Fast facts:

·         Ebonics is a language because it is a rule governed system used to communicate.

·         Ebonics has its roots in black oral tradition and is a synthesis of West African languages and European English.

·         Ebonics uses African grammar with English vocabulary.

·         Vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar differ from Standard English.

For African American students Ebonics is the language that they speak at home. It is a part of their identity and connects them to the their family, culture and community.

Standard English is the language of power, which gives you access to all things associated with the dominant white culture in America.

Goal

The goal of African American students should be to become bidialectal, meaning that they master both Standard English and Ebonics.

Why?

Standard English is often the language associated with groups within society that possess social and political power.

Dialectal variations are often associated with race, social class, and geographical region. Dialects spoken by people with less social power are often interpreted as inferior or incorrect versions of Standard English.

Students that only speak Ebonics and do not master Standard English will be judged upon their language and excluded from social groups where the dominant form of communication is through the use of Standard English.

In order to posses social and political power students must master Standard English. To not hold students accountable for learning Standard English is to put them in a position where they are at a disadvantaged in comparison to other social groups in society.

The Dilemma

What is the best method of teaching Standard English to students who speak Ebonics and reaching the goal of making them bidialectal?

What can you as a teacher do?

·         See Ebonics as an asset rather than a deficit.

·         Use an additive rather than a subtractive approach when teaching – Means that you use the skills that the students bring with them and use these as a base to build there knowledge of Standard English upon.

·         Use “code switching” and “translating” – Means that you teach the students Standard English using Ebonics in the same way as you would teach a student a second language using the students knowledge of the their first language. This includes identifying differences between the two languages and translating the one language into the other.

·         Value and validate the use of Ebonics by realizing that you cannot separate language and identity and that the validity of using a dialect is dependent upon the purpose, context and audience with which it is used.