Blog Post 4

[Teachers] should recognize that the linguistic form a student brings to school is intimately connected with loved one’s community, and personal identity. To suggest that this form is “wrong” or, even worse, ignorant, is to suggest that something is wrong with the student and his or her family. (p.33)

The Ebonics debate raises some important concerns and questions regarding linguistics in school and the classroom. Should student know Standard English? If they don’t how can it be incorporated into the classroom without making it the main focus? If a student is never taught Standard English will they be able to be successful?

In her quote, Delpit states that a student's dialect is connected to their personality and family background. If teachers competently disregard that it is completely disregarding the child as a human being. At the same time she emphasizes the importance of knowing Standard English. "It is equally important to understand that students who do not have access to the politically popular dialect form in this country are less likely to succeed economically than their peers who do" (33).

I think it is important for students to learn Standard English. We did not make the rules on what is standard and what is not, but someone else did. As a society we are under the impression that people who can speak proper English are more intelligent and I don’t think that is going to change soon. I am not saying I agree with this philosophy I am just saying that is how the United States is. As teachers it would be our job to give students the opportunity to learn Standard English. If the students choose not to take advantage of the opportunity and the teacher tried their best to teach them there is nothing else that can be done.

On the other hand there are a lot of intelligent people in this country that do not speak proper English. A lot of my science professors are from different countries and speak with a heavy accent and are not always grammatically correct. They still managed to be successful and earn their PhD and work at JCU. It really depends in the area you want to work in. Many scientists come to America to do research and excel with knowing hardly any English.