Race, Culture and Language: How teachers react to ebonics & how black Americans are sometimes viewed

Ebonics which is a corrupted form of English typically spoken by poor black Americans in Large cities is viewed negatively by most teachers and in general.

In an article published by the Virginia Gazette about a discussion held in Williamsburg, we see that the use of ebonics by students is strongly discouraged.

"I let them know that it's not acceptable in my classroom," he said. While he tries to encourage proper language in the school setting, he is careful not to discourage the children from using it at home. "That devalues their home language," he said."

The point is made that it is important to use a more standard form of English when involved in Business.

in order to speak money, you have to use proper business language." He tells his students that he doesn't always "speak green," especially around his own family because they pick on him for "talking white.
"

Talking white means that the black or african-American person is speaking using normal standard American English or that the speaker is at least not using ebonics.

Politics is also an important area for not using ebonics.

"The group delved into the criticism Sen. Joe Biden received for referring to Sen. Barack Obama as "clean" and "articulate." The comment was interpreted as an insult to blacks by implying that Obama is an exception."

I personally am also impressed by Senator Obama's English. I think it is very sad that when someone is complemented for his speech that it has to be manipulated by others and used to provoke conflict. I think some people just need a new hobby and learn to crochet or whatever. It saddens me that certain Americans feel that they have to use ebonics to have a sense of identity. Isn't it time to accept yourself and your skin and hair color as being who you are and as being a good thing? Diversity is good when you accept yourself.

I wonder if black Americans don't accept Oprah Winfrey who is a talk show host and business woman who I greatly admire. Do they not accept her because she doesn't speak ebonics?

Thank you Oprah for going beyond society's expectations and for being yourself. I hope one day to be able to go to your show.

The original story is available here.

Immigrants Infuse English Language with Dynamism in the United States according to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs

Immigrants add and enliven the English language though native language diversity.

The article is about a cultural critic called  Ilan Stavans and comments that he has made regarding language and culture in the United States.

He believes that English will be highly influenced by asian languages in this century.  He implies that language mixes should be taught in the English language classroom.  I disagree for most levels since we don't know where the student will use the English they learn.  If I teach a student using Spanglish used in Texas and that student moves to New Zealand, how did I help him or her  whereas if I taught normal English instead of a hybrid form, the student would be able to adapt to the New Zealand dialect without being hindered by Texan Spanglish.

I think that there are enough regional dialects of English around the would that could be used to widen a students exposure to different forms of English that it isn't necessary or advised to teach Spanglish.  In fact most people will automatically use a mixed form of English without having been taught to do so just because they still have their native language.  A native Spanish speaker will use some Spanglish anyway.  The Spanish speaker who hears Fergie say 'make them boys go loco' in Fergalicious doesn't need to be taught the meaning of loco.  The native Spanish speaker only needs to learn the meaning of 'go crazy'.  Should we also teach students to use bad grammar too?  I think we should draw the line at comprehension exercises.

According to the article, Spanish and English combinations have become important marketing tools in the United States and that translators have to manipulate it.

"In the last five years, Spanglish has become an important marketing tool in the United States, Stavans said. Such companies as Taco Bell, Hallmark and Mountain Dew are using Spanglish to reach a new type of customer.

In a global economy, companies seek diverse ways to advertise their products, and those ways often include an array of linguistic possibilities, according to Stavans.

Translators play an especially important role in understanding innovations in language – to be successful they need to be attuned to two languages and must be willing to improvise, “perhaps even to coin new terms,” Stavans said. "

See original article

171 terms officially enter Chinese lexicon

You can read the original article from Yahoo News.

Cultural and political changes have caused many new terms to come into being for the Chinese.

Here are the new terms mentioned in the article:

• "fang nu," or "house slaves."  -  People who have a mortgage for their home.


• "Semi-honey couples" ("ban tang fu qi") - Married couples who live separately to keep things romantic.


• 'duan bei', with a literal meaning of 'brokeback' - Gay men, the reference coming from the movie, Brokeback Mountain.


• "ding chong jia ting," in Chinese, or "DINKS with pets,"   DINK is supposed to mean 'double income no kids'  therefore a DINK with a pet would be a couple with two income sources and at least one pet, but no children.

More related to a previous news post, A father tried to register his child as the symbol @.

I have to wonder what they were thinking.   I think I'll adopt a newborn and name him semicolon or how about '< less than symbol'. *sarcasm*  What do you think?  It reminds me of the time I heard that someone in central america had been named e-mail or email.

Cheyenne and Arapaho students learn language, legends and stories at language camp

You can read the original story at Native American Times.

In a world where only about 10% of the Cheyenne and Arapaho population nationwide still speak their languages fluently, events like the language camp that was held Friday, August 3rd at the Concho Community building (no mention of where that building is located) become more important.

The participants learned Cheyenne words for the parts of the tipi. They were also told the story of the tipi and how different rope wrappings on the tipi represented different Cheyenne societies.

The article didn't mention  anything at they camp having to do with the Arapaho.  It does mention the opportunity to learn Cheyenne and Arapaho  at two places in El Reno,  Oklahoma, so if you live in El Reno or nearby you might be interested in contacting them.

I am glad that they are wanting to preserve their languages but they will need to get more people involved and have more regular courses to make it sustainable.  People need to practice language on a regular basis (at least once a week) to learn to communicate effectively.

I am more concerned with their stories, history, art, and traditions.  The languages will probably disappear in a few generations but they don't have to let all traces of their culture go along with it.  They could video record and document everything, and continue with programs such as the language camp.  They could publish books online.

Storysofa.com and other sites could publish their books, poems, and stories online. Perhaps they could contact language teaching software companies and work together to make interactive courses to teach vocabulary?

