Linguistic Аspects of Black English
The discussion
about how to classify JC may seem to be of little importance, but if it were to
be regarded as an English dialect comparable to Cockney or any other variety of
English, it would be difficult to claim its relevancy as a school subject,
since no other dialects are being taught in British schools. However, the
situation for JC speakers seems to be rather different than that of 'normal'
dialect speakers. JC speakers experience more difficulties in code switching, thus
are more inclined to make mistakes in writing and speaking SE. JC should be
regarded as a language rather than a dialect, since the JC structure is so
prominent that it becomes an obstruction to its speakers' use of SE. Sutcliffe
claims that the degree of intelligibility between JC and SE is more comparable
to that of Swiss German vs. Standard German and Catalan vs. Castilian Spanish,
than to that of SE and even the broadest Scottish dialect. (39)
Seeing how
great the diversity between JC and SE is, it would be of great importance to JC
speakers to be able to learn their mother-tongue in school, alongside with SE.
by learning JC in a similar way that they learn SE, the pupils would become
better at distinguishing between the two, and thus the code-switching would
come more natural to them.
One problem
(amongst many) which is still to be solved is the fact that there is no
accepted written standard. Attempts have been made to change this, and it is my
beliefs that but still, the JC writings differ greatly with regards to
spelling.
Another
problem that must be overcome is the fact that the whole state education system
is predicated on British SE. As I mentioned earlier, non-standard varieties of
English have traditionally been regarded as inferior, and the school has
disregarded and even penalised non-standard usage. This is slowly beginning to
change, and with a newly awakened awareness of the important role that JC – as
well as other language varieties – play in the maintaining of a child's
identity, the demand for a curriculum that includes JC has been put forward. (39)
2. African
American Vernacular English and its use in teaching process.
African American
Vernacular English (AAVE) – also called African American English or Black English, Black
Vernacular, Black English Vernacular (BEV), or Black Vernacular English (BVE);
or controversially Ebonics
– is an African
American variety (dialect,
ethnolect and sociolect) of American English. Its pronunciation is in
some respects common to Southern American English, which is spoken by many African
Americans and many non-African Americans in the United States. There is little
regional variation among speakers of AAVE. ( 22, 547 )
African American
Vernacular English (AAVE) is the variety formerly known as Black English
Vernacular or Vernacular Black English among sociolinguists, and commonly
called Ebonics outside the academic community. While some features of AAVE are
apparently unique to this variety, in its structure it also shows many
commonalties with other varieties including a number of standard and
nonstandard English varieties spoken in the US and the Caribbean. AAVE has been
at the heart of several public debates and the analysis of this variety has
also sparked and sustained debates among sociolinguists.
It is extremely difficult
to say how many people speak AAVE because it is not clear what exactly this
would mean. Some speakers may use some distinctive aspects of phonology
(pronunciation) and lexis (vocabulary) but none of the grammatical features
associated with the variety. Many sociolinguists would reserve the term AAVE
for varieties which are marked by the occurrence of certain distinctive
grammatical features some of which are discussed below.
Even so it may still be
difficult to say with any exactitude how many AAVE speakers there are since
such grammatical features occur variably, that is, in alternation with standard
features. Such variability in the speech both of groups and individuals
reflects the complex social attitudes surrounding AAVE and other nonstandard
varieties of English and it was this variability which initially attracted the
attention of sociolinguists such as William Labov.(34, 214)
The history of AAVE and
its genetic affiliation, by which we mean what language varieties it is related
to, are also a matter of controversy. Some scholars contend that AAVE developed
out of the contact between speakers of West African languages and speakers of
vernacular English varieties. According to such a view, West Africans learnt
English on plantations in the southern Coastal States (Georgia, South Carolina,
etc.) from a very small number of native speakers (the indentured laborers).
Some suggest that this led to the development of a rudimentary pidgin which was
later expanded through a process of creolization.
Others who advocate a
contact scenario for the development of AAVE suggest that the contact language
(an early Creole-like AAVE) developed through processes of second language
acquisition. According to such a view West Africans newly arrived on
plantations would have limited access to English grammatical models because the
number of native speakers was so small (just a few indentured servants on each
plantation). In such a situation a community of second language learners might
graft what English vocabulary that could be garnered from transient encounters
onto the few grammatical patterns which are common to the languages of West
Africa. (28, 49)
What linguists refer to
as universal grammar (the law-like rules and tendencies which apply to all
natural human language) would have played a significant role in such processes
as well. This kind of thing seems to have taken place in the Caribbean and may
also have happened in some places, at some times in the United States. For instance
Gullah or Sea Islands Creole spoken in the Coastal Islands of South Carolina
and Georgia seems to have formed in this way.
