Thanks to this year's Spring issue of Teaching Tolerance, a potential revelation was made to me: I very well may be <<deep sigh>> a bigot... vernacularly speaking, of course. I feel as though I speak a fairly safe version of Standard American English, "non-accent" sentiments included. In other words, all those who do not sound like me have an accent while I do not... from my perspective.
Upon reading this article, my thoughts as to what is deemed "correct English" were thoroughly challenged time and time again. To begin with, it exposed my mild antipathy for incorrectly spoken (or written) English. The author here, proposes that (and this is backed up empirically) specific accents have been vilified via indoctrination into our culture as negative.
In almost any Disney film, for example, Southern accents or "Black American English" are normally used by the villains while the protagonist has a standard British or American dialect. Studies revealed young children to determine how nice someone might be based on their accent, for crying out loud!
After the shock of the content of this article began to wear off, I realized that it was so true! I get paid, however, to teach those students to whom English is not their first language the acceptable conventions of this language... and it irks me to no end when I hear the acquisition of incorrect English through peer conversations. Abhorrent phrases like, "That's mines," or perhaps, "He be trippin', yo!" or the up-and-coming, "I'ma look at that jawn tomorrow..." pierce my ears and I swear, I'm developing a twitch of sorts because of it.
This article proposes that I validate such speech. However, I cannot. Our world is full of stereotypes. It's actually quite naturally so. We, as human beings, are in constant search of patterns. It's how we learn. We gather experiences, compare them to one another, and seek out patterns from the conglomeration. The patterns we find over time develop our inevitable set of stereotypes. The less stereotypes of people we develop based on appearance and speech, the better, but if a pattern tends to emerge, most people will acknowledge it until they find a circle peg that's just not fitting the square hole.
Don't get me wrong! I'm all about challenging stereotypes. I'm an Oreo Cookie incarnate according to some of my peers (because I'm black, but I don't sound or dress like I'm "black," a.k.a. "from the inner-city..." which I'm supposed to be... because I'm black and that's where we're all supposed to be from, apparently). People's stereotypes are challenged all the time when they meet me.
This having been said, I feel as though I would be doing a disservice to any student who comes into contact me using a broken, "urban" version of the English language without being fully functional in standard English and does not receive correction from me. Our culture does not accept it in all arenas.
A person who speaks a version of the "indoctrinated" incorrect English will more often than not have a more difficult time getting an interview for a given job, said candidate's competency in the skill set for that job aside. Unfair as it may be, it is certainly how our immediate cultural environment currently functions.
So, if you want to be an agent of change in this arena, you'd better learn the correct standard version of English first. Otherwise, you will find that a very low percentage of the hiring population will even give you the time of day to demonstrate your competency, however strong it may be. The way you dress is your first test. The way you speak, in my opinion, is the second.
Sincerely,
Broken-English Bigot
Upon reading this article, my thoughts as to what is deemed "correct English" were thoroughly challenged time and time again. To begin with, it exposed my mild antipathy for incorrectly spoken (or written) English. The author here, proposes that (and this is backed up empirically) specific accents have been vilified via indoctrination into our culture as negative.
In almost any Disney film, for example, Southern accents or "Black American English" are normally used by the villains while the protagonist has a standard British or American dialect. Studies revealed young children to determine how nice someone might be based on their accent, for crying out loud!
After the shock of the content of this article began to wear off, I realized that it was so true! I get paid, however, to teach those students to whom English is not their first language the acceptable conventions of this language... and it irks me to no end when I hear the acquisition of incorrect English through peer conversations. Abhorrent phrases like, "That's mines," or perhaps, "He be trippin', yo!" or the up-and-coming, "I'ma look at that jawn tomorrow..." pierce my ears and I swear, I'm developing a twitch of sorts because of it.
This article proposes that I validate such speech. However, I cannot. Our world is full of stereotypes. It's actually quite naturally so. We, as human beings, are in constant search of patterns. It's how we learn. We gather experiences, compare them to one another, and seek out patterns from the conglomeration. The patterns we find over time develop our inevitable set of stereotypes. The less stereotypes of people we develop based on appearance and speech, the better, but if a pattern tends to emerge, most people will acknowledge it until they find a circle peg that's just not fitting the square hole.
Don't get me wrong! I'm all about challenging stereotypes. I'm an Oreo Cookie incarnate according to some of my peers (because I'm black, but I don't sound or dress like I'm "black," a.k.a. "from the inner-city..." which I'm supposed to be... because I'm black and that's where we're all supposed to be from, apparently). People's stereotypes are challenged all the time when they meet me.
This having been said, I feel as though I would be doing a disservice to any student who comes into contact me using a broken, "urban" version of the English language without being fully functional in standard English and does not receive correction from me. Our culture does not accept it in all arenas.
A person who speaks a version of the "indoctrinated" incorrect English will more often than not have a more difficult time getting an interview for a given job, said candidate's competency in the skill set for that job aside. Unfair as it may be, it is certainly how our immediate cultural environment currently functions.
So, if you want to be an agent of change in this arena, you'd better learn the correct standard version of English first. Otherwise, you will find that a very low percentage of the hiring population will even give you the time of day to demonstrate your competency, however strong it may be. The way you dress is your first test. The way you speak, in my opinion, is the second.
Sincerely,
Broken-English Bigot
