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Eric KilatesENG 105Ebonics Introduction"The Oakland school board never intended to replace the teaching of Standard or mainstream English with the teaching of Ebonics, or Spoken Soul.Ebonics can be a useful tool to increase mastery of Standard English amongEbonics speakers. It teaches students what they already know while bridging itwith the unknown. Linguists agree that Ebonics is more of a dialect of Englishthan a separate language because it shares many words and other features withother informal varieties of American English. John Rickford says, “Ebonics is oneof the most distinctive varieties of American English, differing from StandardEnglish- the educated standard – in several ways.” Although many consider Ebonics as “lazy English,” “bastardized English,” “poor grammar,” and “fracturedslang.”It is true that hundreds of Americans emotionally against Oakland’sdecision to recognize Ebonics and use it to facilitate mastery of StandardEnglish, which generates negativity such as: “ridiculous, ludicrous,” “VERY,VERY STUPID,” “a terrible mistake.” Linguists argue that Ebonics was a“systematic and rule-governed like all natural speech varieties.” As we know it,society revolves around linguistic skills. Communication is the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs.Nowhere in the definition of communication does it say you have to be white. The

only medium needed in communication is that the people around us who wespeak to, to understand what we are saying. Who is to say Ebonics is not adialect of English, when most of here have used expressions like “givin five”, and“Whassup?” are so widespread in American culture that we forget that theyoriginated in an African American community. The way in which Ebonics differsfrom Standard English is highly ordered, and with there being so many views onhow Ebonics came along, it’s hard to argue that it is not in some way or form alanguage or at least a dialect in its own since it carries its own linguistic identity inits distinctive patterns or pronunciation and grammar.Ebonics can be used as a pathway to learn Standard English, becauseboth are systematic and rule governed. There are many differences that are notknown to all but the basis of learning a language is there; both Ebonics andStandard English have rules that must be followed in order for it to make sense.Even though Ebonics can be thought of as a dialect of English, it consists of many distinct varieties of American English. With in Standard English there is adifference between habitual and nonhabitual events that are usually expressedwith adverbs like “usually.” Ebonics cannot be looked down upon especially whenthe way it differs from Standard English is highly ordered.Ebonics can be traced back to three different views, the Afrocentric,Eocentric, and Creolist view. Afrocentric view is the most distinctive features of Ebonics represent imports from Africa. They simplify consonant clusters at theends of words and doesn’t use linking verb like “is” and “are” because thesefeatures are generally absent from Niger-Congo languages. The Eurocentric view

states that African slaves learned English from white settlers, and that they did sorelatively quickly and successfully retaining little trace of their African linguisticheritage. The Creolist view says that many African slaves, in learning Englishdeveloped a pidgin language – a simplified fusion of English and Africanlanguages. The ancestors’ of many African Americans came to this country asslaves and spoke other languages other than English.In the end, Ebonics should be a choice in which we are for to help thosewho are at a disadvantage, learn and understand English. It is a lot easier to helpothers learn when associating with something they already know. Bree Picower has the right idea when she says, “Being successful in an environment such asPrescott is not something that a "methods" course could ever teach in asemester. It requires a commitment to the cause of social justice and a truedesire to change the inequities that exist within the current structure of education.It requires expanding the idea of a classroom from being a room with four wallsto the community it is situated in, where you are both the teacher and the learner at the same time. It requires building real relationships with the people you areworking with or for and seeing your students and their families as your employer rather than your administrators and superintendents. It requires explicitlyaddressing your own racial identity and taking responsibility for how it informsyour interactions and power dynamics with others. Finally, it requires a continualquest for both learning more and doing more to address the root causes of racism and white supremacy in order to really teach the children you are hopingto educate.”

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dabsandco

With all due respect to you and Rickford; I disagree. Ebonics is a language. Some "advantaged" blacks also use it. All people code-switch when possible. Knowing a few words of Spanish does not mean you can understand the language. Many words of many languages are co-opted by the USA. I agree it is a step-stone but not something that needs to be done away with. There is a time & place for its use.

reply03 / 04 / 2011