Mev and Daphne:

I have heard of teachers (in K-12) setting the reading up as if the children 
were reading for a play.

This gives them the opportunity to avoid identifying with the language 
which, in a common reading, we do--manifest in our wanting to distance 
ourselves from what we consider bad or wrong expressions.  In this case, 
they are putting themselves in the place of the character, speaking and 
relaying to others what they spoke.  They become story tellers, rather than 
speakers of bad language.

As an aside, reading some of Mark Twain's essays (the briefer ones, e.g., in 
truth-telling) is a good exercise in both reading other's words, and seeing 
an excellent writer (Twain) take on the character of a "person of poor 
grammar habits."  Actually, when we think about it, there is more distancing 
going on there than meets the eye--Mark Twain was really Samuel Clemmens!

Just some remembrances from some of my teacher-students,

And when I moved to Virgina, some of the most educated people in the town I 
worked in called me "Missrus King" and said they used "bleaching water" in 
their laundry.  But I knew what they meant.


Catherine King


---- Original Message ----- 
From: "Daphne Greenberg" <alcdgg at langate.gsu.edu>
To: <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov>
Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 10:36 AM
Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 156] Re: dialect and standard English



> Mev,

> In your group read alouds, do you also read aloud with them? I was

> wondering if it would make a difference if you modeled reading the swear

> words, dialect, slang and whether that could free up the group's comfort

> in also doing so.

> I have experience reading out loud with women who have very low reading

> skills and they appreciate hearing me model how text is read. We have

> talked about the various ways of writing, genres, and styles. We talk

> about making the characters coming alive by reading their words the way

> we think they may sound, given what we know about the characters (for

> example, whether they are young or old, from the Caribbean or from

> China, etc., etc).

> I have run into resistance from teachers who feel uncomfortable reading

> swear words, dialect, slang. In terms of the swear words, they don't

> think that it is "appropriate" to swear, and in terms of dialect, they

> "don't want to reinforce non standard English" I have even come across a

> copy of the book Push where the teacher crossed out all the swear

> words!!!!!!!!!! I find it harder to convince these teachers than I have

> found it to be convincing students who are struggling readers.

> Daphne

>

>>>> "mev at litwomen.org" <mev at litwomen.org> 12/29/06 8:18 AM >>>

> This is an interesting conversation...and I'd like to add a different

> spin to it. I am currently facilitating Women Leading Through Reading

> Discussion Circles with women in Rhode Island [see WE LEARN Article:

> http://www.litwomen.org/news/06nov.pdf] . As women in these groups read

>

> aloud to each other, I have found 2 things: 1) they often will not read

>

> aloud any swear words they encounter; and 2) if they see  some form of

> dialect or slang written for a character's conversation, they often do

> not read it aloud that way -- they "translate" it into "correct"

> English and read aloud the "corrected" version! This happens more often

>

> than not.

>

> even though I encourage students to read it the way it's written, they

> clearly have some discomfort in doing this.   I find it's not always

> clear why ... Do they want to demonstrate that they "know" this is

> "improper" English? What level of shame is already operative? Do they

> not want to read for a white woman their street language (though I have

>

> seen them correct the written word with black teachers as well)? When I

>

> have asked why they don't read what's written, they will often say

> "because it's wrong" or "we're not supposed to talk that way."

>

> I would also wonder how many of us truly stick to proper English in the

>

> classroom? I have found myself in some situations where we're having

> social conversation and my own informal terminologies and

> pronunciations, well, slide.... I have lived in several states with

> varying dialects and accents...as I age, I carry and combine pieces of

> each in a mixed up way  -- some I "call up" as needed and others I can

> no longer discreetly identify! (I'm a language chameleon and often take

>

> on what I hear, especially in various regions of the country, even when

>

> it's not my region of origin.) Also, as someone mentioned, this brings

> up an interesting situation when there are English language learners

> also present in the room -- as everyone works to "decipher" accents and

>

> pronunciations.

>

> So, as we have these discussions with our students, we may want to have

>

> the "values" conversation as well. What do they value and why? What do

> they need (or want) to do to "fit in" -- and how do they know when,

> where and why to do this? What's important to "succeed" -- and what

> does that mean -(when & where & at what)? Success could mean in the

> business world, but it might also mean what they need to do to live

> without threat in their neighborhood or home.  This, I think, becomes a

>

> gender issue as women will more often care about what people think,

> will consider how to be pleasing, and will know (or learn) how to adapt

>

> to survive or get what they need/want -- regardless of their economic

> situation.

>

> Mev Miller

> WE LEARN

>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list

> PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to 

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen

>