An Analysis Of Media Coverage Of Ebonics: Incorporating Black English Into The Curriculum

Secondly, range of similarities and differences are perceived in the sets of rules constraining the language structure of Auslan and English. In comparison to English, sign languages are visual languages, hence it is distinct in modality and word-ordering structure (Damian, 2011). To illustrate, the words of spoken languages are delivered in a fairly linear pattern, both in time and on paper (Bejan, 2001). This linear sentence structure is observed in English, but the same is not demonstrated in Auslan. However, despite this distinction, the order of signs remains of importance to produce meaningful sentences. This is because Auslan conveys many grammatical features found in the English language at phonological, morphological and syntactic levels (Johnston & Schembri, 2007). An individual’s poor English grammar is attributed for sentence fragments. These poorly formed English sentences occur when a sentence lacks a subject, a verb or do not express a complete thought (Schuster, 2006). In the same manner, the wrong ordering of signs will affect the fluency of the language. For instance, the linear English sentence ‘many black cars have disappeared’ will be signed as MANY-BLACK-CAR-DISAPPEAR (Johnston & Schembri, 2007). In this example, it is important that the determiner (MANY) and adjective (BLACK) are situated before the noun (CAR) (Johnston & Schembri, 2007). This is done for the purpose of identifying the noun within the sentence, which subsequently lead to the formation

Talking Black In America addresses how advanced, unique, and culturally important African American English is (Hutcheson and Cullinan, 2017).

English is the standard language of America. In the essay “Nobody Mean More to Me than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan” by June Jordan, Jordan demonstrates and confirms that Black English represents African Americans’ identity, and how the language should be taught. June Jordan, examines the black dialect in United States and evaluates the pros and cons that normal language can have on those who speak black english. Jordan believes if that a specific language of a race is not recognized, then the race, identity and authority as a one are ignored. June Jordan begins the essay by introducing a course she had taught “In Search of the Invisible Black Woman.” She commits most of the essay to describing her personal experience in this college course as well as a different one, “The Art of Black English.”

With a background affected tremendously by the dark history of African Americans, language has become a significant problem to what the term Black English really means to different people. In If Black Language Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is, James Baldwin attempts to analyze what a language really means and how Black English evolved to fulfill an important role for Americans. Black English sounds proper to blacks, but to whites it may not be a proper use of language. Throughout this essay, Baldwin uses a specific tone and relates to his audience by opening his mind to both emotion and logic while still upholding his credibility. Baldwin tries to persuade the audience to respect the language of Black English using his personal experience. The history of different languages mentioned in the essay is used to help convince the audience of thinking about the term language from a new perspective. Whites and Blacks both may speak the same language, but that does not mean that they understand each other because the language can be spoken in different matters. As Baldwin states, “The white man could not possibly understand, and that, indeed, he cannot understand, until today”. A white man or black man had to be careful about the words they used in front of each other because some words would be considered offensive for one another. Baldwin uses African American language and culture to reveal the impact that the English language Americans use has created.

In the civilized society that everyone lives in today, all languages and culture should be equal. That is the main idea in both Gloria Anzaldua’s essay, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, as well as James Baldwin’s “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?”. The authors in both these texts support their argument in various ways, and in doing so, manages to effectively persuade their audience. The ways that each author approaches their argument is different in their appeals, evidence, and styles. Similarities also exist between the texts of the two authors. The rhetorical strategies that Anzaldua uses makes her argument much stronger than Baldwin’s argument.

Black slang is a form of informal spoken language whose origins are most often associated with African Americas. Slang is a way for young African Americans to express themselves. Many other races copy their expressions because they think it is cool. Some commonly used terms are words such as; gangsta, bling, grills, hang, hood, benjamins, dopes, aight, holla, crib, playa, roll up, straight, yo, and shawty.

According to the author, education was not bestowed upon African-American by enlightened citizens. Literacy is viewed as a valuable commodity that African-Americans have had limited opportunities to acquire. And for them becoming literate is perceived as continuous struggle. So Literacy serves emancipatory function when appropriate to reconstruct a society, so it limits access to those who are not literate to participate in all cultural institutions. According to Harris, European American do not fully support the education of African-American and would prefer not to fund it at the levels comparable to funding for their children and would prefer curricula that do not enable African –American to compete with their children for access to high education and possibly opportunities .

As a white person, I will never understand certain circumstances in life that a black person would. I have never had to deal with thoughts such as Is the people in this store watching me because I am Black and might steal something? Or Does my teacher think I read slower because I am black? There is no way for me to relate to circumstances of that matter. You can feel the anger of the author in his writing, Black English is considered wrong. His emotion is noticeable and realizing the reality of what he is speaking is more moving than his actual words. A society and its culture effects how language is used and understood. It allows one to relate or separate from one

These elements are syntax, figurative

For example, back in slavery time, African Americans “had to quickly adapt to the English language of their masters” (Ettlinger). This adjustment has altered blacks in the south to adapt the way the English language is spoken in the south. Moreover, the word drawl is often confused with the morpheme word “draw.” If the letters “ers” is added, we not only get a completely different word (drawers), but it becomes plural in the case of drawls. Though the words sound similar, there is a huge difference in their

What is Ebonics? “Ebonics simply means “black speech” which is a blend of words ebony and phonic sounds. The term Ebonics was created in 1973 by a group of black scholars who had disliked the negative connotations of terms such as “Nonstandard Negro English” that had been coined in the 1960s when the first modern large-scale linguistics studies of African American speech communities began (Rickford).” The word Ebonics was used to describe the speech of African ancestry, which were located either in the Black North America, or those of the West African descent. “Since 1996 it has been used to emphasize an independence from “Standard English”. According to Baugh, the term Ebonics is used in four different ways by the Afro-centric supporters.

The final and most recognizable trait of AAVE is the use of the habitual ‘be.’ The habitual ‘be’ conveys events that happen routinely. Jack Sidnell offers several examples in “African American Vernacular English- Ebonics.” He illustrates, “Standard English present perfect: He has been married. AAVE been: He been married” (Sidnell). In the Standard English sentence the implication is that, he is now no longer married. However, in the AAVE sentence the implication is quite the opposite: he is still married. The four above-mentioned grammatical features are not the only rules that AAVE speakers follow, but these rules are the most common and recognizable traits of AAVE.

Historically, humans have always been separated into groups based on appearance, whether that is concerning body shape, the clothes we wear, or the color of our skin. Stereotyping is a natural instinct that humans have because they feel the need to classify people in order to not feel threatened by them. Humans feel an obligation to know and understand people but do not necessarily want to be associated with them, thus they place people into specific groups, labeling them. One of the primary ways that we stereotype people is by their race. Being a minority that has always been prejudiced against in America, African Americans are often judged because of the way that they speak. Black students have struggled in academic settings that use Standard English, such as in the common American classroom. African American Vernacular English (AAVE) harms Black students through discrimination on standardized tests and in classroom environments.

Use of examples: We have to use the safety belt. Children have to attend school by law.

Feruza uses the right verbs but uses the wrong form of the verbs, as in the example provided above. Here is one more example: