LZM 1 Task 3

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Western Governors University *

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LZM1

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Linguistics

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Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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LZM 1 Task 3: The Dialect Essay Natalie Hamilton WGU

Language is an important part of everyday life, but what is it? Why is it so important? The language most people speak may differ from the standard form of a language, which is not generally spoken by all. The standard form of a language is mostly used for communication by the government and in most forms of writing (Fromkin et al., 2011). Dialects of a language are most typically spoken by the general public of an area. Dialects are mutually intelligible forms of language that differ in systematic ways (Fromkin et al., 2011). You might think of a dialect as the language someone speaks which depicts where they are from or where they are living. A creole is when a language changes over time because of interactions and becomes the native language to that generation (Fromkin et al., 2011). As stated above, most people do not speak in the standard form of a language, but instead in the dialect in which they are most surrounded by. There can be an immense number of dialects in any given area. It is important as an educator to understand that a student’s dialect does not directly relate to their level of education or capabilities as a pupil. One of the key issues that students might run into with support personnel or educators is the perception that they might not be as intelligent because of how they speak. Unfortunately, in many classrooms around the US, student can fall victim to linguistic discrimination. Linguistic discrimination occurs when a student is judged on intelligence by the way he/ she speaks or writes. Just as one should not judge a book by it’s cover, an educator should certainly not judge a student by their dialect. “Because individuals have such a deep-

seated sense of what language ought to sound like, on the basis of their own language socializations, the hardest task in distinguishing between difference and deficit is coming to accept a greater range of expression as normal.” (Chrochunis et al., 2002) Students and families may have trouble receiving ELD services as they are not learning English as a second language, even when their dialect of English may, in fact, be causing a lack in understanding in the classroom. This is something every teacher needs to make note of in hopes of reaching all students where they are and getting them where they need to go. There are many dialects of English spoken in the United States such as African American English, Californian, Cajun, Chincano English, Midwest, and Spanglish, to name a few. Two prominent dialects spoken by students in my classroom are African America English (AAE) and Russian English. I will be focusing on AAE and Russian English for the next segments. African American English (AAE) is often referred to as “Black English”, but it is important to understand that AAE is not spoken by all African Americans, nor is it spoken by only African Americans (Larson, D., n.d.). AAE shares many similarities to Standard American English (SAE) though there is a misconception, due to a lack of linguistic background and understanding of languages/ dialects, that it is “just slang, bad English, and illogical” (Larson, D., n.d.). As in most dialects, African American English has its own pronunciation (phonology), word constructions, and syntax patterns. It is important to be able to recognize struggles your students might acquire

because of the difference in the dialects. I will be focusing on phonology and syntax differences between AAE and SAE. Consonant deletion is a common occurrence in AAE. R’s are dropped from words unless before a vowel. An example of this would be the word ‘poor’ is pronounced ‘poe’. This appears in others like the Eastern coast dialects, as well. Another example would be the letter L will be deleted from words like ‘folder’ is ‘foder’ (Larson, D., n.d.). The pronunciation of these words with their deletions would impact how the student spell while writing. A large part of writing is hearing the sounds that are in the words as you are writing them down to form sentences and stories. Speaking with deletions will impact a student’s writing because they could delete those letters while they are writing because they aren’t hearing them while they are speaking. Another difference between AAE and SAE is a common morphosyntax ‘error’ of the use of double negatives. Double negatives are frequently used in AAE such as “I didn’t have no breakfast today.” Instead of “I didn’t have any breakfast today.” (Gildersleeve-Neumann, C. (2021). Double negatives are used as a form or emphasis in sentences and amidst conversations. Comparable to the double negative, the word “ain’t” is used acceptably and regularly in AAE. Again, this is something that will affect how students are writing because they are apt to use their voice in their writing. This should be encouraged by teachers but is generally frowned upon as it doesn’t follow SAE. Teachers can discuss with the students the possibility of different ways to find their voice and use it in their writing while also following the rules of

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