Blog 14: Flipping the Switch between Text Speak and Standard English

The reading summary is done by:
ENGL300-1: Anne Gayes
ENGL300-2: Josh Copple

Due by class time on: Monday, Oct. 3rd, 2011
The responses by the whole class are due by class time on: Wed., Oct. 5th, 2011
The text you need to read is here.

Kristen Hawley Turner wrote an article called, Flipping the Switch: Code-Switching from Text Speak to Standard English. This article was about how our English language has changed after the invention of texting messaging. It then goes to talk about how our language has transformed into "text speak" ever since the start of communication technology. (Instant messaging, world wide web, text messaging, etc.)

At the beginning of this article Turner talks about how her little brother knew much about communication technology when he was in high school, and Turner was in college and did not know much about that technology yet. She goes on to explain how her little brother would teach her all the new technology so that she could keep up with the fast changing world. At that time turner was an English teacher and decided to take on trying to figure out why society changed the way they write after text messaging came out.

Turner starts to look into this new phenomenon by looking at her stedents and seeing why they use text speak and what began that. It was said, "the vast majority of teens have eagerly embraced written communication with their peers as they share messages on their social network pages, in emails and instant messages online, and through fast-paced thumb choreography on their cell phones" (Lenhart et al.i). This upcoming new communication between teenagers has sparked many concerned parents and teachers to be worried that text speak will affect their children's school performance. Teachers believe that text speaking has now entered into their grammar within school and that they are not using the proper English that society once always used. There was a counterargument by a writeer of the New York Times, and he claims that the fact that text speaking in entering children's writing within school should not be a problem. He states that "capitalization will disappear". This counterargument does not hold much ground for the concerned parents and teachers though, and they believe there needs to be a stop with this communication.

Researchers Rebecca S. Wheeler and Rachael Swords believe they have came up with a solution to this problem. They wrote a book that helps teachers and their stedents learn the difference between the way they communicate at home and with their friends verse the appropriate communication that should be used in school and the professional world. This book changed the way Turner looks at teaching her students proper English. It has helped her create lesson plans that are affective in getting across when not to use text speak, and what exactly proper English is. This is called "flip the switch lesson" and it is an effective way to help children understand when it is okay to use text speak and when it is not okay.
Overall, I believe this issue should be addressed and fixed. The methods that Wheeler and Swords came up with are very effective in helping fix this problem, and I think all teachers should use it to help their students learn proper English. Our language is changing in a decreasing manner every day, and there needs to be an end to this. I believe that it is okay to use text speak when talking to one's friends or close family, but everyone needs to understand proper English and use it in professional situations such as school or work. If everyone would be able to do this I believe our society would take a major step in the right direction.


By: Anne Gayes

Blog 13: What Makes Texting Distinctive?

The reading summary is done by:
ENGL300-1: Britny Hawk
ENGL300-2: Dan Krieske

Due by class time on: Friday, Sept. 30th, 2011
The responses by the whole class are due by class time on: Monday, Oct. 3rd, 2011
The text you need to read is here.

Blog 12: American Sign Language and Grammar

The reading summary is done by:
ENGL300-1: Emilie Russell
ENGL300-2: Rebecca Borowiak for extra credit

Due by class time on: Friday, Sept. 30th, 2011

The responses by the whole class are due by class time on: Monday, Oct. 3rd, 2011

The text you need to read is here.
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by Emilie Russell:

In this article, the author opens up by explaining what ASL is. ASL is "a visual-gestural language which incorporates facial grammatical markers, physical affect markers, spatial linguistic information and fingerspelling, as well as signs made with the hands. In ASL, grammar means how a language works or its system of use. The author talks about how many people cannot cite grammatical details where their native language is concerned yet are fluent users of it. The article then talks about how a child acquires fluency through exposure and use. The child needs constant exposure and immersion. They don’t learn how to speak through academics but instead, they learn naturally.

