DW4a

            In my MGE I want to convey the idea that educating people about AAVE will help to make it more acceptable in more situations in life.  To do this I plan to make a packet that is directed towards high school students to help them understand the differences in dialects but also embrace them.  Also, I want to show that composition studies acknowledges AAVE but that people involved in composition studies cannot change the status quo in schools when it comes to language and AAVE.  It needs to be the students who understand that different dialects are not lazy or bad English.

            In order to show that AAVE should be accepted more by public policy I want to use genres that get the attention of high school students.  Using things like music and sports I think that students would be more likely to understand the meanings of the genres.  My packet will not be meant for teachers to teach, but for students to look at and learn in the classroom on their own.  Incorporating music and sports can help students relate the messages about AAVE to experiences they have already had in their lifetime.

 

Bruch, Patrick, and Richard Marback. "Race, Literacy and the Value of Rights Rhetoric in Composition Studies." College Composition and Communication 53(2002): 651-674.

Canagarajah, Suresh . "Safe Houses in the Contact Zone: Coping Strategies of African-American Students in the Academy." College Composition and Communication 48(1997): 173-196. Print.

Zuidema, Leah. “Myth Education: Rationale and Strategies for Teaching against Linguistic Prejudice.” Journal of Adolescent Literacy 48.8 (May 2005): 668-675. Rpt. in A Reader for Writers. Eds. Craig, Perryman-Clark, and DeJoy: Boston: McGraw- Hill, 2008. 351-366.

            Along with these resources I will use others when I can determine exactly the genres I will use.  With these though I will show students the things that aren’t true about AAVE, why AAVE might not be visible in all environments (safe zone), and the fact that composition studies scholars cannot change the public policy on AAVE alone.

Annotated Bibliography

Ball, Aretha. "Expository Writing Patterns of African American Students." The English Journal 85(1996): 27-36.

Aretha Ball reports on a case study in this article of four African American students from their 11^th to 12^th grade years.  Her study revealed the link between oral and written expression.  I will use Ball’s journal to display the richness that AAVE can bring to composition studies.

Bruch, Patrick, and Richard Marback. "Race, Literacy and the Value of Rights Rhetoric in Composition Studies." College Composition and Communication 53(2002): 651-674.

Patrick Bruch and Richard Marback discuss the CCCC’s SRTOL with regard to composition and public policy.  Comparing the two they talk about historical events such as the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s.  I will use this article in my paper to show that although the field of composition studies is ready to accept AAVE, the public may not be.

Canagarajah, A. Suresh. "Safe Houses in the Contact Zone: Coping Strategies of African-American Students in the Academy." College Composition and Communication 48(1997): 173-196.

In this journal, Canagarajah incorporates the idea of a “safe house” into the writing of AAVE speakers.  He analyzes a class of mostly African Americans and shows how their written language changes as they become more comfortable around he and the other students.  I will use this in my paper to show that the field recognizes AAVE as an acceptable way to write.

Olson, Gary . "Critical Pedagogy and Composition Scholarship." College Composition and Communication 48(1997): 297-303.

Gary Olson’s article looks at the history of AAVE in composition studies.  Talking about how in the past composition studies was generally a conservative discipline, it is also progressivist.  I plan to use this article to talk about the past of AAVE in composition studies.

DW3b

Patrick Bruch, Richard Marback

Race, Literacy, and the Value of Rights Rhetoric in Composition Studies

 

            In this recent article by Patrick Bruch and Richard Marback, the use of language is discussed in both composition studies and by public policy.  The authors compare and contrast the ways that language is allowed to be used and how it is to be used appropriately. 

            First, talking about the CCCC’s resolution of Student’s Right to Their Own Language (SRTOL), the authors discuss how language is accepted in composition studies.  The CCCC’s resolution describes the right to their own language in the classroom, but not necessarily outside of the classroom.  In this way, the right to one’s own language is very limited due to the racial judgments made by people outside of the classroom.  The authors demonstrate these differences in their writing, “For at least the last twenty-five years, the use of a rights rhetoric in composition studies to advance the cause of racial equality contrasts with uses of rights rhetoric in public policy that limit the prospects for racial equality.”  In this passage, the authors are explaining one of the flaws of SRTOL.  The rights rhetoric have been working for racial equality in the field of composition studies and yet rights rhetoric by public policy is not helping to work for the same goal.  In order to truly give students a right to their own language people need to accept that language in both the classroom and in everyday life.  Later in the journal:

 “While the President could and did aggressively deploy National Guard troops for the purpose of safeguarding the right to vote of southern blacks, placing this force in the service of the legislative rhetoric of civil rights ultimately did not compel a culture of toleration.”