The demographic
conditions in the US and the Caribbean (where restructured Creole languages are
widely spoken) were really quite different and that the conditions necessary
for the emergence of a fully fledged Creole language were never met in the US.
These scholars have shown on a number of occasions that what look like
distinctive features of AAVE today actually have a precedent in various
varieties of English spoken in Great Britain and the Southern United States. It
seems reasonable to suggest that both views are partially correct and that AAVE
developed to some extent through restructuring while it also inherited many of
its today distinctive features from older varieties of English which were once
widely spoken.
As mentioned above AAVE
is a matter of some public controversy as was seen most recently in the debate
over the Ebonics ruling by the Oakland School Board. More than anything this
debate made it clear to sociolinguists that they had failed in one of their
primary objectives -- to educate the public and to disseminate the results of
over twenty-five years of intense research.
Unfortunately, many
public policy makers and sections of the public hold on to mistaken and
prejudiced understandings of what AAVE is and what it says about the people who
speak it. This matter is compounded by the fact that, with the AAVE-speaking
community, attitudes towards the language are complex and equivocal. Many AAVE
speakers contrast the variety with something they refer to as "Talking
Proper". (23,78)
At the same time these
same speakers may also express clearly positive attitudes towards AAVE on other
occasions and may also remark on the inappropriateness of using Standard
English in certain situations. While the situation in this case is made more
extreme by the context of racial and ethnic conflict, inequality and prejudice
in the United States, it is not unique. Such ambivalent and multivalent
attitudes towards nonstandard varieties of a language have been documented for
a great many communities around the world and in the United States.
American society has made
concessions for many groups of people with special interests, such as animal activists,
environmental activists and a host of ethnic groups. Tough animal rights laws
have been passed to ensure the safety and future of a variety of species
ranging from the domestic cat to the bald eagle. The development of Wetlands
has been curtailed in an effort to protect our swamps and forests from
extinction.
Educational system has
implemented a program known as, English as a Second Language, which lends
itself to the special needs of immigrants in our school systems. This program
offers extra tutoring and extra time on tests for immigrants who primarily
speak a language other than English. Dudley Scholarship and Bethel Foundation
Scholarship, along with over twelve-hundred others, have been created
exclusively for minorities in an effort to encourage furthering their
education. A list of these scholarships can be found in Directory of Financial
Aids for Minorities, 1993-1995.
In an effort to promote
equal opportunity in the work place, the United States Government adopted the
Affirmative Action Program, which forces companies to place a certain number of
minorities within their work force. Now, some politicians and educators in this
country want to make concessions for those Americans who have grown up learning
to speak what some people call street slang, as opposed to speaking Standard
English, which at last was still America's primary language. (31,71)
According to Caroline
Boarder, a political columnist, a program known as Ebonics has been introduced
in Oakland, Ca. as a way to bridge the gap between Black English or bad
English-speaking students and standard English-speaking students in an effort
to raise reading and writing test scores of African Americans. She also states
that the Oakland school board contends that this bridge is necessary because
the speaking of Ebonics is genetically related to African Americans. This
hypothesis suggests that black students are incapable of learning the English
language through conventional teaching methods, and we must devise an easier
way to teach them.
Having grown up in the
American school system, both public and private, was exposed to people from
various ethnic groups who had poor reading and writing skills, most of whom were
black. The one thing about these fellow students is that they shared a common
speech deficiency including incorrect pronunciation, subject verb agreement and
problems with general sentence structure. It was no surprise that they could
barely read or write; they couldn't or wouldn't even speak, and other
classmates felt the same way. (29, 55)
For example, Floyd Brown
was one of these students. One day he was going after school, and he replied:
"Ima fi'n na go to
da crib n axe ma fo some bread." –
“You think that he was
going to kill his mother who was in a baby crib (obviously a midget) and take
her food. But it is he was going home to ask his mother for some money”.
Ebonics had been coined
for this speech deficiency in 1973. A dissection of the word Ebonics, which you
will not find in the dictionary and should not find in any classroom in
American school systems, yields a definition based on its two syllables. Ebo
means black, and nics, which is taken from phonics, means sounds. This breaking
apart of the word Ebonics simply yields its meaning as, black sounds.
