GRDG526: Language, Literacy, and Diversity in American EducationUsing Linguistic Analysis
Dr. Gloria E. Jacobs
Sharing
Agenda
•Sounding Black Podcast•Group Discussion•Break•Minilecture & IPA Instruction•Next Week
Podcast
•Studio 360: Sarah Jones on Sounding Black
Small Group Discussion
This week, you choose your groups!
Break 6:15 – 6:30
Minilecture: Linguistic Variation
•Accents, dialects, languages – all linguistic variation
•Levels of variation▫Regional Association (“regional dialects)
Pronunciation (accent) Vocabulary
▫Social Groups (“social dialects”) Grammar
Minilecture: Linguistic Variation
•The greater the social distance, the greater the variation in language.▫Most apparent in how verbs are used
Those with less social power expected to know/understand language of those of higher social power, but not vice versa.
Minilecture: Linguistic Variation
Rather Than These• Dialect
• Nonstandard English
Use These Terms• Language variation or
linguistic variation
• Vernacular dialect
Language, Learning, and Thinking•No evidence that linguistic variation
interferes with cognitive development or reflects logical thinking (or lack thereof).
Minilecture: Linguistic Variation•Standard English: A composite of “socially
preferred dialects from various parts of the US and other English speaking countries” (Adger, Wolfram, & Christian, 2007, p. 15).▫Consistent with critical race theory that
recognizes the value of the African American experience and how the white experience has been historically privileged.
•Two views: Deficit versus Difference ▫Consistent with McDermott & Varenne
(1997) Culture as Disability perspective.
Minilecture: Linguistic Variation
•What’s a teacher to do?▫Develop knowledge and respect for
integrity of linguistic varieties (Adger, 2007, p. 26).
▫Make dialect study part of your professional development
▫Teach students to appreciate their linguistic heritage by teaching them how to do dialect study
Minilecture: Linguistic Variation
•Conducting dialect study▫Involve your students▫Listen closely and nonjudgmentally to your
speech and that of your students▫Learn the linguistic patterns of the
community I which you teach Listen for grammatical patterns Listen for pronunciation patterns
Vowel differences tend to mark region Consonant differences tend to mark social
class
Minilecture: Linguistic Variation
Is someone who speaks in the vernacular
•“uneducated”
Or
•not socialized into academic or standard Englishes
Minilecture: Linguistic Variation
•Implications for Literacy Instruction▫miscue analysis/reading instruction▫spelling development▫grammar instruction▫writing assessment
We should of gone to are grandmother house.
Minilecture - IPA• Sound/letter correspondence• Vowels and consonants• Terms
▫Phoneme: smallest unit of sound that carries meaning.
▫Dipthongs: Two sounds within one phoneme (bike)
▫Digraphs: Two letters to represent one phoneme (that)
▫Blends: Two letters/two phonemes that are smoothed together (bread/bleed)
Practicing the IPA
•Handout
Practicing for the Oral Language Analysis• With a partner, analyze your speech
▫Read the first paragraph of “Comma Gets a Cure” and with a partner, transcribe a few sentences using IPA.
▫Use Adger et al (2007) and Freeman & Freeman (2004) to help you think about your Grammar patterns Vocabulary choices
▫ In casual conversation with close friends, how “standard” do you think your speech is?
▫ In classroom or other professional settings, how does your speech change?
Student Analysis
•Page 13 of syllabus•Data to be collected•Analysis•Implications
Next Week
•Meet in Library 100▫Have some idea of what you would like to do
your literature review on•Sutton (2004) on spoken word
performance•Lee (2009) on cultural modeling•Compton-Lilly Chapter 10 on popular
culture to support literacy development•Watch Brave New Voices performances•Student Analysis paper due
Examples of Spoken Word
•Elliot of RCSD to NCTE•Hebrew Mamita•Taylor Mali - "What Teachers Make"