The idea of code-switching has long
been something that has fascinated me as an educator. Teaching and working with
students in Baltimore, we often hear students come to school with complex home
dialects, whether they are native English speakers or ELL students.
Particularly, I've found that students who speak using African-American English
struggle to comprehend and and use Standard American English
proficiently--which often affects their ability as a reader and their
self-efficacy as a writer. This has been something that I've noticed in my
experiences, and research shows that nationally this a trend that persists with
many of our students.
In the September 10th issue of Education Week the article “Language Program Focuses on Dialects” by Sarah Sparks explores a new program that tackles the issue of students who struggle with toggling between home dialects and academic English. In the article, Sparks shares that fifteen years after the heated debate over “Ebonics” in the Oakland, California schools, studies have shown that the sooner elementary students learn to “code-switch” or toggle between their dialect and academic English, the better they do in school – however unfortunately it usually takes three or four years to master this. "The more you used dialect features, the more difficult it was for you to do well…,” said Jan Edwards of the University of Wisconsin/Madison, author of a 2014 study.
The new program that Sparks highlights is called ToggleTalk and focuses on working with Kindergarten and first grade students who are in need of learning Standard American English. The program focuses on 20 minute lessons offered 3-4 times per week on various parts of speech Standard English learners typically struggle with. Some of these features include plurals, tenses, subject-verb agreement, supporting verbs and articles.
As an educator, I am interested to see if this program has success with students where it is being piloted. It seems to me this might be a friendlier approach to what California Public Schools attempted to do with getting ELL funding for students who speak "Ebonics" as their home dialect. Since language is acquired at home, it's natural for students who speak non-standard English when they begin school to have greater needs than their Standard English speaking peers.
References:
“Language Program Focuses on Dialects”
by Sarah Sparks in Education
Week, September 10, 2014 (Vol. 34, #3, p. 1, 14), www.edweek.org
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ReplyDeleteDialects are a subject of fascination for me as well! In my short career, I have had many students who use African American English (AAE) among other dialects of English. Many times, especially during writing, the students are verbally sharing their ideas or rereading what they have written and I have observed several examples of AAE. For example, my students will use “was” instead of “were” when describing a plural subject. When I took linguistics at Johns Hopkins University, we discussed the several different dialects of English, including the power and status of dialects. It is a hot topic of debate between what is considered respectable and legitimate versus what is considered slang. For this class, I read an article entitled “Second Language Acquisition for All: Understanding the Interactional Dynamics of Classrooms in Which Spanish and AAE Are Spoken” written by Betsy Rymes and Kate Anderson from the University of Georgia.
ReplyDeleteIn the article, the authors compare the scaffolding received by students who are Spanish speaking ELLs and students who speak AAE in a classroom. The conclusion drawn by the authors was that AAE students receive less support than the Spanish speaking ELL students from their homeroom teacher and as a result, the AAE students did not perform as well. The authors recommended “discussing differences” and “doing differences.” In other words, they encouraged teachers to create a positive, comfortable environment in which students can share their home language or dialect without shame and teachers are reflexive practitioners who learn more about their students’ dialects. Despite these recommendations, I agree with your viewpoint that students who come to school using other dialects of English will require more focused language lessons like their ELL classmates to understand the differences and use of Standard American English for school and work purposes.
Second Language Acquisition for All: Understanding the Interactional Dynamics of Classrooms in Which Spanish and AAE Are Spoken
Betsy Rymes and Kate Anderson
Research in the Teaching of English, Vol. 39, No. 2 (Nov., 2004), pp. 107-135
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40171657
I thought that your entry on code-switching was so interesting! I understand where you were coming from because many of my students are code-switchers as well and they find it difficult, especially in writing, to adhere to “Standard American English” without losing their unique voice as writers. Many of my ELL learners and speakers of alternate dialects have so much trouble with the grammar conventions you spoke of, like subject-verb agreement and plurals, and the idea of ToggleTalk might be an effective tool to help them improve their writing skills. I agree that it would be interesting to track to success of these students throughout the program and monitor their progress.
ReplyDeleteThe article Toward a Pedagogy of Linguistic Diversity: Understanding African American Linguistics Practices and Programmatic Learning Goals, by Staci M. Perryman-Clark (2012) discusses a similar idea of code-switching, but focuses more on linguistic equality rather than changing the speech patterns entirely. In this article, the researchers focus on designing courses where African American English (AAE) is recognized as a legitimate English variation and also creating writing goals centered on the unique way of speech. The traditional idea that Standard American English has overt prestige is counteracted by the findings of this article. Perryman-Clark (2012) seeks to disprove that notion and instead create a sense of linguistic equality on the basis of culture and effective communication. The research explains that writing in natural speech patterns creates a more personal and expressive way of conveying thoughts, emotions, and ideas just as writing in Standard American English does for some speakers. Although I think it is of great importance that students are able to write in a conventional way for academic purposes, I think it is also important to see their writing as personal and individual and help them keep their “voice” when teaching them grammar conventions and Standard American English.
Source: http://www.ncte.org/library/nctefiles/resources/journals/tetyc/0393-mar2012/tetyc0393toward.pdf