Andrea said in her previous posting, what is the goal of the teacher, > to >> reinforce miscues or correct. If one is able to teach "Standard" and > the >> student owns it, the student will effectively know two languges, one > of their >> folk and one of business, it is empowering to know both. Such as me > being >> college educated, I grew up in varied urban settings, and more > recently began >> farming, the backgorund allows me to work and connect people of many > different >> backgrounds at their level. Or like many of Hip-Hop's nouveau riche, > who >> compare their business skills to hustlin to make ends meet; language, > in its >> varied forms, is a powerful tool. >> >> Now, how does dialect and sex tie in with pay? I think that would be > >> interesting to find out. >> >> Does the Newsweek editorial, "My Black Skin Makes My White Coat > Vanish," from >> April 3, 2006 have anything to add to the discussion? Peoples > perceptions... >> pre-conceived notions, etc.? >> >> Barry Burkett >> >> >> ________________________________ >> >> From: povertyracewomen-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Andrea Wilder >> Sent: Mon 12/25/2006 7:19 PM >> To: The Poverty, Race,Women and Literacy Discussion List >> Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 141] Re: gender differences in pay >> >> >> >> This is discouraging and disheartening. >> >> Andrea >> >> >> On Dec 24, 2006, at 1:50 PM, Daphne Greenberg wrote: >> >>> I thought that some of you may be interested in the following > article >>> found at: >>> http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/business/24gap.html?th&emc=th >>> THE NEW GENDER DIVIDE >>> Gender Pay Gap, Once Narrowing, Is Stuck in Place >>> By DAVID LEONHARDT >>> A decade ago, it seemed that men and women with similar > qualifications >>> might soon make nearly identical salaries. >>> Today, that is far harder to envision. >>> And a quote: >>> "Nothing happened to the pay gap from the mid-1950s to the late > '70s. >>> Then the '80s stood out as a period of sharp increases in women's > pay. >>> And it's much less impressive after that." >>> - FRANCINE D. BLAU, a Cornell economist, on gender differences in > pay. >>> >>> http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/business/24gap.html?th&emc=th >>> >>> Daphne Greenberg >>> Assistant Professor >>> Educational Psych. & Special Ed. >>> Georgia State University >>> P.O. Box 3979 >>> Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3979 >>> phone: 404-651-0127 >>> fax:404-651-4901 >>> dgreenberg at gsu.edu >>> >>> Daphne Greenberg >>> Associate Director >>> Center for the Study of Adult Literacy >>> Georgia State University >>> P.O. Box 3977 >>> Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3977 >>> phone: 404-651-0127 >>> fax:404-651-4901 >>> dgreenberg at gsu.edu >>> ---------------------------------------------------- >>> National Institute for Literacy >>> Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list >>> PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov >>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >>> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen >>> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list >> PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen >> >> >> > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An embedded message was scrubbed... > From: "Burkett, Barry" <Barry.Burkett at Franklin.kyschools.us> > Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 142] gender differences in pay and dialect > Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2006 19:59:12 +0000 > Size: 10184 > Url: > http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/povertyracewomen/attachments/20061227/ > 242341e4 > /attachment-0001.mht > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 10:06:13 -0500 > From: "Jackson, Wendy P." <jacksonwp at roanestate.edu> > Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 144] Re: dialect > To: <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov> > Message-ID: > <C34788CB9D11BC449275FA20E2E871FF073C567A at mailsrv2.rscc.cc.tn.us> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > This question not only applies to African Americans. I live in East > Tennessee where our Southern dialect is tinged with a left over version > of the Scotts-Irish. I was born here, but grew up in Atlanta. My > dialect > is tinged with the slow drawl of Georgia and the East Tennessee brogue. > When I was in college at Berry College in Rome, Ga my English Professor > told us that we had to speak in a manner that was understandable to > all. > He was from Connecticut and did not speak southern. The phrase "that > dog > won't hunt" meant nothing to him. It was not a matter of what was best, > but what was most widely understood. Among family and friends, I tend > to > be very southern in my speech (minus the heavy Georgia drawl of my > sisters who have lived in Georgia all their lives). At work and > professional settings, I try to drop the parts of speech that would > make > it difficult to follow. My husband says "warsh" for "wash" and allowed > to learn reading skills under that rule would affect a great many > pronunciations. I try to emphasize not right and wrong or best and > worst, but most widely understood. Correction is required for them to > be > best understood outside of their cultural/ethnic group. > > Just my 2 cents... > Wendy > > > Wendy Jackson > Roane County Adult Education > Roane State Community College > 1082 N Gateway Ave. > Rockwood, TN 37854 > (865) 376-6013 > jacksonwp at roanestate.edu > > ________________________________ > > > Message: 2 > Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2006 08:07:19 -0800 (PST) > From: Kearney Lykins <kearney_lykins at yahoo.com> > Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 137] Re: dialect > To: "The Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy Discussion List" > <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov> > Message-ID: <20061224160719.49022.qmail at web39107.mail.mud.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Daphne, > > If indeed it is true that "their dialect is their dialect and is > just as > acceptable as standard english" then their pronunciation needs no > correction. > > I would ask this teacher what her goals are for her students. If her > goal is to bring them "up" to the norms of a culture that is widely > recognized as substandard, then she should let them pronounce words > anyway they like. After all, you wouldn't want to make anyone feel > uncomfortable. > However, if her goal is to raise her students' abilities above the > literacy norms of the society in which they have been conditioned, > then > she should correct their every error without remorse. > > I cannot believe you are axing this question. > > Kearney Lykins > > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Daphne Greenberg <alcdgg at langate.gsu.edu> > To: povertyracewomen at nifl.gov > Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2006 10:31:09 AM > Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 136] dialect > > I was recently asked a question from an adult literacy teacher and I > wondered what folks on this listserv think. She teaches basic decoding > skills to adults who read at about the 3rd grade level. In addition to > a > language experience approach, she also spends quite a bit of time > systematically teaching them how to sound out words. Many of her > African > American students, when reading and sounding out words, read certain > words, the