Due date for responses: Wed., Jan. 28th, by class time.
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Well, here it goes. These are the highlights I found the most interesting about the article and I will throw in some personal observations and comments as well.
AAE is African American English. It is widely debated whether or not this should be recognized as a language, a dialect, or if it is just a for of "'broken english."' Whatever your view is on the subject it is real. Therefore since it is real it is something to consider.
Is seems to me that it is obvious that at the least AAE is a dialect of English. As the article points out it is widely used, recognized, and understood by African Americans. Many White Americans as well as other ethnicities can identify and in some cases use this language too. Too call this merely slang is stupid. Slang changes over time. Take the word gay for example. Gay used to mean happy but now is a word used for homosexual. The word is even changing now from meaning homosexual to stupid in some slang instances. AAE is not merely slang because it has roots that are steadfast.
It is a possibility that AAE is its own language as well. When one thinks about it English is a language made up of borrowed words. There are French, German, and Latin influences on the English language. But English is not said to be a dialect of these languages. Just as the romance languages are not considered to be dialects of one another, instead they are considered seperate.
AAE is easily identifiable by English speaking people. Just as Scandanavian and Norwegian people can understand eachothers languages quite easily, yet at the same time they are considered seperate languages! So the connection between AAE and Standard English is strong, yet AAE shows signs of African roots as well. The verb be is where much of the controversy revolves. Many times there is a complete lack of this word which is against standard english rules.
Yet my question is is the lack of a principle part of a sentence really against the rules of Standard English? Everyone leaves out a principle part of a sentence all of the time whether or not we are aware of it. A sentence is supposed to have a subject and a verb that's it. But the sentence "Fetch me a drink," is perfectly acceptable. The reason being the Subject "You" is understood. Is it too far of a stretch then that if we look at AAE as a dialect that it is completely acceptable to leave out a "be verb" and let it be understood as well?
Then we must ask ourselves is this really even worth debating about whether or not AAE is a seperate language or dialect? I believe it is definitely worth asking if it is another dialect because as the article points out there are rules to speaking AAE. Using terms like slang or broken english are derogatory toward this speech and I feel that is wrong. The people who use this speech whether they be black, white, hispanic, or any other ethnicity are not breaking the rules in my book. AAE is just another form of a very broken up language that ought to be accepted and not rejected by the majority and those in power. People in the Southeast do not speak the same as the people from the midwest or the New England states and that is viewed as okay. So why is it that there has to be so much controversy about a language that does seem to be uniform among the majority of a large group of people in our country? It seems to me that if people would just let go of their prejudice and accept this form of speech instead of trying to point out everything that is wrong with it we could all let go of a little bit of controversy and focus on other things to try to fix in our lives, because in my opinion AAE is not something that does not need fixed. If it is not broken do not fix it!
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7 comments:
The word language is defined as a body of words and the system for their use common to people who are of the same community, nation, geographical area, or cultural tradition. By this definition it is clear that African American English is a language. It is a body of words and a system of their use common to a people of the same cultural tradition and community. It may contain slang,however, all languages have slang. This language should not be dismissed simply because it does not follow what some people believe is right. It is a language, therefore, it has its own rules about what is right. We cannot place our rules on a different language. Many people in this country speak this language so it must be acknowledged.
Honestly, anytime I heard Ebonics I thought it was lazy English. By reading this article I now understand it more. It does break the rules of grammar and English, but it is also a way of others to relate in their own community. Language is very cultural. I never knew there was so much to AAE. It is actualy suprising to me that the article can go into such depth about something I thought was slag. This article is great in showing many different features of AAE versus Standard English. I do know it effects students school work. When I tutor and revise papers, I come across these sentence structures and words shorted all the time. It will effect those students grade. It is important for use to understand that it part of their culture but they also need to understand what is/isn't acceptable for school work.
I had never before considered AAE as a dialect of English, but the article convinced me that there is a good argument for the case. It does deserve recognition in the educational community, but I don't think it needs to be classified as a separate language from English. Studies have made it clear that although a student may speak AAE, he or she perfectly adept at writing in the more academically acceptible standard American English. It is sad, though, to see that so many students are losing the richness their speech has to offer because of assimilation. I hope to be able to embrace AAE in the classroom and encourage speakers to use the language to its fullest potential.
There is no doubt in my mind that AAE is a language, but that does not make it grammatically correct. Many people judge AAE because it does not sound "professional" or "scholarly," but if you ever listen to others and the way they speak, neither do they. I hear so many of my friends on a daily basis use phrases such as "me and ___" or "I seen it." That does not make it wrong, it is just ordinary people using ordinary speech. Such is the way with AAE. It may not be suiable for an essay, but as long as a message is being communicated, it should not be an issue.
I would have to say that AAE is a dialect of English. I don't think that it should be a language, but there are enough African Americans to make an impact on how to speak. However, I do not think that it is gramatically correct. Papers should not be written in AAE. In school, I think that English should be the only thing taught. AAE is something that would be taught outside of school, anyway.
I agree that the world is full of different dialects. People are constantly judging things that are different from them, especially language. Some people feel intimidated when they do not understand what someone is saying. I believe that every language in the world has at least a little in common with one another. Once people begin to understand that they will feel more comfortable around foreigners. I do understand the fact that there is a certain dialect for Ebonics. I learned a good amount from reading this.I always thought it was a lazy type of language as well.
I am so glad this was written. AAE is a language. I am so tired of people judging most African Americans because of the way they speak. Where in the world did the term lazy English come from. For most who are unaware, English was not the first language for those who were carried here on slave ships and most of their descendents have been around the language that those people pieced together for many generations. Just because most people may not understand it that does not mean it is lazy. We need to be more aware of others and respect their cultural upbringing.
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