            This passage brings the comparison of the civil rights movement to the fight for the end of linguicism.  Although people high up in the government were working for equality in the 1960’s, nothing could truly happen until people within the communities accepted everyone as equals.  This is what the authors mean when they talk about “rights rhetoric by public policy”.  Without public policy being that linguicism is unacceptable, it will be impossible for SRTOL to make a difference in the classroom because it will have no weight outside the classroom.

            In this journal, AAVE is viewed as something that should be accepted in communities.  Although it is not directly discussed, the tone and examples of the authors show that AAVE is seen as something that is good and something that can help people express themselves.

 

DW3a

Lisa Zuidema

“Myth Education: Rationale and Strategies for Teaching against Linguistic Prejudice”

            In Lisa Zuidema’s journal on the comparison of different dialects, including Standard English, Appalachian English, and Ebonics, she looks to find the roots of where linguistic prejudice comes from.  Zuidema talks about the assumptions that people make when hearing how a certain person speaks or writes.  Zuidema also talks about the CCCC resolution “Students’ Right to Their Own Language” (SRTOL).  Zuidema brings up the fact that although the resolution addresses the need to educate teachers and administration of students’ right to their own language, it does not address the problem of educating other students of everyone’s right to their own language.  This point shows that although educating teachers is a step in the right direction there are still moves to be made in the elimination of linguistic prejudice.  She selects four myths about language and explains how they are incorrect.  Using her research to back her up, Zuidema disproves the main ideas that many people have about different dialects.  Zuidema shows that does not need to follow the rules of grammar, all dialects have grammatical rules, Standard English is not better than other dialects, and English is not worse than it used to be.  She goes on to say that not only pointing out the myths is enough.  We need to be sure to prove that the myths are wrong and show the ways that the myths can be disproven in everyday life.  In this writing it seems to say that Ebonics is a legitimate dialect of English and should be accepted by people in many different environments.  It shows the reasons for why Ebonics should be appropriate in school settings because of the large amount of students who use Ebonics.  An argument of Ebonics role in composition studies is not made clearly in this journal, but if put into motion, the suggestions Zuidema makes could lead to using Ebonics to work with composition studies.

IAR 2

IAR of Lisa Nakamura

 

What is invention?

Research on technology and its connection to race.  Research on racial differences in access and use of technology.

What is being invented?

Digital Divide.  Idea that technology was not available to have-nots when it was most important, cybertyping. 

What is being arranged?

Internet being related to racial differences.

What is arrangement?

Compare/contrast of different racial groups and their connections to technology.

What is being revised?

Stop the racial effects of the Internet.  Use it as a tool for knowledge not a tool for discrimination.  Also, promote access to technology for all (although it won’t stop race altogether).  Challenge the idea that the Internet is free of race.

What is revision?

Change by people dropping racial stereotypes completely.  

Bobby's DW2b

            My DW2a compared to Lisa Nakamura:  In my first analysis of down-south.com, a music website, I talked mainly about the structural features of African American Vernacular English(AAVE) and the phonology of digital communication.  To go deeper into analysis I will need to look for rhetorical features of AAVE, as done by Lisa Nakamura in Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet.  My first analysis was focused on the obvious structural features, which I will need to elaborate on in my paper.  I think one of the rhetorical features of AAVE, which would be appropriate to investigate is signifyin because of its role in much of the music presented on the site.  Signifyin is used in nearly every song found on Down-South and can also be found in some of the posts.  As seen in this post, quoting a line from a song:

written by wiz, February 22, 2009

 

weezy fuckin killed it nigga, weezy flyer in any weather hold on hhhh puew there goes a feather haha damnnnnnn

In this post signifyin is used to use an alternate meaning of “fly” and then refer to the literal meaning.  “Weezy flyer in any weather” is not referring to the actual act of flying, but referring to superior status no matter the situation.  Then, “puew there goes a feather” takes “fly” in a literal sense as if he were flying with the birds.  This is just one example of how signifyin is used on the site and in music.  Another rhetorical feature I would like to look at more closely is the changing in the meaning of words to their opposite.  For instance, using “bad” to mean “really good”.  This is used many times on Down-South in the comments.

written by DJ WREKSHOP, December 08, 2008

 

Boosie always wreks!!!

