Main Takeaways
Celebrating and valuing linguistic varieties use by students and their communities promotes inclusion
Decentering standardized forms and varieties and acknowledging their problematic status can help to combat discriminatory narratives
Connecting discussion of linguistic variation to real-world issues and people can help students to understand the relevance of course materials to their lives
Quick Wins
Changes you can easily implement to make a difference in your teaching and in the learning and experiences of your students
- Allow and encourage students to use their dialect(s): Students should be able to participate in class and complete assignments in a dialect of English that they feel comfortable using and should not be penalized for using linguistic features that are not part of the instructor’s English
- Be clear about whose English you’re discussing: Instead of making general claims about English, be clear about whether the features you are discussing are features of your own language or particular dialects
- Avoid the term “Standard American English”: This term can perpetuate the false idea that there is a single coherent mainstream dialect in the US and can reinforce the harmful belief that there is a “standard” way of speaking that other dialects deviate from. If talking about some idealized form of American English consider using the term “standardized” to emphasize the standardization process that involves power and prestige
- Explicitly acknowledge linguistic discrimination: In emphasizing the linguistic equality of different minoritized English varieties, acknowledge the unequal status of varieties in society and discuss how this is rooted in factors like racism and classism
- Avoid portraying minoritized Englishes as a monolith: Be sure to acknowledge that there is internal variation even within minoritized dialects or ethnolects such that not all features will be shared be all users
Bigger Impact
What more can be done to have a long-term, positive impact in your teaching and on your students’ learning and experiences in linguistics?
Suggestion #1: Incorporate English varieties used by students
Use examples from varieties of English that students are users of and provide students with opportunities to share their intuitions about their own dialects.
Why?
- Using and validating minoritized varieties that are used by students and their communities can help to combat discriminatory narratives around stigmatized language varieties and their users
- Representing English varieties that students are familiar with can help them to see the relevance of course content to their own linguistic experience
- Integrating varieties that students use offers an opportunity to leverage their linguistic capital in the classroom through recognizing and utilizing their expertise as language users
How?
- Use examples from minoritized Englishes that students may use or be familiar with, such as African American English or Chicano English, in lectures and problem sets
- Regularly ask students to contribute observations from their own language use in class, while being careful not to single out or tokenize particular students or groups of students
- Consider incorporating a dialect variation survey assignment to get students to engage with variation in their community
Suggestion #2: Connect language to people and culture
Be intentional about centering the people who use minoritized varieties rather than only looking at the language as decontextualized “data”.
Why?
- Focusing only on the language can lead to the unwanted implication that minoritized varieties matter only for the data they can provide and not for the individuals and communities who use the variety
- Connecting the discussion to people and culture can provide an opportunity to discuss linguistic discrimination and provide students with the knowledge to confront discriminatory language ideologies
- Contextualizing language in the real world can help to promote understanding and learning
How?
- Center the perspectives of scholars, students, and others who are users of the varieties you are discussing
- Use examples from pop culture or that are relevant to current events and ask students to contribute their own examples
- Highlight the relevance of the study of minoritized varieties to issues in areas such as education and criminal justice
- Incorporate narratives and perspectives that celebrate resistance and resilience and not only those that focus on victimization and oppression
Resources
African American English: A Linguistic Introduction. Green, Lisa J. 2002. Cambridge University Press.
Chicano English in Context. Fought, Carmen. 2003. Palgrave Macmillan.
Yale Grammatical Diversity Project
The Talking Black in America Project
The Vocal Fries Podcast Episode “ChicaNO? ChicanYES!” (transcript available)
Accent Expert Gives a Tour of North American Accents (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 – captions available) – includes discussion of African American Englishes (Nicole Holliday), Latinx Englishes (Megan Figueroa), Native American Englishes (Kalina Newmark), and Gullah (Sunn m’Cheaux)