Comments on: Ebonics Revisited (or They Be Messin’ Wit Our Kidz, Yo)

By: Arnold Williams

Arnold Williams — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 00:42:00 +0000

When I was growing up, I was learning standard English from school, and King James’ and Shakespeare’s English from my father, who thought that they were the font of all knowledge. It doesn’t hurt to have a little exposure to a different English — but it helps if something meaningful is said.

By: Mac McComas

Mac McComas — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 18:35:07 +0000

Mary: Re: Ebonics–Don’t be stupid. You’re supposed to be educated and you’ve
let yourself be drug down with the idiots.

By: DarkStar

DarkStar — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 22:45:55 +0000

Is it slang mapping to American English?

Meaning, a kid says, “Yo! That’s HARD!” and the teacher responds, “Yes, that’s nice” or “Yes, that’s insightful” or…

By: Insider

Insider — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 15:53:15 +0000

On a more humorous note, at least it is bringing out creativity in the blogosphere.

By: D.C. Thornton

D.C. Thornton — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 15:45:52 +0000

Ebonics is not a language or a dialect. It’s slang. It won’t do a thing to help black kids master effective communication skills that are essential to thriving in present society, no matter how it’s implemented.

The best way to learn standard English is to teach standard English. Cheesy ESL schemes are useless.

By: tmcbee

tmcbee — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 13:08:51 +0000

To implement Ebonics as a curriculum that would allow students to read and speak in Ebonics would be a disservice to the student in the long run. Standard English is the the language spoken in the market place by not only Americans with different iffernt dialects, but also foreign speakers. To allow students to emerce themselves in a language that will have no place in the larger world is not only stupid, but also a bit mean spirited. I agree with ReidBlog, when he says it’s ok if Ebonics is being utilized as an ‘english as a second language’ “tactic”. There is nothing wrong with being bi dialectical or in this case bilingual, but now that they know one language, they need to learn another, just like everyone else who wants to to compete and communicate in the market place.

By: ReidBlog

ReidBlog — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 03:31:18 +0000

I agree that the curriculum is a bad idea, although I’ve been arguing on and off with people today, if it takes using “english as a second language” tactics to teach kids to speak properly, I’m for it. If the goal is to somehow normalize Ebonics as a language choice, it’s a very, very bad idea. It’s not clear which way the Cali proposal is leaning…