This post turns the word “wreck” around to be a good thing.  Not meaning to literally wreck or crash, but meaning to make real good music.

 

DW2a

            For my blog I have chosen to use my popular culture website, which is www.down-south.com.  Down-South is a hip-hop music site that allows people to hear new music and see people’s reviews and comments on the individual songs.  I use Down-South along with a few other music sites to find the music that I like to listen to.  African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is not discussed on Down-South but it is appropriated quite frequently.  Many of the comments and posts on the songs are written in AAVE.  Posted on the song “I Don’t Know Ya’ll” by Young L.A. and Young Dro: 

written by mz.loc, February 05, 2009

this song off da chain. dro in la did they dam thang.

In this post, AAVE is used by mz. loc.  A couple things can be seen like leaving out the word “is” in the first sentence.  Also, using “da” instead of “the” shows the AAVE tendency to not use “th-“ at the beginning of words.  In the second sentence, “dro in la did they dam thang,” the author uses AAVE structure rather than Standard English (SE) structure.  Saying “did they dam thang” would be wrong in structure for SE but in AAVE sentence structure like this is understood as “They did their damn thing.” 

            Also, a part of AAVE in digital communication, I believe, is the changing of how words are spelled in order to give the right sound to the reader.  This is used on Down-South a lot and you can tell when people don’t understand the reasoning behind the spelling alterations.  In a post on a new song by Drake, Lil Wayne, and Bun B (“Uptown”):

  written by al, February 14, 2009

wayne kilt that shit

...

written by really?, February 14, 2009

kilt? you are a fucking idiot. go back to first grade and learn your grammar.

You can see in the first post that obviously the author meant to spell killed as “kilt”, in order to get across the sound of how it is to be said.  In the second post, this person seems to think that the word was misspelled by mistake.  I see this as a disconnect in dialects, or possibly just a closed minded way to look at language.

DW1b

Myth Education: Rationale and Strategies for Teaching Against Linguistic Prejudice

Leah A. Zuidema

            In this reading, Leah Zuidema discusses the linguistic prejudices that are present in America and suggests strategies for stopping these prejudices.  In my experiences over the last couple weeks in my literacy log I realized things that wouldn’t have occurred to me had I not been looking for them.  People use language as a main source of judging who you are, along with other things such as intelligence, as suggested by Leah Zuidema.

            The ideas that the author brings up in the journal are good ways to stop linguistic prejudices.  The education she speaks of is the best way to inform people that the way you speak has nothing to do with intelligence or beliefs.  Speech is simply a way for people to communicate with one another. 

            In my literacy log I saw that people make overall judgments off of simple sentences.  One example came from when I was talking to a girl that I had met here at MSU.  In casual conversation I explained that I was due for a haircut, but apparently the way I said it led her to make a judgment.  I was just talking, not thinking about how I was speaking, and I said, “Yeah I needa get ma’ haircut, ma’ shits long.”  I thought nothing of the sentence but she stopped immediately and said, “You’re ghetto.  Why don’t you just say hair, instead of ‘my shits long’”?  I didn’t really have an answer, as I hadn’t thought about it I was just talkin.  Now, in this situation, I found it funny that she had made this assumption on one sentence, but nonetheless, in many circumstances judgments like this can be destructive. I connect this assumption to a passage from “Myth Education”.  Zuidema writes “We act as though dialects and accents are windows to people’s souls.  And sometimes, we dare to ignore or dismiss entire groups of people because of what we assume their linguistic habits reveal about them.”  Reading this after having the experience in my literacy log brought up questions in my mind.  Would this girl assume that people I hang with are “ghetto”?  And what exactly did she mean by that?  Because, true or not, it is a ridiculous assumption off of such a simple sentence.

            Zuidema hits the nail right on the head in this writing, in my opinion.  Not only does she point out the linguistic prejudices we see daily, but she gives legitimate options for changing things.  Teaching the idea that different dialects are simply that, different, not wrong, is something that should be started in elementary schools in order to stop the cycle of linguistic prejudice.  If everyone in this world spoke the same way I did, I would "Go Crazy" (like Jeezy).

