Final Thoughts And Instructional Recommendations

By Author: Jordon
Total Articles: 91
Comment this article

The case of Mr. Lehrer presents an example of teaching emically at the local level in everyday practice within a larger structure that resists change (Erickson, 1986). For teachers in everyday practice, the following are recommendations for AAVE speakers and speakers of other varieties of English:

Never tell students that home language features are wrong and Standard English features are right.

Balance nonstandard and standard contexts for writing. Teachers must facilitate distinctions and support students as Tag Heuer Replica Watches they negotiate appropriate contexts for employing language features.

Inform student that everyone speaks nonstandard English. Delpit (1997) recommended exploring additional forms of English to compare and contrast varying ways and contexts in which people speak, including characters from different cultural groups on television or in literature.

Instill motivation by exploring varying ways students express common ideas before emphasizing grammar rules (Baker, 2002). Once students are interested, teachers should ...
... make the transition to corresponding rules for academic and professional contexts.

Provide written feedback during standard writing contexts and confer with students to scaffold from home language to Standard English features. Require students to submit the final draft with the initial draft to document changes.

Model corresponding grammar features in home language and Standard English (Wheeler & Swords, 2006). Although not demonstrated by Mr. Lehrer, because of his preference to address conventions in the context of actual writing, this strategy supports applying rule-governed features to appropriate contexts. Code-Switching: Teaching Standard English in Urban Cartier Roadster Replica Classrooms (Wheeler & Swords, 2006) is a unique teacher resource that illustrates corresponding AAVE and Standard English features. Although intended for elementary grades, the resource is applicable to middle school.

Ultimately, teachers must provide nonthreatening paces for negotiating and applying nonstandard and Standard English and recognize that home language is inked to student identity (Delpit, 1995, 1997; Fechoet al., 2006). Standard English should be a choice, not in imposition (Baker, 2002). Teachers are responsible or providing awareness of language features and stulents will inevitably decide what they want to say in standard and nonstandard contexts.