Paper 2 topic

paper 2 topic

Paper 2 topic

paper 2 topic

Week #6: BEV in the Classroom

After considering the articles we have read recently about Black English Vernacular, I believe that BEV should be allowed in the classroom.  Although SAE is the language of power, there is nothing inherent in the language that makes it superior to any other language.  Geneva Smitherman writes, “[BEV] was shown to be systematic and rule-governed, since it is not accepted by the white mainstream, different became deficit all over again, and in the process, Africans in America suffer further dislocation” (613).  Allowing BEV into the classroom will help to minimize the gap between to “prestigious” SAE and “inferior” BEV.  Perhaps by incorporating, or simply allowing BEV in the classroom, the disparities between SAE and BEV will lessen because BEV will be reaffirmed as a valid language. 

SAE is not the only language available to students, so it is important that the classroom reflects a diverse population.  The CCCC writes, “the need for varying dialects may arise from a speaker’s membership in different age or educational groups” (711).  This statement reflects the sentiments of James Gee, who argued that people used discourses to become a part of and blend into various groups.  When schools isolate SAE as the most important language to learn, they are, in a sense, contributing to students’ inability to be a part of certain groups.  BEV speakers identify with one another on the basis that they are all BEV speakers, which means that schools shouldn’t beat that out of students.  Although other authors, such as Lisa Delpit, have highlighted that it is important for all students to learn SAE, it is equally important for students to maintain their primary language, whether it is BEV or another language.