DW1a

            Language, to me, is much more than the words we speak or how we speak them.  When I think about language I consider the tone in which it is said, the message it conveys, posture, facial expressions, and even more factors that influence the response of the receiver of the message.  When thinking of language in this way, it is very easy for me to see a difference in how I use language at school and at home.  To put these differences on display I will talk about a few instances in which language changes with environment.

            Home is a place of comfort for me and that is shown with my language.  When at home I feel no pressure to speak in a certain way and I think that this is a good thing.  I have very different speaking habits than those of my parents but still I feel that I can speak in whatever way I feel most comfortable.  School is different for me, and I think for most students, because it is an environment of judging.  No matter what people say school is all about judgments; grades, clothing, and even speech.

            My speech at home evolved over time because as I said before I speak in different ways than those of my parents.  When I was young I spoke like them but as I got older and was on my own more my speech evolved.  Playing basketball had a large impact on my speech, as odd as that sounds.  During the summer months, when I have the ability to be outside, I like to go to the park in my city and play basketball.  The park was always busy and there were always tons of different people, who spoke in different ways.  This is when I noticed the biggest change in my language because with all of the diversity at the park I was exposed to many people who would use AAE.  I picked up certain habits of AAE, and I can communicate with people better having that exposure because hearing it and speaking it is nothing new.

            Another happening in my life that has affected the way that I speak and my understanding of AAE was when a new family moved next door to me.  They were an African American family and had two boys, one the same age as I was and one of them two years younger.  Soon after they moved in Kenney (the older of the two) and I became best friends.  Similar to the event I spoke of above, this gave me exposure to not only speech habits but also to people who were different than me on the outside but some of the best people I’ve ever met.

            So, with these experiences my language changed, but my school language was not affected.  When speaking in school or writing a piece for school, it is embedded in my brain that I must pay attention to every detail of what is being written/spoken.  My school language has been uniform for my whole life, while my home language has changed with my environment and experiences.  When texting to one of my friends I would never use such “proper” words (depending on what is consider proper I guess) but in school it has become second nature.

IAR "It Bees Dat Way Sometimes"

In the chapter "It Bees Dat Way Sometimes" the author is looking to educate people on the language, style, and tone of Black English. In order to do this the author had to look deep into the language spoken by black Americans every day. The author had to look past just the words being used and focus on the meaning and reasoning behind the word usage.
In order to write this passage the author needed to do extensive research on language, as multiple regions in the United States were referenced. The studies were broad and in depth at the same time. The author had to come up with the definitions of language and style and then inform the audience of them because many different definitions could be used. Also, not only was Black English researched, but White English too, because the author effectively used comparisons to illustrate the differences in the two types of language. The author’s purpose for writing this chapter was to share the idea that fundamental differences in language come from centuries ago, even though language is always subtly changing and evolving. The audience was also to learn the main differences in sentence structure between Black English and White English. The author also showed that different people have different language techniques and people from different areas have different techniques.
The relationship of White English and Black English is shown in the writing along with the relationship of past language techniques to present day speech. The author displays the relation of misunderstandings to sentence structure by comparing White English to Black English. The basic sentence structure is different and therefore misunderstandings can arise when people don’t understand the different structure. The specific examples given in the text are helpful for people who don’t understand certain differences in the word usage. The use of be, for instance, is thoroughly explained through many examples of everyday situations.
The main purpose of the chapter is to stop the misunderstandings between people who grew up speaking a different type of English. Because of the prejudice of language that is still very prevalent today, people need to be educated on the different types of English so that judgments are not unjustly made about people. Another idea that the author is trying to inform the audience of is that language constantly changes. Different terms are used in different times in history. To get these points across to the reader the author used multiple techniques. The most common technique was real life situations and examples. The examples are then compared to the different types of English. Translating a sentence from White English to Black English helps people to see how the different structure affects the meaning of the words. A comic is also involved in an informative way that points out that perspective plays a huge role in everything we think about.
This chapter was effective in educating people about the differences in sentence structure and word usage between Black English and White English. The authors techniques were simple enough for people to understand without losing the necessary information for enlightening the audience on the topic at hand.