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Reading Summary Cards  from Tongue-Tied: The Lives of Multilingual Children in Public Education

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Reading Summary Cards  from Tongue-Tied: The Lives of Multilingual Children in Public Education

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Edited by Otto Santa Ana

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Academic Ignorance and Black Intelligence by William Labov

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Academic Ignorance and Black Intelligence by William Labov

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This article was published in 1968 in The Atlantic Magazine to prove racist linguists;' verbal deprivation theory wrong, including Richard Hernstein (the now dead and notorious author of The Bell Curve), Basil Bernstein, Carl Bereiter, Siegfried Engelmann, etc...

He and a team of two white and two black  investigators conducted research in South Central Harlem from 1965 to 1968. Thankfully, Labov's research continued to break ground over the next 30 years through the publication of the The Bell Curve. dff

Response:

I was very pleased to read that there were pioneers in linguistics calling out the racist linguists with their ignorant and racism theories who were so blinded by their bias that they could not conduct proper research based on factual observations. They were not being scientific at all, but instead were looking through a lens so muddied with bias that, if left to their own devices, would turn falsities into fact with their illogical and racist conclusions.

Key Terms:

Black English Vernacular
color-marking system
verbal deprivation theory

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Principles of Successful Schools for Multilingual Children by Daniel and Ronald Solorzano

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Principles of Successful Schools for Multilingual Children by Daniel and Ronald Solorzano

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These two scholars argue that most schools operate on one of these three models: the Genetic Determinist Model, the Cultural Determinist Model, or the School/Institutional Determinist Model. They discuss how these determinist models are based on Anglo cultural values, where Chicano culture is viewed in a negative light, where it is really only different.
They explain that in order for Chicano children to thrive in school, there must be a more positive approach for schools to follow. Two of these are the Effective Schools Approach and the Accelerated Schools Approach. They promote acceleration instead of remediation and frequent monitoring of student progress.

Response:

I agree with them. The whole concept of "at-risk," for example, is often coming from an Anglo perspective where the culture is really just not understood, or misunderstood, by the white majority. Regarding the frequent monitoring of student progress, I thought of how WIDA Access scores alone cannot inform instruction and assessment, but we must consider other factors since they take the test in February and eight months go by before the next school year. We just monitor ELs progress more comprehensively in order challenge them and help them to achieve success in school.

Key Terms

Genetic Determinist Model
Cultural Determinist Model
School/Institutional Determinist Model
Effective Schools Approach
Accelerated Schools Program

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The Best Multilingual Schools by Tamara Lucas, Rosemary Henze, and Ruben Donato

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The Best Multilingual Schools by Tamara Lucas, Rosemary Henze, and Ruben Donato

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These authors explained that the best multilingual schools hire teachers who are bilingual and/or trained in methods for teaching language-minority students.
They focus on academic proficiency versus English fluency, as well as emphasizing bilingualism and honoring the cultural backgrounds and promoting cross-cultural communication and cross-cultural counseling. The teachers provide accommodations and create activities using visuals, board work, group work, reading aloud and clear and explicit class expectations allows them to challenge students with difficult questions and problems.

Response:

I agree that the best multilingual schools hire teachers who either are bilingual or ESL certified. I met a young teacher who only had 2 courses in ESL instruction. He told me that he is an ESL Social Studies teacher in a sheltered program, and he often plans his lessons towards "the lowest common denominator," meaning the lowest proficiency level. And he has decided to leave the position due to burnout.
This shows that it does everyone a disservice by hiring a teacher who is not prepared to teach ELs.

Key Terms/phrases

"making a liability out of difference:
cross-cultural communication
cross-cultural counseling
deficit thinking

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Suite for Ebony and Phonics: Reflections on African American English - Abridged from an article by John Rickford, published in Discover Magazine in December 1997

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Suite for Ebony and Phonics: Reflections on African American English - Abridged from an article by John Rickford, published in Discover Magazine in December 1997

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John Rickford's article is a reflection on the question of whether Ebonics is a primary language of African Americans, or if it is a dialect. Although he tends to disagree with the fact that it is a "language," Rickford certainly supports the notion that Ebonics-speaking students will be better off learning Standard English if Ebonics is used as a tool to increase its mastery.
They explain that just like Cantonese and Mandarin are regarded more as "dialects" of Chinese, Ebonics is a "dialect" of English. There are many theories as to how this developed -- including the Afrocentric view, the Eurocentric View, and the Creolist view -- but they explain that it cannot be denied that the genesis of Ebonics lies in the distinctive cultural background and relative isolation of African Americans, as well as contemporary social networks.
Regardless of how it developed, it certainly had a lot of time to. The long history of slavery from 1619 when the first slaves arrived in Jamestown from West Africa to at least 1808, when the slave trade ended, at least officially. 189 years to develop this different dialect that has been coined "Ebonics," ebony and phonics, meaning "black sounds."

Response:

When I first learned about "Ebonics," I was working towards my teaching certification at Albright College in 1998. I couldn't believe the outcry of negativity when I read about the Oakland School Board's resolution. It was frustrating to me to hear such a negative national outcry against it. In my heart, I knew how our "proper English" speaking teachers looked down upon the black student's vernacular, and it made angry, especially reflecting upon what I learned in linguistics. That different areas of the country and different communities have different dialects. Why would black American's dialect have any judgment upon it.

I am grateful today that they have a term for the fluid ability for black Americans to switch back and forth, called "code switching," and that the agility and the ability to do do this seen as a strength.

Key terms/phrases:
Ebonics is not slang
fractured slang
bastardized English
"incredible music"
Standard English Proficiency Program (Anglo-view)
versus
"ebonics as a tool to increase mastery of Standard English" (Rickford's view)

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What Should Teachers Do about Ebonics? by Lisa Delpit

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What Should Teachers Do about Ebonics? by Lisa Delpit

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Written in 1997, like Rickford's article, and in reaction to the negative national outcry of the Oakland School Board's decision to teach Ebonics.

She aptly states how it doesn't really matter whether one is for or against it. It exists. But the problem lies in who is for and against.. When the powers that be are against it and try to drive it out of students by continual correction, this only renders them unable to read for meaning-making, and instead learn from Anglocentric teachers that reading is something that is "pronounced," and not "understood" as it should be.

It literally silences students who have the Ebonics dialect. As Delpit states, "forcing speakers to monitor their language typically produces silence." So, not only do students falter in their comprehension ability due to constant correcting by their teachers, but it also causes them to lose their voice in a sense. Instead of being proud of their dialect that was taught by their family, they are told it is less than equal.
Interestingly enough, they also spoke of a markedly different style of storytelling between white students and black students. Whereas many white students tell "topic-centered" stories, black children tell "episodic" stories.

Response:

I agree with the author completely on the fact that teachers need to make sure they do not confuse learning a new language form with reading comprehension. That too often white teachers spend wasted energy correcting dialectal forms when it is not necessary for meaning-making. I disagree with her when she says it is not racist. It certainly is racist. Racism has to do with power, and when the powers that be are literally silencing minority groups and abusing their power - whether it be out of ignorance or lack of teaching training - it is still racist.

Key Terms/Phrases:

Ebonics
Black Language
Standard English
hypercorrect Standard English
Discourse Styles: "topic-centered storytelling vs. "episodic" story telling
racism
cultural familiarity