Ebonics and Education Essay

A Persuasive Research Paper on the Why Education Should Pave Way for Ebonics All a individual needs to do is turn on the television or stray the Internet to see the proof that there ar very eventful changes in the society. Among those changes is how the use of wrangle increased and how its forms pass greatly grown. With frequently slang, accents and words transformation and combinations, the number of wordings both(prenominal) over the world and not just in the United States, draw signifi tramptly grown big and bigger.However, the question of whether this continuous dynamic change in languages is for the better rest to be seen. This is because, though languages have changed and grown, conundrums ca employ by miscommunication and misunderstandings are still rearing and present. Although language and solely its combinations with other(a) languages aimed to bridge over the gap between nations and stopping points, contrasting hatful with opposite origins and spee ch are still unable to bridge that gap. in that location are still many break throughs concerning the cropping up and usage of bran-new languages.Most common among those is the enigma that languages which are coincided or which undergo a linguistic blend tends to be disruptive of clod, reform and grammatical language. A wide-eyed example would be those music videos which feature artists that combine and contract structure of words to make the song more openhearted or even more attuned to the rhythm of the song. However, this has a negative meat as mass, most especi exclusivelyy young adults and children, accommodate familiar with such(prenominal) language usage to the point that they begin to emulate them.Such regard has long been the topic in educational boards and institutions of whether they should correct and put fall by the focussingside to such language usage or encourage such convert of words since slangly, the young are affected. In fact, Ebonics or melan ise side of meat or African American position has become such a het up topic when it was sort of obvious that there is a problem among the academics of African American students because they have such low grades and low accomplishment levels that could be attributed to the usage of Ebonics.Many people sided against and for the encouragement of Ebonics. Study later study ensued to prove that Ebonics was an important and integral part of the many pupils and students since that is the language they actually use while others alike discouraged its usage. Through this paper, it can be argued that Ebonics is not a innocent slang which African American students can do without and that it is not something which should be corrected just because it is seen as ungrammatical.Instead, what the educational boards and institutions should do is cater to their learners and use Ebonics to implement knowledge conduct among their pupils and students and eventually make them learn and use sampl e slope. Ebonics is formally cognize as African American incline or AAE according to the essence for Applied Linguistics (n. p. ). It is a kind of sociolect or social tongue where it is often employ by people who are of African American origins in particular surroundings or situations.The difference of Ebonics with American face is its structure wherein African dialects and sounds are combined, blended, mixed with American side of meat. American English is also sometimes contracted with African dialects or sounds to be inserted at heart the contractions. Such example is presented by bath R. Rickford in his discussion of Ebonics as presented in the Website of the Stanford University. In the example, Rickford uses a simple clip which is grammatically correct I asked Alvin if he could go (n. p. ).He therefore conveys the example to a student known to use Ebonics and the student gives his own version of the sentence I as Alvin could hecould he go (Rickford, n. p. ). Ebonic s is not the mere transformation of structure of words to ungrammatically correct versions. In fact, though not completely grammatically acceptable, Ebonics is still considered a structured and unyielding dialect. As what the Center for Applied Linguistics or CAL states, AAE (or Ebonics) is a regular, arrogant language variety that contrasts with other dialects in calls of its grammar, pronunciation and phrase (n.p. ). Thus, Ebonics is not wrong or incorrect, it is merely different and a contradiction with other languages, in this case, the language of American English or standardised English. The origin of Ebonics is unclear but the origins of why it became a topic of heated arguments and confer is quite known. Because nations cater to other nations, and migration and immigration (and even simple leisure travel) are inevitable, it is also natural that the language which people of different cultures use would also be transferred and assimilated by other people with other lang uages.According to Ladonna Lewis Rushs argumentative paper on the Ebonics debate titled The Ebonics Debate, the origins of Ebonics can be explained by Smitherman who wrote in Talking and Testifyin Black English and the Black Experience that Black English contains elements of Standard English, elements of westward African languages, and elements unique to African-Americans. The structure of speech in Ebonics can be analyzed and related to African language structures as well as to the black experience in America. (as cited by Rush, n. p. )Thus, Ebonic came about because the African Americans inevitable the language which they could adapt to and use while in America who used American English for their communication. Like what the CAL stated, Smitherman and Rush also believe that Ebonics is not mere slang which is featured and used by African American music artists but it is considered as a distinct dialect all on its own. The concept of Ebonics must have been unknown to most people b efore the year 1996 but because of a certain state in America, Ebonics and everything related to the dialect and term suddenly exploded to the point that it became a topic of debate.According to Tracey L. Weldon in her write up titled Reflections on the Ebonics Controversy which appeared in American Speech, the Oakland Unified School District in California passed a village on the month of December year 2006 that recognized the legitimacy of Ebonics and it called for teachers in the district to be better better about the rules governing the variety (Ebonics) with the aim that the