Wow! There is so much information I could reflect on here. I'm guessing what truly stands out the most for me is this idea of "codeswitching" (probably solidified by the added reading). I have gone all of my life not realizing that I am constantly "codeswitching." My form of communication with my closest friends is completely different than how I converse in any other forum. I am a chameleon, when it comes to language, changing to adapt to my enviornment. I was taught from the very beginning "proper" ways in which I was to address my elders, "yes ma'am, no sir." I at times find myself cringing when I hear children address an adult with "what's up?" Then again, I find myself cringing when I hear my son being critiqued for not calling someone "ma'am or sir."
When I was working in the elementary school, I always overheard other adults tell our ESL children, "no Spanish at school, you need to speak English while you are here." This is the language that I adopted along side of them, telling the children the same things. I feel ashamed now for ever doing that, but I truly did not know any better and believed that if they used the time at school to practice their English skills that somehow they would become magically more proficient.
Another thing that I heard often and have recently heard from a teacher I observed was, "it's not axed, it's asked try it again...NO not axed, an ax is something you chop wood with, you are ASKing a question, say ask..." this went on for about 4 times before the child finally said "ask" but she was embarassed and I was mortified for her. It didn't feel right for the teacher to continue in the manner in which she did.
I loved how Wheeler, Swords article uses the example of clothing with the children to help them to identify when and where it is appropriate to use certain types of language.
I want to point out one other thing our text talked about with regard to dialects of different languages. Just within my own family: grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc., we speak a different dialect of this "English" language (we're Southern folk). I have cousins that have a really hard time with the pronunciation of many words. One cousin in particular had difficulties in school because of this. It never had anything to do with her intelligence, but the fact that the teacher was horrified with how she spoke "Standard English." This situation breaks my heart, because it has truly crushed her self-esteem. She is college educated but still feels incompetent from the comments and remarks that are still made with regard to how she speaks.
My hope for my own classroom is that we can have understanding,patience, and celebration for one another's differences and experiences. I think it will be a constant challenge! Social norms that exist are hard to break through. I find this in my life daily. My son reminds me often of how it exists among him and his peers.
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Wendy, I think you are so right! It is funny, I never thought of how much "codeswitching" I do on my own, but I really do, and on a daily basis! We have certain ways of speaking and behavior that are appropriate for each situation in our daily lives, and find it difficult when we come to a situation where we don't have the "code," and are unsure how to act/speak. It's funny, my Dad prides himself on "being able to talk to anyone." He brags on himself frequently about being able to "speak the lingo" of really any group of people, and assimilate quickly into various cultures, dialects and situations. I think we as humans learn how to do this early on, and even learn that those who are "different," are funny or weird, and we tend to make fun and pass judgments, almost without thinking. It WILL be hard to break these social norms and create classrooms with nothing but understanding and tolerance, but I am excited that we are receiving the tools this semester to create our own homeostatic classroom communities.
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I was really drawn to your descriptions of incidents when children were continually pushed to use the correct pronunciation (asked vs. axed). I do believe that children should be taught about codeswitching and encouraged to look at the differences among dialects. However, it does not seem helpful to critique pronunciation of certain words that are just always going to be difficult for code-switchers (which we all are!). I just cannot hear the difference between the words pen and pin, and I know I would be extremely frustrated if someone continually corrected me. Yet I feel I have a strong understanding of SE and can manage quite well in the professional world! As teachers, we need to be conscious of what we mark as vital learning. Thanks for reminding me of this point!
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