In this article, the author demonstrates the importance of grammar and its use. The grammar of a language is its infrastructure, without grammar, language is reduced to simply words that cannot extend meaning. Linguistics does not consider a string of vocabulary to be a true language if no distinct and consistent rules are in place. This is true for ASL as well.

ASL differs from verbal communication because signs, in accordance with their individual functions, work together to form a phrase or sentence.  Sentences, in accordance with their functions, work together to form paragraphs, and so on. The author goes on to explain the ASL parts of speech which include nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. ASL does not use passive voice and there are no articles expressed. ASL uses the same tense, subject, predicate, object, and particle as verbal communication.

Blog 11: Are Twins Language Delayed???

Mark that this text does NOT provide any PROOF, but rather consists of a collection of research material about this topic, which the author compares and discusses. It is part of a study regarding language development in fraternal and identical twins aged up to three years. The content does NOT need to be your personal opinion! But you should be able to discuss it in an academic way.

This article can be important for English teachers dealing with diversity and differentiated instruction.

People who ARE twins or HAVE twins in their families/among their friends are asked to contribute some interesting observations, to enlighten us ;-)


The reading summary is done by:
ENGL300-1: Maurice Hatch
ENGL300-2: Tim Jung

Jennifer Ganger explores the issue as to whether or not there is a delay in the language development of twins. Studies suggest that there is in fact a language development delay in twins.

One study, done by Davis in the 1930's, suggested that twins could be as far as 2 years behind "singletons" (or children born without a twin). This was done with children aged 1.5-5.5. Davis conducted another experiment with twins and singletons aged 5-9 and found that twins were more likely to have articulation issues.

Ganger points out that these studies were flawed, as they did not exclude twins who had speech, language, or hearing pathology--which is something that is apparently not uncommon in twins.

Other studies, however, were not as flawed and also yielded interesting results. One such study, conducted under Mittler, used the Illinois test of Psycholinguistics and found that twins were six months behind singletons at age four.

Another study by Record, McKeown, and Edwards suggested that twins performed 5 points lower than singletons on an exam given at the 11^th year in British schools.

These studies don’t factor out premature birth or low birth weight as a variable that might throw a wrench into the scientific research. So in 1986, a study was conducted using singletons and twins to see how low birth weight affected language development. As it turns out, twins were actually ahead of singletons in this respect, suggesting that low birth weight adversely affects singletons more likely than twins.

Studies now tend to suppose that there is a social aspect to language development (or lack thereof) in twins. Some psychologists believe that parental language plays a large part in the language development of children. Another complication is the idea that twins will communicate with each other as well as a parent. This can be a source of a slowing of development, as other studies suggest that younger siblings hold lower IQ’s.

It is important to note that these studies are broad generalizations, and certainly do not apply as outliers can be found in these studies. I think that there is a lot of hasty conclusions being drawn—particularly about siblings—based on a limited amount of information. The idea of using IQ scores as a measure of intelligence is, in my opinion, very antiquated and about as scientific as believing that garbage spontaneously generates rats and insects.

All of that being said, I do think that parents and adults/older siblings have a serious impact on the linguistic development of young minds, and that this should be looked into more—particularly how language structures consciousness. This probably goes beyond what science can presently do, though I do think it would be very interesting to see if there could be a study done to suggest a stronger link to linguistic development and surrounding factors: environment, culture, parents, etc.

Overall, I think it is good that the author knows that what she is suggesting could be explained by many other factors that affect the studies. - Tim Jung

After reading the article entitled Are Twins Delayed in Language Development, the ability to draw a conclusive result is almost impossible. Jennifer Granger does a good job of presenting both sides of the argument, meaning not only did Granger point out what the scientific study results were, but also shows how these results were reached and the flaws associated within them.

A scientist by the name of Mittler conducted an experiment involving 200 twins and 100 singletons (children without siblings) testing their psycholinguistic abilities. The test results proved twins were about 6 months behind singletons at the age of 4.

Another test conducted by Record, McKeown, and Edwards tested thousands of singletons and twins after their 11^th year of school. The results of the exam showed that twins performed about 5 points lower than singletons on average. Also noted, singletons who were survivors performed in between the two populations.