Teachers use a visual approach to teach English grammar to deaf students

Deaf students learn English visually

see the original story

According to the original story, Erin Stokes and Gorgeen Spyhalski, had difficulty teaching English grammar to deaf students.   They 'designed' a system of using visual clues, magnets, and symbols to help them.

I assume that the teacher would demonstrate the structure and follow normal teaching methods along with this approach, but it doesn't specifically say so, or say which methods are used with this approach.

This landscape language approach to teaching sounds interesting and I think it could be included along with speech and listening for  learners of English who do not have hearing problems.

I get the idea that perhaps these schools and teachers had relied on the audio-lingual method for teaching English.  That method would of course be inadecuate for people with hearing difficulty since it relies on listening, repeating and making small modifications to the structure in drills.   There are however other methods that could be made more 'visual' through use of computer software, posters, etc. Most teachers include visual elements in class by just writing examples on the boad at the front of the classroom or through the use of hand-outs.

I like the idea of having manipulatable visual elements since the students can become more involved than our usual copy from the board, write example on the board, check example on the board method which gets a bit boring.

Some Chinese name their children with English letters and transliterated words

Some Chinese name their children with English letters and transliterated words according to an article published at Yahoo News.

"In one of the strangest names, parents tried to call their son "Ã ", while other people have used transliterated English names to make their own sound more western, The First newspaper reported. "

I knew that it was common in many countries including China and Mexico to have English nicknames but I'm surprised how much of an effect English speaking cultures are having on Media-limited China.

Whether you are learning a second or third language or even improving your native language, you should have a dictionary. Yes, of course,there are dictionaries online, but what about when you're not next to the computer? What about when the power goes out or when your computer is broken or is being used by someone else in your household?

While most households have a computer, most of them only have one, so it wouldn't be surprising to find the need for printed reference material.

1. You can check your spelling.

With a dictionary you can look up words and make sure they are spelled correctly as you check their meanings. Even native speakers make mistakes especially with words that include double letters or multiple vowel combinations. Is it sensible or sensable, dependable or dependible, they're, their, or there, matterial or material, written or writen? With a dictionary you can know for sure. Computer spell checkers are limited to words. As long as the word exists in that form it is accepted. Spell checkers don't check meaning so if you use their when you need they're you are out of luck with the spell checker.

2. You can check the definitions of words to make sure you understood correctly.

Many words in English as well as in other languages have multiple definitions. How many meanings can you think of for get? While it is likely that you know the word you might be understanding it in a different definition than the writer intended.

3. You can learn new words.

Perhaps you know every word that exists in the English language, but I don't and you're probably the only one who does! To tell the truth most of us only use a few words on a daily basis and we only understand a few hundred or a few thousand more depending on how much we read and how difficult what we read it. I don't think a college education will necessarily improve your vocabulary more than temporarily. If you don't believe me, try to list 30 words you learned in the first course you took and give me at least one definition for each. I bet you can't do it in less than one hour if at all.
By having a dictionary, you can look up the meaning of new words and those words that you have forgotten.

4. You can learn how to pronounce a word that you may have only read.

It has happened to me many times. I have read a word, and I understood it in context, but then when speaking I have no idea how to pronounce it. Let's face it, English is not an easy language to pronounce especially British dialects. Most dictionaries will give you a phonetic guide with a key in the front to show you how to use it. If there is more than one pronunciation, they both will probably appear.
How do you pronounce interest or clematis? Most Spanish speakers will pronounce interest by dividing it into three syllables but most native speakers divide it only into two.
My mom says clem-A-tis whereas I saw it pronounced CLEM-a-tis on a gardening show.

5. You can use the grammatical notes to help you write.
If you are a second language speaker of English, a dictionary is essential. You should have one in your office and one at home. Good dictionaries have extra symbols to help you write correctly. Is it an adverb, adjective, noun, verb, pronoun, preposition, etc? The dictionary will tell you, and some dictionaries, like Longman,will often give you example sentences.
A common mistake made by second languge speakers of English is the omission of objects, when they are needed, and the inclusion of objects when they are not. For example: I gave to him. We are missing the 'it'. I gave it to him. Why do we need 'it'? Well, we need it because give is a transitive verb. Transitive verbs need objects whereas Intransitive verbs don't. Dictionaries will tell you when a verb or a definition of a verb is transitive or not, so the dictionary becomes essential when proofreading your reports.
Some dictionaries, like Webster, will show transitive verbs as VT, and intransitive verbs as VI. Be careful! Some verbs are both transitive and intransitive depending on the definition, so check the definition you are using to verify.

6. You can learn phrasal verbs.

Phrasal verbs are difficult to learn as a second language and you can often have multiple combinations. A phrasal verb is typically a verb + a preposition with a different meaning from the verb by itself. The plane took off at 8 this morning, uses the phrasal verb 'take off'. The meaning of 'take off' is not the same as take + off.
English has hundreds if not thousands of them. Many dictionaries for learners will include phrasal verbs. These are typically the more expensive, larger versions. Typically they say something on the cover saying it is for second language speakers. I saw a nice one by Longman.

If you have a dictionary, but it is old, consider buying a new one. Words are added to English dictionaries every year, so if your dictionary was from when you were in elementary school, you will be missing many technological words that you can find in a new dictionary.

If you are going to be speaking with Americans, then I suggest getting a Webster or American Heritage dictionary. If you are learning English as a second language and need many examples, then consider getting a Longman dictionary, or one of the others in a version for learners. If you are going to be speaking primarily with British English speakers, get an Oxford dictionary.

If you have a very low level consider buying a picture dictionary.

American English:



Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition (Book with CD-ROM)



Longman Dictionary of American English with Thesaurus and CD-ROM (New Edition)



The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition



The American Heritage Student Dictionary

Other dictionaries: