Please check

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Please check
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Todays topic

• Misconceptions Dialects, pidgins, and creoles

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Announcements

• Observation assignment due in one week. Please
  come and see me if you have questions.
• Please use the COE Writing Lab if you have
  questions about APA, formatting, grammatical
  issues, etc. Please take a copy of the syllabus
  and/or assignment with you.
• Please turn in your article summary.

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Remember!

• Your observation assignment will be due next
  week.
• Remember, for the final essay you will answer
  FIVE questions
• Questions 1 or 2,
• Questions 3 or 4,
• Question 5,
• Question 6 or 7, and
• Question 8.
• Also, we WILL be meeting on April 30th.

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Quick questions or quandaries?
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Semilingualism

• Have you ever heard someone use this term or one
  that seems related?

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Can't speak either language
limited language learner
alingual
bi-illiterate
double deficit
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Why do people make these negative assumptions
about kids?
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Or Maybe people dont understand what they see
and hear?
cultural differences
dialects
code switching
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Could these be misinterpreted as semilingualism?

• Non-standard dialects
• Code-switching
• Cultural differences in narrative structure
• Influence of the interactional context on
  culturally diverse individuals
• Normal patterns of bilingual language
  development, including first language attrition.

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Non-standard dialects
There is English, and there is bad English. Its
either one or the other. Bad English, either
spoken or written, needs for it to be corrected
to become good, decent, proper English - the kind
taught in schools, used in textbooks and relied
upon in commerce. Bad English is useful in a
small circle of friends or acquaintances - in the
family, in the hood, in the factory lunch room,
in the bowling alley Bad English is acceptable
if you aspire to drive a taxi in Washington.
---Chuck Greene, The Denver Post, 12/22/96
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Ignorance is not confined to linguistic
curmudgeons
You dont have to go to school to learn to talk
garbage
--- Jesse Jackson (the Denver Post, 12/22/96)
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Thats just WRONG.
According to linguists there are no "primitive"
languages or language varieties -- all
languages are equally complex and equally capable
of expressing any idea in the universe. The
vocabulary of any language can be expanded to
include new words for new concepts.
Fromkin Rodman, 1988, p. 18
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Two ways to look at language
Descriptive

• Prescriptive

(is)
(should be)
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Why does this matter?

• When assessing childrens language competence, we
  MUST compare their abilities with the language
  varieties they have been exposed to, whether or
  not that is the standard dialect.
• We can assess childrens acquisition of the
  standard dialect for developing instructional
  programs, but not for diagnostic purposes.

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Lingua Francas, Pidgins and Creoles

• A lingua franca is a language which is used as a
  means of communication among people who have no
  native language in common.
• A pidgin language is a lingua franca which has no
  native speakers.
• Creole languages are pidgins that have acquired
  native speakers.

From Gumperz, J. (1983). Sociolinguistics An
introduction to language and society. New York
Penguin Books. (pp. 157, 179-182.)
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Switzerland and her neighbors
French
Italian
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North Country (Northlandish)
Riverbank South
Riverbank North
South Country (Southlandish)
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Barriers

• Geographic
• Political
• Social

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Quick Write

• How does the discussion of non-standard language
  varieties pertain to teaching English Language
  Learners in our schools?

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I-R-E

• teacher INITIATION
• student RESPONSE
• teacher EVALUATION

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Small Group Activity

• Compare and contrast the two transcripts (big
  sweets and little sweets and Baby Jesus). How
  are they different? Which one seems more like IRE
  (or recitation script)? Which one elicits more
  language for Lynne? Why? Which one would foster
  language development more? Why?

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Compare that with
P B J!
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How is the teacher-student interaction during the
PB J clip different from the Big Sweets
lesson?
Quick Question
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What's the problem with recitation script?
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Instructional Conversation (IC)
"Talk in which ideas are explored rather than
answers to teachers' test questions provided and
evaluated."
(Cazden, 1988, p. 54)
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Characteristics of IC

• It is interesting and engaging.

• It is about an idea or a concept that has meaning
  and relevance for students.

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Characteristics of IC

• It has a focus that, while it may shift as the
  discussion evolves, remains discernible
  throughout.
• There is a high level of participation, without
  undue domination by any one individual,
  particularly the teacher.

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Characteristics of IC

• Students engage in extended discussion
  conversations with the teacher and among
  themselves.

(Goldenberg, 1991, p. 3)
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Small Group Activity 2

• Compare and contrast recitation script and
  instructional conversation. Which provides more
  opportunities to foster students language
  development? Why? What are some ideas for
  implementing instructional conversation in the
  classroom?

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Looking ahead

• Code-switching

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• .

Please take a minute for the minute paper.