Lastly, a test conducted by Akermann and Thomassen compared both twins and singletons and found that low birth weight accounted for the differences noted on a standardized language and locomotor test.

Though these minor differences between the groups provide an array of different results; these were not the only factors that contributed to the altering of test results.

Factors such as lack of effort to exclude subjects who inhibited language, speech, or hearing pathology effected results, ultimately lowering overall results. Also, no prior information such as reports on birth weight or time of gestation of the twins who participated (which is also known to be factors of language delay) were recorded. The order of birth was not considered a possible factor then, but was later discovered to be associated with language disturbances. Another factor that may have altered results comes from the lack of separation while experiments were conducted, influencing a more competitive mind-state for the children participating. Lack of separation may have put the subjects in a competitive mind-state, making the test almost like a race to be finished. The most important factor that may have swayed results can be attributed to the merging of the twin group. The results of the twins were factored in together, averaged, and then compared to that of the results of the singletons. The flaw with this comes down to the fact that the twin’s data were not independent of his/her co-twin; explaining how this lack of separation may have dramatically influenced test results as well.

In conclusion, teachers must be mindful of the environment in which he or she is teaching. Understanding the concepts and possible results of the test conducted can allow teachers to take a more complex or subtle approach to the students they teach and the methods they endorse.

Ultimately, Granger provided her readers with a clearer idea of the differences associated with psycholinguistics among singletons, twins, professors, and experiment conductors as well. Better results may arise after reading this article and taking into consideration the factors in which may alter the best possible results obtainable.

-Maurice Hatch 300-1.

Due by class time on: Friday, Sept. 23rd, 2011
The responses by the whole class are due by class time on: Monday, Sept. 26th, 2011
The text you need to read is here.

Blog 10: Systematic Approach to Grammar Instruction

This blog is especially important for the future English teachers among you!

The reading summary is done by:
ENGL300-1: Emilie Russell for 5 points extra credit
ENGL300-2: Abigail Fritschle

Summaries are due on: Wednesday, Sept. 21st, 2011

The responses by the whole class are due by class time on: Friday, Sept. 23rd, 2011
The text you need to read is here.

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by Emilie Russell:

In the article “Systematic Approach to Grammar Instruction” by Joan Berger, Joan explains how she wants her students to write better. She wants every minute of class time to be meaningful and for her lessons to impact the students not only in the classroom, but out of it as well. After realizing that her lessons were not sticking with the students, she created a plan.

Joan created a systematic approach to teaching conventions of punctuation and techniques of sentence combining. She started this two year program specifically for 7^th and 8^th graders including a pre-test and post-test. She used this program in conjunction with reading and writing programs. She used it to increase variety in student’s sentence and structure and punctuation. This plan integrated grammar instruction month by month. She started with compound sentences then moved to adverb clauses, appositives, adjective clauses, and then ended with participle phrases. While teaching these lessons month by month, she would review the previous lessons in between.

In this article, Joan explains how she heightened student’s familiarity with sentence structure and punctuation by the use of mini-lessons, paragraphs in need of corrections, and worksheets. She repeated these lessons in order to make it easy for students to recognize adverbs clauses in sentences. Joan explains that this program is different from traditional programs because other programs teach punctuation separately from writing. Joan’s program is different because it requires students to incorporate their new learned information consciously into their written work. According to this article, Joan encourages students to peer edit each other’s work and to always read each other’s work twice. She encourages them to evaluate organization, clarity, elaboration, word choice, and correctness in punctuation and spelling.

The results from this program were outstanding. The results showed improvement in students reading and writing and helped students transfer their new learned knowledge directly into their writing. This article was informative and helped me realize how important correctly teaching student’s grammar instruction is.

