DW4a

One similarity that can be found in all my works so far is the presence of inequality and racism that is so often follows the use of AAVE. In the final project I will attempt to create a number of situations similar to the ones that we have discussed in class that will also share this common theme. The assignment calls for us to create four separate parts to complete this project, and I have a number of ideas for how I should go about accomplishing this.
The First portion I would like to create would be to create a mock interview of a person who uses AAVE in this setting. In a number of the works that we read this year we have seen how the use of AAVE in the professional field has been greatly discriminated. I will attempt to show how the employer reacts to the use of AAVE in the interview.
Secondly I will try to look at a piece written using AAVE in the classroom and how the teacher has received and graded it. During research for our last project I came across a significant amount of examples where work was unfairly graded because of the use of AAVE. In many of these cases there were greater faults recorded by the teacher than the student’s paper actually deserved.
For the third portion I want to create a fake AIM conversation between two users of AAVE and discuss how they feel they are received. Research from the last paper has show evidence that most speakers of the language feel that they are unfairly judged and classified by their use of AAVE regardless of how intelligent they truly are.
For the final portion I want to take a look at lyrics from a number of songs that use AAVE and discuss how they allow the stereotypes to be continued. By looking at a number of popular Hip-hop songs I can easily find some strong examples to support my case. I think that this section should be the easiest to complete for me out of the four sections.
I’m not sure if a conclusion is necessary after we complete our four sections, but if so then I will go back and make my thesis statement again. If there is a conclusion piece required I will have to look into the guidelines that are set for it.

Anotated Biblography

Hollie, Sharroky. “Acknowledging the Language of African American Students: Instructional Strategies.” The English Journal 90.4 (2000): 54-59. 27 Mar 2009.

This journal discusses the results of the Linguistic Affirmation Program. This program is set up to acclimate a wide variety of non Standard English speakers to the dialect and build a sense of comfort for when they are required to use it in their lives. The article discusses how the language is viewed by these pupils as they are being put through the different steps which they are being submitted to.


Jonsberg, Sara D. " Whats a white teacher to do about black English." English Journal Vol 90. No 4. (2001): 51-52. 27 Mar 2009.

This journal discusses the stigma that accompanies the use of AAVE in a classroom setting. This piece was slightly different than others that we have been exposed to because in this setting the teacher was presented with a number of students who had a firm grasp of both Standard English and AAVE. The students understand that their relaxed, natural way of speaking brings about specific consequences and stereotypes so they avoid using it altogether in the classroom setting. The teacher discusses ways of trying to integrate their dialect into the curriculum in a way that the students feel portrays it in a positive light.


Rickford , John R.. "African American English and Other." Journal of English Linguistics Vol 32. No 3. (2004): 230-320. 28 Mar 2009.

This journal discusses the interest that is shown by many teachers in the field on the subject of teaching AAVE in the classroom setting. A substantial number of references have been gathered to discuss this topic in an in depth manner. Although this piece does not give specific examples of work in the classroom it does discuss how AAVE as well as other dialects have been treated in the past and should be treated in the future.


Whitney, Jessica. "Five Easy Pieces: Steps toward Integrating AAVE into the
Classroom." English Journal 94 (2005): 64-69. 27 Mar. 2009.

This journal primarily discuses the difficulties that Jessica Whitney encountered while teaching her class. Because Whitney was a white, non native AAVE speaker she was having tremendous difficulty trying to teach the class in a way that the students could relate to. After attempting many different techniques and schemes she finally came up with a teaching plan that she found to be effective. This journal focuses on the different steps she has documented for teaching AAVE in the classroom.

DW3b

Sara Dalmas Jonsberg describes the problems that follow trying to teach AAVE in the classroom in her journal titled “What’s a (White) Teacher to Do about Black English?” The article describes how Jonsberg has encountered difficulties getting her students to use and embrace their knowledge of AAVE in the classroom for a number of reasons. Jonsberg was fortunate enough to have the ability to work with a number of students who had a solid understand of both Standard English and Black English. These students felt like the use of their natural Black English in the classroom gave their teacher an impression that they were uneducated and inferior. Since they knew that their teacher was not a natural in AAVE they felt their work would be judged and graded harshly because of the languages differences. Jonsberg discovered that the students had developed such a strong knowledge of Standard English because they were so concerned about the consequences the followed the use of their other language. The teacher realized that something needed to be done to break the stigma the students felt from the use of AAVE. In order to try and inspire some sense of spirit behind their natural language Jonsberg began to show the students inspirational pieces from James Baldwin, Theresa Perry and other influential writers in that field. Jonsberg hopes that through educating the next generation to embrace their language that some of the fear that comes with using it in all aspects of life will begin to fade away. She hopes that once the fear begins to fade, the stereotypes and misconceptions will fade as well. This article does a very good job of discussing the issue in a way we haven’t looked at too specifically. Rather than worry about how the outside world views the use of AAVE in the classroom this document actually looks at the student’s opinion on the topic. This article truly shows how difficult of issue educators in this field have been faced with. How can these educators be expected to effectively teach the students when the students are afraid to even learn in some situation. It certainly seems to be an uphill battle for the teachers. I think that this take on the subject is very interesting and I would like to find more sources that discuss this issue from this point of view.