teachers would be able to alter the teaching of standard English to Ebonics speakers (275).The issue sparked up debate later on debate because linguists approved the resolution stating it was correct and adequate while Ebonics speakers and family members of African American origins complained that it was an obvious tactic of discrimination and identification of who were the students that does not have t he ability to speak the proper English (Weldon 276). Ebonics and the usage of the dialect is quite obvious in the society as it can be perceive from people in most social gatherings, informal meetings and even in the media.According to Rickford, many terms and structures in Ebonics are used by common people because of what they have learned from rap, hip hop and other means of popular Black culture (n. p. ). As what Rickford uses to describe this broad usage of Ebonics in popular Black culture, it becomes an icon of youth culture itself wherein young African Americans are immediately identified as organism users of Ebonics. Since Ebonics is a mere means of communication among African Americans, then it should not be a great deal of a problem.However, unfortunately, the usage of the sociolect has become increasingly an issue most especially in educational institutions wherein grammatically correct and linguistically sound structure and vocabulary should be used and promote. Rush po ints out the case why Ebonics has become a problem among pupils and students in schools and this is because they manage to have poor academic standing and it was revealed that because of this dialect that the students have such appalling results. Rush writes in her paper that language skills are directly related to success in academics (n. p. ).This is obviously confessedly since language is used to communicate and interact with other people. Poor language skills or inability to produce and understand the language would make it for singles self and for other people to have a clear conversation and communication. It is also Rush who pointed out that African American students have a high rate of universe suspended (around 80%) and that the students are lagging behind in measures of academic success (n. p. ). There was also an article which appeared on NEA Today that interviewed Lisa Delpit who is a professor an author that concentrate on Ebonics.In the interview, Delpit mentioned the reason why Ebonics is important and why the resolution passed by the school district was commendable Most of the African-American children in Oakland were performing miserably. But one school, the Prescott School, consistently performed near the top of the district. Its students were all low-income African-American children. And it adopted a program called the Standard English Proficiency, which uses the childrens home language and culture to teach them Standard English. (17).If Ebonics will be used to relate to the students and slowly pave their learning for Standard English, then there is a high possibility that African Americans percentage of academically challenged students would significantly decrease. The question then is how does one go on work out such problem to ensure a fool proof substance of solving the issue? This of course lies with the educational board and teachers. Teachers in formal schools teach Standard English because it something which society and the res t of the English speakers use.There is no problem with using Ebonics if it is outside professional and academic causal agent it is after all part of the African American culture. However, Standard English should be the language that is encouraged by the teachers to be used by their students because it would help them in the long run. Based on different discussions on the resolution passed by the school district of Oakland, the debate on whether Ebonics should be studied by the districts teachers and used to pave the way to teach Standard English should not even be a topic of debate.This is because the debate started because of a mere misunderstanding about the resolution, some other proof that language does not only bridge gaps it also creates them, when people saw Standard English as the only form of English that linguists identified as proper English. Linguistically speaking, there is thus a Standard English as what Weldon has stated but the term proper English is incorrect sin ce there is no wrong or right English. If it can be remembered, Ebonics is even identified as being a dialect that is structured thus, it is very much acceptable.In conclusion, the issue that Ebonics be used to gap and slowly push the learners toward Standard English (as aimed by the resolution) is created by the definition and need of the Standard English. Standard English is not the only English nor is it the only form of the language which is encouraged to be used instead, Standard English is something which is needed to make all forms of English languages coherent and uniform in the sense that there would be no linguistically and communicatively wrongly structured words.It is the same case of having a one school uniform designated to students of a school to identify who are the members of that school or the generally approved legal age for insobriety or voting or driving. There is a common performer which envelopes the entities of a school, a state or a nation. Standard Englis h therefore is needed by the Ebonics speakers if they are desirous of being roaring in society which is also the language used by the many. Ebonics is not slang, wrong nor should it be discouraged.However, the Ebonics speakers should be able to understand that learning the Standard English is important since it would make them socially adept at communication with other people. With all the turmoil and misunderstandings that society is currently under, it needs all the unity and harmony it can geteven if it just comes from having a language they can all understand and speak. Works Cited A new-made Take on Ebonics and Teaching. NEA Today 17. 2 (1998) 17.Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 July 2010. Center for Applied Linguistics. 2010. Dialects African American English. Cal. org. Web. 26 July 2010. Rickford, John R. 1996. Ebonics Notes and Discussion. Stanford. edu. Web. 26 July 2010. Rush, Ladonna Lewis. The Ebonics Debate. Princeton. edu. College of Wooster. 1997. Web. 26 July 2010. Weldon, Tracey L. Reflections on the Ebonics Controversy. American Speech 75. 3 ( 2000) 275-277. Project MUSE. Web. 26 July 2010.