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##  Teaching about Dialects. ERIC Digest.                                        

The study of dialects offers a fascinating approach to learning                 about language. Ideally, by learning about how language varies                  geographically and socially, students will come to understand at                least two basic facts about language: 1) that language changes over             time, and 2) that language use is linked to social                              identity. 
Language variation, or dialect diversity, reflects the              fact that languages change over time and that people who live in the            same geographical area or maintain the same social identity share               language norms; in other words, they speak the same dialect.                    Although dialects differ geographically and socially, no dialect is             better structurally than another. While many people believe there to            be only one correct form of a language, what is standard actually               varies from dialect to dialect. For example, the normal Southern                pronunciation of the word pin does not differ from the pronunciation            of the word pen. But because other dialects make a distinction                  between the vowels i and e preceding the nasal sound /n/, speakers              of those dialects may assess the Southern pronunciation as incorrect            instead of simply different. Judging someone's pronunciation (or                grammar or word choice) as wrong may lead to unwarranted judgments              about their intelligence or ability. 
Such dialect discrimination              is widely tolerated in the United States. If people had a better                understanding of how language works, they would probably be less                inclined to make negative judgments about speakers of different                 dialects. Knowledge about how language works is fundamental to                  understanding human communication in the same way that a knowledge              of biology leads to a better understanding of how the human body                works. 
This digest addresses some of the difficulties teachers may            encounter in teaching about dialects and provides several activities            for helping students learn more about language and understand that              language variation is a natural phenomenon. DIFFICULTIES IN                   TEACHING ABOUT DIALECTSIn teaching about dialects (i.e.,                    language variation), teachers may encounter certain challenges,                 including widespread misperceptions about how language works and                intolerance toward disempowered groups. Teaching about language                 variation may mean questioning some widely held views about                     language. While popular views are not always inaccurate, they may               need to be re-examined. For example, blood-letting was widely                   perceived as an appropriate solution for certain diseases when the              body was believed to have four primary humors that controlled                   health; since then, advances in medical knowledge have led people to            change their view of blood-letting. In the same way, many people                believe that there is a single set of standards for English, but                linguistic science shows that Standard English in one part of the               country is somewhat different from Standard English in other parts              of the country and from Standard English in other English-speaking              countries. Debate about what is "correct" can become a moral                    battlefield in which individuals argue the merits of language use               and language instruction according to absolute standards of right               and wrong. 
Teachers can navigate this potential minefield by                  increasing their own knowledge about sociolinguistic research on                dialects of English. (See Demo, 2000, for a reading list.) They will            come to understand and can help their students understand that the              difference between the Standard English dialect spoken in Boston and            the Standard English dialect spoken in Atlanta can be explained by              differences in regional norms for language use. The difference                  between Standard English in Baltimore and vernacular English                    dialects in Baltimore (e.g., African American Vernacular English and            urban Appalachian English) is explained by different social                     norms. 
Attitudes about various dialects may also be influenced by             a continuing intolerance toward different ethnic and cultural                   groups. Teachers can directly address implicit or institutionalized             discrimination that shows up in language (e.g., "the lady doctor"               vs. "the doctor") or in attitudes toward language. The extent to                which the teacher is responsible for changing attitudes about other             people is a difficult question, but an open examination of language             attitudes can provide opportunities to discuss broader social                   issues. TEACHING ABOUT DIALECTSExamining Assumptions 
The                best approach for teaching about dialects is to invite students into            a dialogue that engages them in examining some basic assumptions.               This is not an easy process, but most audiences demonstrate a high              level of interest in language matters. Teachers might start with a              series of true-or-false questions, such as the following: 
True or             False 
1. Language is one of our most important cultural                       inventions. 
2. Language change is a process of decay. 
3. Grammar            books used in schools cover most of the rules and processes of                  English. 
4. Eskimos have many words for snow, and they "see" snow             differently than others do. 
5. Writing and speech are essentially             the same thing. 
6. Appalachian English is Elizabethan                         English. 
7. Children require detailed instruction to learn                    language. 
After the students have completed the exercise, the                 answers can be discussed. (They are all false.) This kind of                    discussion brings the teacher and the students into an awareness of             how certain language-related terms, such as rules and language, may             be used in different senses. The group can decide together what                 terms they need to define and how to locate and understand                      scientifically based definitions. 