According to Jane Hill, a
political columnist for the Chicago Tribune, Ebonics was first recognized in
America in the 1800's when African slaves were first brought to America. These
slaves did not speak Standard English because they were not taught to do so.
They spoke a form of what some people now call Ebonics, because they did not
know any better, but African Americans in today's school systems have been
taught better and should know better. (35, 33)
Education is best built
upon what we already know, but if what we already know is incorrect English,
then we must discard it and learn from correct tutorial tools. This includes
practicing reading, writing and speaking with adherence to English grammar
rules. Strong reinforcement of Standard English through repetitious reading and
writing exercises is one solution to the problem of illiteracy in ethnic groups
in America. When necessary, another solution may be speech therapy.
This is the kind of
learning structure we need in the classrooms in their country. They must demand
it of their teachers, and they must deliver. They should be culturally
sensitive to all ethnic groups in an educational setting, but let's not lose sight
of the goal in the process, which is mastery of the English language. Any
incorporation of non-standard use of the English language could make it harder
for all students to learn Standard English. What is worse is that these bad
English-speaking students may become complacent with Ebonics and feel that they
now have their own identifiable language and not attempt to learn Standard
English. If students transfer nothing other than proper English to their
long-term memory during their education, they will at least have the basis for
success in the general population. Good communication skills are a must in
almost every occupational field. (33, 56)
Who will lose as a result
of a mandatory incorporation of Ebonics into our school systems? First, those
students in English as a Second Language programs will feel the effects of such
a fiasco. Funding for Ebonics will most likely come from this area and as a
result, necessary, commendable programs such as this could be short-changed.
Secondly, teachers who have spent their careers attempting to condition the
tongues of their students to English discipline will have to concede to bad
English. Lastly, the students who are placed in these classes will suffer the
greatest loss. Ebonics classes will be composed primarily of students who
belong to various ethnic groups, which will contribute to segregation and
racism, and American history has proven that segregation in any form can only
serve to keep minorities down.
While it is true that
many of the words Americans speak today come from African origin, those words
are clearly pronounceable and are understood by most Americans. Some of these
words are: jubilee, banana, jumbo, gumbo, jazz and banjo. These words are not
slang. According to Connie Eble, a member of the linguistic association of
Canada and the US, slang can be defined as the dropping of a consonant at the
end of a word and attaching it to the next word. The following is an example of
slang: (working last) translated into slang as (workinlas). This is a common combination
that some people believe composes parts of Ebonics. This type of slang has
artistically contributed to the film industry with productions such as Roots
and Glory, but that only makes it marketable, not correct. It as exploitation
of inadequate education of both the characters in the film who speak it, and
the viewer who pays to see it.
In Martin Luther's speech
“I Have a Dream”, and in his writings such as “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, you
can’t find one word of what may be deemed improper English or Ebonics. If
Martin Luther King could speak and write this clearly without the aid of
Ebonics to bridge the gap, this must surely dispel any theory of the speaking
of bad English being genetically connected to African Americans. I believe that
if he could hear the arguments supporting Ebonics he would roll over in his
grave. Ebonics was not part of his dreams for black Americans; he hoped for
educational boundaries to be broken not re-created as Ebonics has the potential
of doing
The list of prominent
figures in society who oppose Ebonics includes Jessie Jackson who openly speaks
on television broadcast shows and in various publications about his contempt
for Ebonics. United States Secretary of Education Richard Riley has publicly
declared Oakland's program of Ebonics ineligible for federal funding. Bill
Cosby calls Ebonics "Igmo-bonics." An urbanized version of the
English language which if allowed evolving will leave only body language as a
common standard language to the next generation. (34, 144).
As a society interested
in the future of our youth we must realize that there is no substitute for hard
work and study in the classroom, and there are no shortcuts to learning the
English language. The educational system must strive to make children
mainstream communicators. Ebonics is a misguided, ill represented, detrimental
shortcut that will only create confusion and disappointment in the classroom.
It is a cancer that must be sent into permanent remission by the clear and
coherent voices of Americans.
Chapter
III. Linguistic Aspects of Black English.
1.
Phonetic peculiarities
AAVE and Standard English
pronunciation are sometimes quite different. People frequently attach
significance to such differences in pronunciation or accent and as such the
study of phonology (the systematic a patterning of sounds in language) is an
important part of sociolinguistics. It should be noted that phonology has
nothing to do with spelling. The way something is spelt is often not a good
indication of the way it "should be", or much less is, pronounced.
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