DW3a

For this assignment I chose to work with the reading selection by Ramsey titled “Teaching the Teachers”. In this piece we are presented with the idea that no single dialect is superior over all the others. However because of their distinct differences some dialects give their users an advantage depending on the situation. For example the use of AAVE and other dialects that differ from Standard English were found to have a negative impact in the workplace and interview setting, and their use can even result in the loss of jobs. Because this concept has been realized by most education institutions, teachers now attempt to teach their students Standard English to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately there is no one uniform rule that explains how to teach Standard English to students. Often when the teachers try to correct their students writing and rhetoric they go about it all wrong. In schools the teacher’s focus was said to be too focused on grammar and not enough on comprehension. It is all fine and well if you can complete an in class worksheet, but the real test is presented when the students are asked to use their Standard English in the real world. When the students were required to compose papers the mix of the AAVE dialect they believed they were familiar with and the Standard English they had been taught in class combined to form very poorly written papers. This problem is said to be so prevalent because the students simply do not know what they need to do to integrate the two dialects to create a good paper. According to Ramsey the solution to this problem is for the teachers to teach the basics of writing a paper that can apply to any dialect rather than focusing on unique dialect techniques. Understanding the qualities of a paper such as organization and solid paragraph formation are necessary to write a good paper no matter what language or dialect you are comfortable with. Overall I don’t think this selection argues that the use of AAVE in composition is the best choice. Instead it tries to make the case that the use of Standard English by speakers of AAVE is not a selling out of their culture. In cases where the students have a desire to learn Standard English the problem often lies on the teachers end. Ramsey claims that if the teachers are not encouraging of the students then it is very difficult to expect results from the students.

DW2b

For this portion of the assignment I chose to use Lisa Nakamura’s passages from “Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the internet to the information I found on “The Source”. In her writing Nakamura states that “lack of access to the internet- often found along raced, classed, and still, to a narrowing extent, gendered lines- continues to cut particular bodies out of various histories in the making,”( Nakamura, 397). These views seem to be shared by the writers and editors at “The Source”. It has been realized that all types of distributions need to be utilized so that those that are being discriminated against are not left out of the loop. Through the use of their printed publication, website database, television advertising, and event promotion and sponsorship “The Source” is trying to break down this barrier. Through all of these media types AAVE is utilized in an attempt to connect and relate the information in a way that will create interest and concern among its audience. One example of this comes from review of one of the publication’s blog posters who goes by the name of “The Prodigy”. In his article he talks about the recent election of President Obama and states, “YOU DAMN RIGHT, I QUESTION AND CHALLENGE OBAMA. I GOT POST TRAUMATIC SYNDROME FROM THE GENOCIDE, RACISM, POVERTY, TRICKERY AND SLAVERY THAT MY RACE OF PEOPLE HAD TO ENDURE. MY QUESTIONS AND CHALLENGES AREN’T IGNORANCE, IT’S INTELLIGENCE,” (www.thesource.com). He feels this statement is necessary because of many Americans blind embrace of Obama without asking what he truly stands for. In the way that he presents his case he makes a statement that is both thought provoking and persuasive. “The Source” uses articles similar to this one in all of its publications in an attempt to influence its audience no matter how they access the information.

DW2a

For this assignment I chose to analyze the online version of “The Source” magazine. Found online at www.thesource.com, this website features current event information as well as background information on historical events and figures that have had an impact in the U.S. and around the world. It proclaims itself as “the preeminent brand of hip-hop journalism,” (The Source). In 2008 the magazine celebrated its 20^th year of circulation. The first thing I noticed when opening the site was the large background of the page that read “Black History Month”, also there were a number of advertisements and links to other web pages in support of newly elected president Barack Obama. As a highlight for the day, the site has chosen to spotlight Richard Pryor for his “balls out approach to comedy” (The Source). Also on the front page there are two distinct articles that discuss the recent situation involving Chris Brown and Rhianna. The website also displays links to upcoming parties and events sponsored by "The Source". The Source Awards, which are held yearly, have become a major contribution to the music industry, and serve as an excellent promotion for the magazine and its supporters through strong preformances and presentations. On the bottom of the webpage there are a number of links to political stories, covering topics from Obama's cabinet appointees to the arrest of Obama's brother.From the sample cover of the magazine shown as well as the cover stories on the web page it can be assumed that this publication is targeted towards African American youth, in the attempts to keep them updated and informed on important current events as well as notable historical events.

DW1b

Before we began to discuss the topic of dialect discrimination in class I had no idea what a widespread effect it had across the U.S. In Smitherman’s essay “From Ghetto Lady to Critical Linguist we are shown a number of examples where this discrimination directly affected her life as she was growing up in various areas of the U.S. Being born in the south, she was unaware of her accent until it was pointed by her new teachers in the north. Simply because of her dialect, she was held back in her new schools. I found it particularly interesting that in order to get around this handicap Smitherman just stopped talking in class altogether. It is hard to imagine that an approach like that would be effective in primary school today, where such an emphasis is placed on developing the speaking patterns of the youth. When I was in elementary school we had a new student move to Midland from Brazil. He didn’t speak a word of English when he started, but through standardized testing he was placed in the same grade as he would have been back in Brazil. You could tell that he was scared the first day coming in, but the teacher did her best to accommodate him and make him feel welcome. The next day he already had a tutor with him trying to teach him some English so that he could understand all the aspects of the class. It was interesting to me that while trying to learn Standard English Smitherman forced herself to memorize specific pronunciations and phrases to try and show a fluency in the dialect. After a few months of tutoring, our new friend from Brazil used to do the exact same thing. He would often try to talk about McDonalds or mention the name of a cartoon show in an attempt to fit in with us. I understand that a lot has changed since the time when Smitherman went through school, but it is amazing to me that an American student speaking an English dialect would be given more grief in school than a foreigner who didn’t even know what English was. The city in which i come from was not a very diverse place, and I suppose I never realized how easy it was to judge someone solely on the way they speak until I met such an