way they speak them. So for example, they read "ask" as > "aks" > and "strawberry" as "skrawberry". Since a portion of her class is > focused on teaching letter-sound correspondences and applying it to > decoding new and unknown words should she be concerned about the way > they read those words? She says that during nondecoding time, she is > not > concerned, because their dialect is their dialect and is just as > acceptable as standard english. However, she wondered if she is > teaching > decoding from a standard english point of view, should she be > correcting > the way they read those words? > What do people think? > Daphne > ---------------------------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list > PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/povertyracewomen/attachments/20061224/ > 05fe8d8b > /attachment-0001.html > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2006 10:48:02 -0600 > From: "Catherine B. King" <cb.king at verizon.net> > Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 138] Re: dialect > To: "The Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy Discussion List" > <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov> > Message-ID: <001001c7277b$4810cdf0$cad2193f at YOUR85A8F7B8EC> > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-1; > reply-type=original > > Hello Daphne: > > This comes up in my classes frequently--where my teachers are "caught" > between correcting someone's treasured tradition (in how they express > themselves, their dialect, etc.) and what we mean by "Standard > English." > > The task is to maintain a high regard for their tradition, while > introducing > them into what Jesse Jackson refers to as the "cash language" of our > time so > that they can operate well in it. It's not a matter of "either or," > but > rather of knowing both, as if there were actually two different > languages to > learn, and being able to "walk around" (discourse) in either/both at > the > **appropriate** times. Their other task is to know which is which. > > As a teacher we just let them know that this is the general outline of > their > task, and they will then be able to choose to do it--or not. As > teachers, > we need not make what amounts to moral or qualitative judgments about > someone's treasured dialect (or suggest that they must make such > judgments > about themselves)--the language that most in their home environment > still > speak, and will continue to speak. > > It's sort of like learning how to discourse in technical language (in > any > theoretical or professional field) after having learned "common" > language > and the meaning of its terms. That is, using common meaning and its > terms > is one thing, and is appropriate when spoken at home or at the grocery > store, etc.; however, using technical meaning is quite another; and > when we > discourse in our field, or in a specific technical-theoretical field, > we are > very specific and defined about what we mean; and we use completely > different meanings for sometimes-similar terms that, to the grocery > clerk, > would come off as sounding completely "weird and foggy." > > Like we would not want to replace common with theoretical discourse in > the > grocery store (how awful would THAT be), we often do not want to > suggest > replacing a learner's dialect with what we mean by "Standard English." > Trying to do so puts the learner in the position of having to choose > between > what is "better" (presumably Standard English) all of the time, and > what is > "worse" (presumably, their own dialect and "home language) all of the > time. > And there is often some shame involved--which has been a topic here on > this > forum recently. This situation is entirely UNnecessary. > > On the other hand, there is a great and necessary value to standards, > and of > course to Standard English or any other written language--it's becoming > a > worldwide language. > > This is not all there is to it; however, if a learner is going to > operate in > the "cash language," i.e., work in an office, etc., they need to > **also** > know how to speak "Roman as the Roman's do." <--we must make it what > it > is--to THEIR advantage to do so. We add a differentiation, and not an > either/or choice tinged with some sort of arrogance associated with > "white" > standard English. > > In brief, one way is to treat Standard English as if it were another > language altogether, which in some cases and sense, it is. > > I hope this helps, > > Catherine B. King > Adjunct Instructor > Department of Education > National University > San Diego, CA > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Daphne Greenberg" <alcdgg at langate.gsu.edu> > To: <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov> > Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2006 9:31 AM > Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 136] dialect > > >> I was recently asked a question from an adult literacy teacher and I >> wondered what folks on this listserv think. She teaches basic > decoding >> skills to adults who read at about the 3rd grade level. In addition > to a >> language experience approach, she also spends quite a bit of time >> systematically teaching them how to sound out words. Many of her > African >> American students, when reading and sounding out words, read certain >> words, the way they speak them. So for example, they read "ask" as > "aks" >> and "strawberry" as "skrawberry". Since a portion of her class is >> focused on teaching letter-sound correspondences and applying it to >> decoding new and unknown words should she be concerned about the way >> they read those words? She says that during nondecoding time, she is > not >> concerned, because their dialect is their dialect and is just as >> acceptable as standard english. However, she wondered if she is > teaching >> decoding from a standard english point of view, should she be > correcting >> the way they read those words? >> What do people think? >> Daphne >> ---------------------------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list >> PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen >> > > > > > ------------------------------ > > ---------------------------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list > PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen > > End of PovertyRaceWomen Digest, Vol 2, Issue 20 > *********************************************** > > > -------------- next part -------------- > A non-text attachment was scrubbed... > Name: not available > Type: application/ms-tnef > Size: 12020 bytes > Desc: not available > Url : > http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/povertyracewomen/attachments/20061227/ > 075e31bf > /attachment.bin > > > ------------------------------ > > ---------------------------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list > PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen > > End of PovertyRaceWomen Digest, Vol 2, Issue 23 > *********************************************** > ---------------------------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list > PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.28/605 - Release Date: > 12/27/2006 > 12:21 PM > > > -- > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.29/607 - Release Date: > 12/28/2006 > 12:31 PM > > > ---------------------------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list > PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen >
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