Standard English has been the #1 form of language. English has been around for decades for people to learn, speak, and teach with each other. The term “standard” is the type of English most people would strive for, especially in a writing classroom. Standard English is still presentable through the elements of writing. For Jennifer Cunningham and Lisa Delpit`s perspective, African American Language, however, has a different type of intellect. Cunningham explains this bad idea of African American Language isn`t part of English at all or have lesser form of speech and writing. African American Language in a classroom, teachers have their concerns from the way certain words are pronounced or how it`s written in a sentence. They regard this language as “ignorant” or “bad slang.” It affects African American students if teachers suggest something is wrong with their community and culture. So, what`s should be a better idea? Cunningham and Delpit believed that teachers should have patience and respect for African American students and their language.

Jennifer Cunningham author of, “African American Language is Not Good English,” describes this language as “remaining uninformed or misinformed about its linguistic complexity” (Cunningham pg.88). In other words, it`s based on their unique combination of mostly English vocabulary to define their spelling, grammar, and pronunciation to contribute their African roots. Cunningham uses examples such as, “I ain`t got no time is grammatically correct and emphatic than Standard English sentence I don`t have any time” (Cunningham pg. 90). Both Standard English and African American Language have their own linguistic rules that feature a grammatical transition for an African American sentence becoming more formal with Standard English stigma. Although, teachers did not realize the African American Language is more than just “broken English,” this language is made to express our history and struggles. A language that we heard growing up from our families and childhood friends showed us tough love and passion. Influenced by African Americans showed strength and independence for our freedom of speech.

Issues of African American Language in a classroom are divided into two categories: identity and culture. Lisa Delpit, author of “What Should Teachers Do?” and “The Skin We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom,” with Joanne Kilgour Dowdy. She resolves the situation with her own ideas and research. In “What Should Teacher Do,” Delpit addresses on how teachers should give African American students as much access to an education, despite how their language and culture is different from their other peers. It`s the teacher`s responsibility to know if their form of teaching reading and writing can affect a student chances of the future for better or worse. There`s many African American students who make their own decisions for Standard English to become another language for themselves as scholars, while others don`t have enough academic guidance to become successful or being corrected consistently by teachers who gave them the opportunity to read and write in their language. Delpit expresses her point of view of how overcorrection affect students` attitude towards teachers. One of the researches she used, shows a young woman sharing her thoughts about her teacher interrupting her form of speech. “Mrs.? always be making you ‘talk correct’ and stuff. She be butting into your conversations when you not even talking to her” (Delpit, “WSTD” pg. 150). She feels irritated by her teacher because her bitter behavior shows the teacher is controlling the way she speaks in her classroom. On the other hand, teachers are aware of their students` grammatical structure and have them involved in activities of role-play and storytelling, while not letting students feel they`re under pressure of correction. Delpit suggests if teachers set a boundary of “correcting,” then a student would develop reading and writing skills at their own pace.

In “The Skin That We Speak,” Delpit goes further deep with conflict between identity and culture for children in a classroom. Along with Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, they have gathered linguistic analysis and personal essays from African American students from diverse backgrounds, including Dowdy herself and Delpit`s daughter, Maya, to share their own experiences of struggling to have a better education and be respected as human beings. Dowdy began the chapter about growing up in Trinidad and manage to speak as proper as she could to achieve in school. Her fellow peers would imitate her accent, making her feel isolated from everyone and herself. She writes about how her mother taught her to “curse in white” (Delpit, “TSWS” pg. 5), meaning changing her appearance and speech to gain approval by society. Meanwhile, she writes her siblings didn`t change the way they are for society. They were confident in their own language and marched in protests, against changing their language and identity in classroom. Dowdy soon realized the “curse in white” phrase doesn`t define her ethnic. In the end, she finally accepted her Trinidad heritage and motive to never forget her identity. Delpit explains her daughter`s experiences from going to a white school and an African American school. She noticed a significant difference between culture and identity, summarizes a connection can created by those who speak the language you do. I predict Maya`s experience from a white school she never formed a bond with any peers and teachers who can understand her language without looking at her sideways. Now in an African American school, she can truly express her home language among the community of welcome arms.

To conclude, this better idea should remind teachers, especially African American students African American Language is here to admire the beauty and power of it. We should never judge the language from a Standard English perspective. Our language, identity, and intelligence are all part of what we came from.

Works Cited:

Jennifer M. Cunningham, “African American Language is Not Good English,” (pg. 88-92) “Bad Ideas About Writing,” By Cheryl E. Ball & Drew M. Loewe

Lisa Delpit, “What Should Teachers Do?” (pg. 149-156), Rethinking Schools, http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/12_01/ebdelpit.shtml

Lisa Delpit, Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, “The Skin We Speak:” Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom, (2002)