Students'
Right to Their Own Language is a resolution
determined by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) about the
issues of students and their dialects. It can be assumed that there was
controversy about teaching “proper English” to students with dialects; teachers
must have thought that it would be too challenging to do so. The NCTE
determined that English teachers must have the appropriate education and
training to teach students while working with their dialects. The teachers have
to “respect the diversity of dialects” of the students. The resolution lists
all the standards or requirements that English teachers should follow to help
student the best that they can.
I
agree with the NCTE that teachers should do everything that they can to teach
students English no matter what challenges their speech may imply. I can relate
to this because when I was younger I was unable to annunciate “R’s” in my
speech. If it wasn’t for my English teacher that took the time and patience to
help me, I may still talk that way today. Teachers should not give up on
teaching just because they think a student is below standard because of their
dialect. They should strive to work through the complications that come along with
teaching; the resolution written by the NCTE helps them do that.
I
also agree that teachers should provide assignments and options in writing that
allow students to use their own dialect to express themselves. If there was
absolutely no dialect in society, then writing and speaking would be robotic. If
there was no dialect that would stifle creativity.
Do you agree that teachers should not give up on
teaching students English because of their dialects? Do you think that anything
should be added to this resolution, as an update since it was written in 1974? If
so, what changes would you make?
I think that teacher's should try to teach kids proper english. Some children may have a tough time with this (I was one who did), but it will pay off later in life. However, I like that idea of assignments that allow them to use their own dialect as well. This makes it seems less like they are just forcing their way of speaking on the kids.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that teachers should not give up on teaching students English because of their dialect. Learning proper English is very helpful and necessary, not only in education but also in life in general. I like the introduction of different assignments to allow them to express themselves. Just like they discussed in the other reading, through incorporating readings that showcase the different dialects, it allows students to become more comfortable/feel normal, serves for better understanding and can even assist in teaching rules better.
ReplyDeleteI think that teachers should not give up on teaching students English. Dialect so called dialect is because it is not common used. Since language is a tool of communication, we should definitely use in the way how others use it, or people can not understand you and the language then lose its value. I encourage to practice a lot to avoid accent as much as we can. From my own experience, when I talk in the English with Chinese accent, though people can still understand me for most times, they get confused sometimes which makes me feel bad. Therefore, I think having a common tone is important.
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