Joan Berger’s article, “A Systematic Approach to Grammar Instruction” talks about her goals for getting her middle school students to write better. Rather than just writing to write, Berger wanted her students to write something meaningful and with a passion. Over the course of her teaching years, she noticed that students were not retaining grammar knowledge from previous years. Therefore, she devised a plan for improvement. She and her colleagues decided to test students throughout their 7^th and 8^th grade years. The tests were administered every few months and covered items like compound sentences, appositives, adjective clauses, and participle phrases.

The method Berger used to teach these subjects was simple, she retaught until the students grasped the concepts. Her techniques included worksheets, demonstrations, and letting the students conduct lessons. Typically, punctuation is taught separately from writing. However, Berger thought it made more sense to teach it all at once so the students could understand it as a whole. Overall, Berger’s method was a success because the students were scoring higher in both reading and writing. They were able to not only write their own work, but peer edit and create very good narratives as a result.

As a future English teacher, I found this article to be very informative. Re-teaching is something that I think is very beneficial to the students because the information stays fresh in their heads. Also, I think Berger was smart in teaching all the subjects as once so the information makes more sense.

By: Abby Fritschle

Blog 9: The Order of Words, by Ken Macrorie

This is another article from Ken Macrorie's book (the other one we read was "Engfish").
HERE is your reading.

ENGL300-1: Brittney Hosey
ENGL300-2: Darius Bell
The reading summaries are due on Monday, Sept. 19th, before midnight.
The comments by the rest of the class are due Wednesday, Sept. 21st, at class time.
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by: Brittney Hosey

In the Order of Words, Ken Macrorie identifies three of the biggest problems in writing: (1) Confusing Word Order, (2) Lack of clean signal by pronous, (3) Verbs that don't signal which nouns they belong to.

He says that all writers slip in making references between pronouns and their antecedents as well as the agreement between subject and verb.

When using "which" and "that," you should have a clean reference word immediately proceeding "which" or "that" so the connection is clear. It is incorrect when they are used to describe whole actions.

When sentences are short and contain all of the same main ideas you can tie them all together. This should be done with caution and it should be understood that the most weighted postion is the end of the sentence.

Macrorie also mentions changing normal word order to surprise your readers and draw them in.
Normal Order: He was a lost man.
Unusual Order: He was a man lost.

Blog 8: How to Write an Abstract

The reading summary is done by:

ENGL300-1: Cory Wiest
ENGL300-2: Katherine Oko


Due by class time on: Wednesday, Sept. 14th, 2011
The responses by the whole class are due by class time on: Fri., Sept. 16th, 2011 (although this day is off, because your teacher will be at NCATE, and you will write your take-home EXAM I!!!)

The text you need to read is here. Here is the pdf file of this online article.
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by: Cory Wiest

This article is about definitions and examples of two types of abstracts. The two forms are descriptive and informative. It will also teach you how to use them.

            Abstract is something short that is self-contained the describes the larger work. The way its made up depends on the work is talking about. If its about “an abstract of a social science or scientific work may contain the scope, purpose, results, and contents of the work. An abstract of a humanities work may contain the thesis, background, and conclusion of the larger work. An abstract is not a review, nor does it evaluate the work being abstracted. While it contains key words found in the larger work, the abstract is an original document rather than an excerpted passage.” (How to write an Abstract).

            The reason why you would want to write in abstract is to provide short snip of a larger work so the reader can decide if its worth reading the large work or not. The abstract work should have keywords so can be easily found.

            Sectioning is just reading the abstract, to see if it worth reading. If you are doing a research paper if you read the section abstract. You don’t have to read the entire paper to find out if its about your subject or not, which will save you a lot of time and frustration in the long run.

            Indexing is just to help you when you are searching for something on internet databases. The databases uses keywords in an article which can help people search for the articles they need.

            There is two main forms of abstract writing and there is a third but its rarely used.

                       

                        Descriptive abstracts: it only describes it does not give you a direct answer just the facts. Its like an outline of the work and is very short only about 100 words.

                        Informative abstracts: it informs on the topic. It does not critique work or evaluate the work. It gives the facts and results to help give a complete picture of the topic.

