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Lyra Hilliard
ENGL388V
16 April 2017
REESE: Its been pretty interesting to say the least. Our class discussion
went on for so long yesterday that I had to scrap an
awesome activity that I had planned!
REESE: I had them read Vershawn Youngs Should Writers Use They
Own English. They had pretty enthusiastic responses.
REESE: You might need to slow down on the Blue Moons, Nicole, youre
not making sense.
NICOLE: Fine, maybe I could use better words. Improper English? Informal
English?
REESE: Im getting the feeling that you didnt read Youngs entire piece.
Did you not read his discussion about how grammar and
language rules are arbitrary and created by usually rich, usually
white men? I think that reading does a great job at getting
students to take a step back and really think about language.
NICOLE: Well sure, we could open up that can of worms, but the reality of
todays society is that our ability to adhere to grammar rules
and proper English is how we are evaluated for jobs, for
scholarships. We could encourage students to write in
their preferred vernacular and grade them on overall content
rather than on grammar and style, but how would that help them in a
job where theyre required to write to other employees and clients?
REESE: Ok, thats fair. But I think these issues are beyond just going to
school to get a nice job. Telling someone that their English is
wrong or improper totally invalidates their backgrounds and
experiences.
NICOLE: So whats the issue with code switching? Why cant we just treat
Standard English as a code? It should be pretty easy to tell
when we need to use that code.
NICOLE: I think Im starting to see what you mean. But what do you think
our responsibility is as English instructors? How do we
teach English without invalidating our students voice?
REESE: We can still show our kids the ropes of what is considered
proper but, as you know, English class is way more than a
grammar class. What made todays discussion so great was
that they were all broadening their perspectives of
language. Instead of teaching Standard Written English as the
dominant style of writing, I teach it is another code. Young warned
readers about the danger of having a narrow perspective of
proper English. He said, The narrow, prescriptive lens be
messin writers and readers all the way up, cuz we all been
taught to respect the dominant way to write, even if we dont,
cant, or wont ever write that one way ourselves (Young, 112). The
English language is made up of so many diverse dialects and
vernaculars, some which arent that difficult to understand.
Thats why I love Youngs concept of code meshing.
NICOLE: I think I could swing that. Now I think we may need to get out of
here, its getting later and I think I see a line forming. I really
dont want to see any of my students right now.
REESE: Ah, good idea. It wasnt cute the first time that happened to me
and it wont be cute again.
Works Cited:
Young, Vershawn A. "Should Writers Use They Own English?." Iowa Journal of
Cultural Studies 12 (2010): 110-117.