Notes on McWhorter, chapter 8

Taken by Kelly Evans

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advocates of teaching SE to black students as second language believe failure rate of black students is due to a significant extent to the differences of BE and SE.

Black students must decode as they learn. Learn to read and write BE then move to SE make them more enthusiastic about learning.

OAKLAND - wanted to use BE as a bridge.

the dialect reader (not published)

section of celebrated black authors and peices of lit. written in BE

Section w/ contrastive analysis. Translating BE to SE. Workbook format. Audio tape, oral response.

Section of approriateness. Drills studesnts given situation then decide BE or SE.

McWhorter -- this approach wellintentioned, but misguided.

Two overlooked facts -- children around the world use nonstandard dialects and learn standard for without too many problems.

-- many cases non standard dialects of other languages further from standard than BE from SE.

ex.- standard German + Schwabisch. in Stuttgart.

NO bridging in Stuttgart, learn standard through emersion.

BUT Stuttgart dialect is NOT devalued

not as many sociological burdens.

Scots English -- some Scottish children find reading Scots harder than reading SE.

Some argue that slight difference between SE + BE make it more difficult than STARK contast of Stuttgart to SG.

Canadian French about as different from SF as BE from SE -- They still learn

If so hard why isn't rural Southern white Eng. considered foriegn? why not bridge there?

Black children not just learn SE at school.

BE+SE used in everday life. -- codeswitching everyday.

some students asked to repeat SE sentences do so in BE BUT these unaware there are 2 dialects.

children learn better in home dialect! Doesn't mean should teach as a second language.

Poor quality of American schools contributes to low test scores.

Conditions of Public Schools make learning hard for all students.

study in 1980s -- BE makes learning math and logic harder (McWhorter says NO!)

why different performance?

socioeconomic

inner city fundamentally oral culture

McWhorter--black students of all socioeconomic strata "less fundamental orientation toward education."

school as other

blacks who like school teased seen as betrayors.

"Train schoolteachers in systematicity of BE."

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