DW4a - Topic Proposal

Main Thesis/Argument: Teachers need to learn and effectively teach African American Vernacular English in the classroom. It is the responsibility of teachers to facilitate an environment where all students can learn. Schools need to provide teachers with the tools to enlighten students about oral language and writing. If teachers could effectively and efficiently relate to all of their students and teach them accordingly, many problems regarding the learning of language would be solved. It has been stated by many sociolinguists that if students were allowed to use their home language in school, they could better acquire Standard English easier.

Why I chose this theme: I think it is imperative that teachers help their student learn in the best manner possible. If teachers cannot overcome their lack of knowledge about languages other than Standard English, then students cannot effectively learn. It is important that students learn Standard English because it is considered the language of wider communication and is used throughout most of the world. Nevertheless, it is also important to let them learn SE in a way that is best suitable for each student. If this means that one needs to use their home language in order to attain SE, then that is the way in which the teacher should approach teaching the student.

Evidence I will draw upon: I have found three sources that displayed the importance of teaching students home language in order to facilitate further learning. In the journal publishing, “Five Easy Pieces: Steps toward Integrating AAVE into the Classroom” by Jessica Whitney, she offers five steps for teachers to learn, incorporate, and teach AAVE in schools. The steps that Whitney formulates will support my argument because she makes an argument that I support. Whitney stresses the importance of integrating student’s home language into schools. By providing evidence as to why it should be incorporated into schools and various ways to do this, she lets the audience realize the importance and ramifications that this could provide. In a policy from the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) entitled Bilingual Education, the board addresses the evolution of the incorporation of AAVE in schools. It also offers programs and solutions that would help students learn Standard English, while still being able to use their home language. In the final source I found in The Journal of Negro Education entitled Ebonics and Educational Policy: Some Issues for the Next Millennium by Orlando L. Taylor, He highlighted the history of AAVE and then discussed the issues that it encountered when it was first presented in schools.

Sources
“Bilingual Education”. National Association of State Boards of education. 6.12 (1998).
(I don’t know how to cite the above source)

Taylor, Orlando L. “Ebonics and Educational Policy: Some Issues for the Next Milennium”. The Journal of Negro Education 67.1 (1998):35-42.

Whitney, Jessica. “Five Easy Pieces: Steps toward Integrating AAVE into the Classroom”. The English Journal 94.5 (2005): 64-69.