                        Critical abstracts: it is rarely used and the article did not explain it.

            To write abstract just follow the key process elements.

Key process elements:

Reason for writing:

What is the importance of the research? Why would a reader be interested in the larger work?

1.

Problem:

What problem does this work attempt to solve? What is the scope of the project? What is the main

argument/thesis/claim?

2.

Methodology:

An abstract of a scientific work may include specific models or approaches used in the larger study.

Other abstracts may describe the types of evidence used in the research.

3.

Results:

Again, an abstract of a scientific work may include specific data that indicates the results of the project.

Other abstracts may discuss the findings in a more general way.

4.

Implications:

What changes should be implemented as a result of the findings of the work? How does this work add

to the body of knowledge on the topic?

5.

(This list of element is adapted with permission from Phil Koopman, "How to Write an Abstract,"

HTTP://www.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abstract.html (HTTP://www.ece.cmu.edu/%7Ekoopman/essays

/abstract.html) .)

            All abstracts include full citations before the abstract. Put the most important information first. The language should be the same ( ex. Technical language). It should have keywords and phrases that can be quickly identify what the article is about. It should use clear, concise, and powerful language. Abstracts may have a theses of the work, and it should be the first sentence. They could have background information of the larger work. It should also have the chronological structure as the main work. Ways not to write abstract is by referring greatly to other works, adding information that does not contained in the work, and not define terms.

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In the handout, "How to write an abstract" it begins by explaining exactly what an abstract is. According to the handout, an Abstract is a "self-contained, short, and powerful statement that describes a larger work." It is known as an original document all by itself.

The handout then goes on to explain that there are two different kinds of abstracts which are informative and descriptive. It also explains why we have abstracts. It gives an example about searching for research topics. Abstracts allow researchers to narrow the search dramatically so they will be able to find what they need.

The next topic the handout covers is when people use abstracts. Some reasons are, when writing a book, writing a proposal for a book chapter, or applying for research grants. It explains when to write an abstract, how to write one, and even when to use the two different abstracts. Towards the end of the handout, it gives useful information such as revising. There are even examples of abstracts posted throughout the text.

-Katherine Oko

Blog 7: Teaching Standard English as Foreign Language to AAE Writers?

The reading summary is done by:

ENGL300-1: Andrea Dimitroff
ENGL300-2: Janesha Boyce-Ford

Due on: Monday, Sept. 12th, 2011, some time during the day/evening.

The responses by the whole class are due by class time on: Wednesday, Sept. 14th, 2011
The text you need to read is here (the article about Carrie Secret from Oakland School, CA).
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by Andrea Dimitroff:

 Embracing Ebonics and Teaching Standard English: An Interview with Oakland Teacher Carrie Secret is part of a book called The Real Ebonics Debate by Theresa Perry and Lisa D. Delpit. In this interview, Carrie Secret, a veteran teacher at Prescott Elementary School, is asked several questions. In response to those questions, Secret does a lot of explaining about the Standard English Proficiency program (SEP) at her school.
Secret has had the same class of 31 for the past 5 years; 26 of her students are African American. In speaking of the SEP, Secret said, “we in the Oakland SEP…dared to honor and respect Ebonics as the home language that stands on its own rather than as a dialectical form of English.” Secret also said the SEP’s mission statement is “‘We are teaching you a new language, not fixing the home language you bring to school.’ ’’
Under this program, students are guided through curriculum based on the three principles of culture, language, and literacy. Secret says culture is a crucial aspect of the curriculum because, if you disrespect someone’s culture, you are disrespecting (or even rejecting) him. Teaching students grammar is more than just worksheets and drills; Secret says, for students to really be impacted or changed, they must know the content of what they are learning and ways to use speech in different contexts.
As for conduct in the classroom, Secret never condemns her students for speaking Ebonics, because Ebonics may be all they know how to speak. Instead of condemning the students, she merely tells them to translate what they said into English. Secret constantly reads to her students and practices things with them like pronunciation, listening skills, and dictation. Secret points out that student who use Ebonics are not readily aware of their patters of speech; therefore teaching them to listen for the difference between Ebonics and English is key. For reading, Secret uses a lot of literature written by African Americans (some of these works are in Standard English and some are in Ebonics). Using works from African American authors is important to Secret because these authors provide great encouragement to her students. Secret also uses literature from authors of other ethnic backgrounds according to the needs of her non-African American students.
Secret shares the typical class routine which includes a variety of things like exercises, music, group instruction and independent work. Respect is a standard that everyone is the classroom is held to (this includes the teacher). Secret says, “My relationship with the students is a high priority with me.” This type of attitude toward her students causes their relationships to extend beyond the classroom walls and out into the community.
The last question Secret answers is “What has been the most encouraging aspect of the Ebonics controversy? The most frustrating? [sic]” The most encouraging fact for Secret is that parents (of Ebonics speakers) who refused to come to school before SEP are now coming. Secret says even her own mother could relate to this. The school support of SEP is also noted in the article. The most frustrating aspect is the misrepresentation of SEP by the media.



