What I liked most about the article was that it did not
completely bash on Standard American English. Because Standard American English
(edited) is my dominant and home language I always feel uncomfortable guilty
when articles or discussions arise that make using Standard English as a tool
to make people of other cultures feel inferior to you. Because that is not my
goal when I am speaking, I am not trying to make myself above anyone else it is
just the way that I speak. I liked how he wanted to teach languages in a way
that no one language was devalued or belittles and that by learning standard
English was just another tool for success in their tool box along with the many
other forms of language that a student could pull from and adapt to certain
situations with. I really agree with the idea of making languages and different
discourses of writing or speaking as flexible. And by incorporating many
different styles (even standard American English) the only thing that can
happen is an appreciation for other languages and an understanding of knowing
who your audience is. I also enjoyed the idea that teaching this goes beyond
just writing, I liked how they practiced different types of speak for example a
news anchor. For my final reflective
statement I want it to be something that introduces the idea that language is a
tool for communication, and that the end goal of language is to communicate.
There are many different audiences for which one may need to communicate too,
so by learning different styles of language and understanding how they allow
people of that discourse to communicate is what I will center my class around
when it comes to teaching grammar. I want my students to really understand what
community discourse, audience and the role of the writer (or speaker) really
means and how they can adapt language to empower them in whatever situation
they are in. Code-switching. I believe that if language is taught to students
as something that is a tool for success and they are shown the many ways in
which to communicate there will not be issues with devaluing different
languages.
For my portfolio I am having trouble classifying my
different examples. I have found passages of writing that I find interesting
but I find it hard to limit myself to putting a label on them. Most of my English are pieces of Standard
American Edited English as the core or base or influence of the writer but each
passage has its own twist or flare that make it deviate from the norm giving it
flavor. I specifically chose these because SAE is my dominant discourse and has
been getting criticized, so I wanted to find passages that show that this
language style can be creatively made unique and is not as constricted as
people claim it to be.
