Received: from cal.org (cal.org [204.240.146.10]) by literacy (8.7.6/8.7.3) with SMTP id LAA11522 for <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov>; Tue, 31 Dec 1996 11:48:29 -0500 (EST) Received: from CAL-Message_Server by cal.org with Novell_GroupWise; Tue, 31 Dec 1996 11:51:53 -0500 Message-Id: <s2c8fe59.001@cal.org> X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise 4.1 Date: Tue, 31 Dec 1996 11:47:11 -0500 From: Fran Keenan <fran@cal.org> To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Subject: Ebonics excerpt Status: RO X-Status: "The issue of whether to teach AAL or standard English does not have to be framed as an either-or choice. Rather, students need to be aware of the characteristics of the varieties of language they speak, read, and write. For example, learning how to describe the systematic characteristic features of their own language can help native speakers of AAL to see where it is similar to standard academic English and where the two varieties differ. White students who speak Appalachian English could likewise benefit from systematically learning about their language. Similarly, speakers of standard English could benefit from learning about the differences between their spoken and written language and about the richness of other varieties such as AAL and Appalachian English. Such knowledge should help children and adults appreciate language differences and improve their attitudes toward language variation. Language minorities are not the only people who could benefit from learning about language differences. Language prejudice is related to other forms of intolerance. In a society as racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse as this one, children and adults need to learn more about the richness of their own language as well as other languages and varieties of language." p.131 excerpted from the just-published Literacy and Language Diversity in the United States (1996) by Terrence G. Wiley. ISBN 0-937354-86-4. Published by the Center for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems. For information about ordering the book, please contact ncle@cal.org.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 11 2000 - 13:25:30 EST