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by Janesha Boyce-Ford:

In the article, “The real Ebonics debate power, language, and the education of African American” by authors Theresa Perry and Lisa Delpit it discusses Standard English Proficiency (SEP) and its teachings. In the article interviewed Carrie Secret, a school teacher at Prescott Elementary School. Secret, has been teaching the same class of 31 students majority of who are African American for 5 years. The authors asked Carrie Secret to explain the teachings of Standard English Proficiency even though the teaching varies. At Prescott SEP is taught as a home language not as a derivation of English, they don’t attempt to correct the students grammar but instead build on it. “We are teaching you a second language, not fixing the home language you bring to school” said Secret. Which in is a god ideal because you don’t want students to feel inadequate. Standard English Proficiency is based around three principles: culture, language, and literacy. The program not only teaches students to speak English but also to write it and understand it correctly. You can teach children anything but it means nothing if they do not understand what they are learning which plays a part I both the literacy and language cornerstone. The program gathered its cultural components from the Center of Applied Studies and Educational Achievement at San Francisco State University which is under guidance of a African American teacher and teachers many teachers who are involved with program.

Blog 6: What is AAE?

Your reading is HERE.

The summaries are due on Friday, Sept. 9th, and are done by:
ENGL300-1: Rebecca Borowiak
ENGL300-2: Juvonna McGarry
The comments by the rest of the classes are due on Monday, Sept. 12th, at class time.

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by: Rebecca Borowiak

Geneva Smitherman opens up her article with a quote from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, “What’s in a name?” Presumably from this quote, the article speaks about words and names and the power they have.  Both African traditions and Smitherman believe that this impact of power is seen in the composition classroom, where language plays an important role and demands a lot of attention. The question in the title of this article is answered within the second paragraph of the article. AAE stands for African American English. Smitherman states that while not all African Americans speak AAE, linguists guess that about 80 to 90 percent of African Americans speak do. He also claims that members of other racial and ethnic groups speak AAE occasionally as well; therefore they are a part of the AAE speech community.

According to Smitherman this language can be referred to as Black English, African American Language, or Ebonics, among many other names. In our classrooms it is the names given to classify AAE that matter most compared to the language itself. “AAE has been labeled ‘broken’ English, slang, a dialect, and a language”(Smitherman 3). Viewing this language as slang or ‘broken’ English can have a huge affect on a teacher’s perception of the African American student speaking AAE. The way AAE is perceived and named relies not only on linguistics but politics as well and the article given aims to clarify this.

