Analysis Of Linda Christensen's Essay Teaching Standard English: Whose Standard

What are words? A simple question such as this would in theory demand only a simple answer. Words, however, take such an abundance of forms that creating a truly inclusive definition for the notion of “words” is daunting. In its physical manifestation, a word is little more than air passing over taut tendons, forming sounds which are accented by flicks of the tongue against the teeth and roof of the mouth. These sounds are arranged in patterns that come to be recognized and accepted as words. But are these sounds all that words represent?—certainly not. Words command power. Although the defiant playground motto states that “sticks and stones may break bones, but words can never hurt,”

In a perfect world, teachers would be able to talk and teach in every language and know the different dialects and correct grammar structures. This would help student’s value their cultural language and not feel excluded because they are ‘wrong’ by not using the ‘correct’ grammar or sentence structure. Sadly this is not realistic. Teachers have to teach what they know but they also have to keep in mind the different cultures in their classroom and outside of it. To help English Language learners learn in the classroom, teachers need to teach students about the strategy called codeswitching, teachers have to make sure their classroom environment is supportive, and lastly teachers have to teach students Standard English to for their future successes

As our nation shifts towards a more culturally diverse population both educators and families have to find a common ground to ensure that English Language Learners are academically successful. All stakeholders must carefully consider the social cultural impact on an ELL education. The process of raising bilingual learners take more than a language a school and a language learned at home. The transition must have a purpose and a goal.

The English language is particularly complex in almost all aspects. Many of the words in the English language have different meanings for the same word. This is not unlike the definition of the different levels of usage. McCrimmon defines the three levels, formal, moderate, and colloquial, by their sentence structure, diction, and tone (McCrimmon 193). ¹ Using McCrimmon’s definitions, authors can determine what type of writing is applicable to each of the three levels. For the formal writings, an adequate example of where readers can find it is in a professional journal, and an appropriate place to find an example of the moderate level is in a weekly news magazine. Also, the best place to look for an example of the colloquial level is in certain sections of the newspaper. All of the levels of usage apply to these different types of writings and assist in defining what each level involves.

As aforementioned, AAVE is the most prevalent native English vernacular in America. Consequently, educators often encounter AAVE speakers and writers in their classrooms. Educators must inform students that their home language is not Standard American English and create effective classroom methods to educate non-native SAE speakers. Faced with these constant occurrences, the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) issued a statement on students’ rights to their own language. The resolution states:

By now one should not debit on the language course language has changed over time. In this essay, I’m writing out a response to Young. To just give, you give a hard up Young is reported to Stanley Fish’s article from the New York Times titled “what should College teach? In Fish pace his talk of the need for standard English and it's important, he talks about the need of knowing all the English roles and Grammy, when it comes to Young he disapproves of the school teachers one English yet at home people speak something different, young toke his agreement to the next leave by writing is responding in Dialect and not bracing all the English Grammy roles. Young argument is that not even the highest educated people in the County follow off the English Grammy roles

School has always been a place of business, in my opinion. A place where we are educated and prepared for life, essentially. And the proper way of doing so, as I believe most people have been taught, is to enhance all skills such as vocabulary, grammar, mathematics, etc... This is why we are taught so many subjects, being tested and guided to follow whichever path we feel most comfortable or skilled at doing. During the process, is where skills are established and developed. The product that is intended after having gone through school is to shape a well skilled, educated, and productive person that can benefit society as a whole. In limiting the teaching of Standard American English, we would be limiting the amount of people that can fulfill their potential, raise the difficulty for teachers, and accept mediocrity. In keeping this dialect, students will gain new skills and learn the language of business to prepare them for any encounters along the way. There is no need, in my eyes, to minimize or put an extent to teaching the English dialect and that is what I will personally support in this essay.

This program is designed for the unit of HSC English Standard which aims to develop students understanding, competency and appreciation of the English language. In studying this unit, students will be provided with the opportunity to explore various textual forms so as to become reflective, insightful and effective communicators in an ever-changing society. It is becoming apparent that our classes are now more culturally diverse, thus our teaching practices should reflect those changes. The demographics of this English class is made of up 24 male students of mixed academic abilities from multicultural backgrounds. It is single-sex public system school, located in Western Sydney. This has influenced the selection of texts, supplementary content

His fifth claim is that different forms of speech do not equate to differing levels of achievement in school. As a sixth claim, he argues that ethnographic assumptions offered by Deutsch, Bereiter, Engelmann are wrong. His final claim, is that training a child to learn the logical manner of Standard English doesn’t guarantee that he’ll succeed. Nonstandard English isn’t the problem to learning; it’s the ignorance of the language and the belief that it’s inferior.

The Fulbright Commission’s English Teaching Program (ETP) is located in Quito, Ecuador. Its student population consists mostly of Ecuadorian adults with occasional foreign nationals from other Latin American or European countries. The ETP is geared towards teaching its students academic and professional English in the areas of grammar,

Acquiring and learning a second language do not refer only to handling oral communication skills. It is more than that; it takes the students´ abilities in enhancing their lexicon, their management in syntax, and their perspective about words´ influences in people. Thus, summing this up, it is indispensable that ESL students have a grand deal about linguistic knowledge. In other words, ESL learners not only require speaking, but also reading, writing and thinking in English when they complete whatever English career.

In contemporary society the Standard variety of English is the most commonly used as it is respected and associated with a higher prestige. Its usage is also advocated by prescriptivists who believe that it is the ‘correct’ and only variety that should be used. Standard English is usually seen in formal settings, where its usage is necessary for official and public purposes. However, contextual factors play a vital role in determining the most appropriate variety to be used, which is supported by the Principle of Appropriateness. Certain contexts where a non-standard variety is necessary are in social media settings and in communities of different ethnicities, where they are undeniably required to create solidarity between speakers.

The professional development of a teacher can be a challenging task yet not impossible. During the process of this course I have learned how to face this challenge. However developing my own ideas and style of language teaching is still a work in progress. As a prospective language teacher I take in all methods and principles this course as given me. In doing so I believe it will make me a better professional. This course has presented me with some thoughts ELT teachers need to have once the period of formal training is over.

As we know, the traditional English Language Teaching (ELT) often comes in many varieties, but is often characterized by the teacher spending quite a lot of class time using the board to explain things-as if ‘transmitting’ knowledge to the class(Scrivener, 2011, p14). The teacher’s role according to Scrivener has been put forward into three categories.

As I said, my teachers were using old-fashion teaching styles. To improve the students’ English proficiencies in the demanded skills, I would implement some of these principles according to the students’ needs and their ages as well. They start learning English in an advanced level of their education which needs more effort from the teacher and the students themselves. One of the obvious steps is practicing in a