“Broken English” is a defined as “a fractured form of speech without logic or rules” (Smitherman 4). AAE violates all the rules of Standard American English, or what society claims is Standard English. This is a skewed way of viewing the English language since there is no universal standard in the United States for speaking English. AAE also seems to defy the formal writing structure of “Standard English Writing” by dismissing letters in words, and verbs disagree with each other. AAE lacks structure and organization that seems to exist within “standard English.” Smitherman then states that AAE does have rules and organization, just not the same following as the considered, “Standard English.” It follows consistent rules and patterns just like any other language. Smitherman then brings forward six additional reasons that AAE is not a substandard form of Standard English. This helps prove the fact that AAE is a real language and not just broken English due to the fact that it has evolved alongside Standard English, it is the product of the same sort of process that transformed Latin into French, it does not have ‘primitive’ features, AAE is a complex language, it has evolved further than Standard English, and it is no more or no less logical than Standard English or other foreign languages.

“Slang” is defined as street speech, the lingo of the ghetto. Though AAE does incorporate slang words such as English does, the language as a whole is not slang. Slang contains short-lived, informal words that usually only pertain to small groups of people in certain clubs, or social classes. AAE has words that have been around for decades and have been known by African Americans of all ages, gender, class, and region. By referring to AAE as slang, one could be insulting a student or assuming they have lived a life they assuredly did not. The most important reason as to why AAE is not slang is because slang is just vocabulary and as said in earlier paragraphs, AAE is a language.       

“’Dialects’ are variations of languages that are mutually intelligible but include some grammatical and/or pronunciation patterns that are unique to speakers in certain regions, social classes, or ethnic groups” (Smitherman 8). In order for AAE to be considered as a dialect of English it must have a unique grammatical pattern. In the case of AAE and English the difference is in the use of the verb be. AAE also has distinctive patterns of pronunciation rules and rhetorical strategies that differ from English. “Language” consists of three rules that define speech as a language; pronunciation rules, rules that convey meaning and grammatical rules. The difference between a dialect and a language can be confusing for both needs the same rules to apply when defining it. Many African American scholars claim that the classification of AAE as a dialect over a language is merely due to racism. “Since language is a distinguishing feature of humans, the denial of language is the same as the denial of humanity”(Kimani Nehusi). He also echoes Smith saying, “It is universally accepted that English has borrowed the bulk of its lexicon from the Romance or Latin Language family, yet English is not classified as being Latin or Romance language but as a Germanic language.” Linguists will continue to argue over whether or not this speech should be considered a dialect or a language. It depends on the history and background of the speech and on the evidence given in the argument.

Vocabulary is a unique feature that is the most recognizable and important . African Americans according to Smitherman has a unique lexicon compared to West African languages, the traditional black church, black music, and racial oppression. This includes slang, historical words, novel meanings, and sometimes obscenity, just like Standard English.  In terms of slang, African American teenagers and musicians reflects the creativity of the people, heard especially in Hip-Hop music. Some examples are changing the part of speech, like fly from the verb to the adjective meaning attractive; turning prefixes into words dis from disrespect assumes the meaning of the whole word, “She dissed him;” Lastly, by attaching suffixes like converse becomes conversate.  AAE speakers also tend to invent slang terms to replace words. Get my grub on takes the place of eat. The positive thing about such phrases is that students recognize it is a form of verbal speech and that writing such phrases in papers would be informal. Some of the slang words in AAE has crossed over into mainstream English and many of us will be able to identify such words. Some words in the English language have switched meanings in AAE, such as dope meaning excellent and bad meaning very good.

AAE speakers sometimes sound like southern white Americans. They both pronounce I as “Ah” and pen as “pin”. It is likely that 90 percent of African Americans lived in the South until the 20^th century, so white American farmers and families picked up this speech from them.  AAE however, features of pronunciation that is not found in Southern White Speech.  “Most Americans, and especially black ones, can almost always tell that a person is black even on the phone, and even when the speaker is using standard English sentences” (Word 133) ( Smitherman 25).  The features that makes AAE sound ‘black’ are its speech rhythms, voice inflections, and tonal patterns; the stressing of syllables change for AAE speakers as well, such as PO-lice. Vowels may change and consonants are transformed, AAE omits or sometimes simplifies consonants, frequently at the end of a word. AAE takes the Standard English language and turns it on its side.  It is its own language for a specific culture in society. As other languages melt into standard English, AAE does the same. 

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