Identifying Language                        Patterns 
Another useful strategy for teaching about dialects                  involves active learning: looking for patterns of language                      variation. The teacher should guide the students in examining                   language samples to find linguistic explanations for the patterns               they note. A second set of language samples can be used for testing             the students' hypotheses. In this manner, the students are following            the scientific method: observation (i.e., looking for patterns),                hypothesis development, and hypothesis testing. 
A good way to                 begin is to examine nonstigmatized data first. In other words, look             at a case in which variation is considered perfectly acceptable and             correct, such as the three spoken forms of the past                             tense (i.e., "walk/t/," "flag/d/," "bat/Id/"), as in the following              exercise. 
Putting the Past Under the Microscope 
Linguistic fact:            Sounds are either voiced or voiceless. The /t/ in time is voiceless,            and the /d/ in dime is voiced. Voicing is the only difference                   between these two sounds. This information will help students                   understand the exercise described below. 
The following words are              all regular verbs, but the past tense marker <-ed> that is attached             to them comes in three different phonetic forms: /t/, /d/,                      and /Id/. 
1. Hop 
2. Knit 
3. Kick 
4. Score 
5. Stretch 
6.             Bag 
7. Bat 
8. Explain 
9. Need 
10. Side 
11. Flex 
12.                 Burn 
Say each of these verbs aloud in the past tense. Notice the              sound of the past tense marker for each of them. Sort the verbs into            the following three columns according to which past tense marker                attaches to                                                                     them. 
 /t/                 /d/                  /Id/                          
__________________ __________________   ____________________                  
__________________ __________________   ____________________                  
__________________ __________________   ____________________                  
__________________ __________________   ____________________ 
This           exercise helps students understand that language variation is quite             normal--something that every English speaker participates in. They              see that there is more than one way to pronounce , and the choice               follows a pattern: If the root word ends in /t/ or /d/, the ending              is pronounced /Id/. If the root word ends in a voiced sound other               than /d/, the ending is pronounced /d/; if the root ends in a                   voiceless sound other than /t/, the ending is                                   pronounced /t/. 
Examining Stigmatized Forms 
The next step is to             introduce stigmatized data, that is, a linguistic pattern that is               sometimes evaluated negatively: perhaps a-prefixing from Appalachian            English (e.g., "She went a-hunting"), habitual be from African                  American Vernacular English (e.g., "Tuesdays, we be bowling"), or               the Southern vowel merger (e.g., pronouncing pin and pen the                    same) (see Wolfram, Adger, & Christian, 1999). It may be best to                choose patterns that students are already familiar with. On the                 other hand, if teachers want to avoid evoking the students' language            prejudices (associated with language patterns that students would               deem incorrect or non-standard), they may prefer to use examples of             language patterns that are not familiar to the students. 
Looking              at Language Change 
Another means of teaching the idea that                    language variation is natural is to discuss its role in language                change. Lexical variation can offer a good approach. For example,               the teacher can ask the students to do a grammatical cloze                      exercise: "Today I work; yesterday I ________." They will                       respond, "worked." At this point, the teacher can ask them if there             is any stigma attached to the word worked. Then the teacher can                 inform the class that the original form was wrought (as in                      wrought-iron) and explain that many of the Old English verbs that               formed the past tense by changing a vowel have slipped into the                 Modern English verb category. In such cases, the results of language            change are not stigmatized. Verbs in transition can be                          discussed (e.g., hang, hanged, hung). The final category to consider            includes verbs that are currently undergoing such change and have               stigmatized forms (e.g., know, knowed). 
The general pedagogical               approach is to guide the students from considering unstigmatized                variation in English to considering stigmatized variation. The goal             is to have them understand that stigmatization is a social judgment,            not a linguistic matter. Language variation is neither bad nor good.            But because discussion of correct English is sure to arise, it is               best to address that topic directly. The following definitions are              useful. 
Correct English Defined 
In commenting that a segment of             talk or writing is good or correct, non-linguists may have in mind              the kinds of criteria for what we would call Prescriptively Correct             English. Prescriptions for how people should use English can be                 found in grammar books, books on writing style and usage, and in                schools and other institutions. The following assumptions are                   associated with Prescriptively Correct English: 
* Some forms of               the language always work better (linguistically) than other forms of            the language. For example, "She is not home today" always works                 better than "She ain't home today." 
* English should be protected             from corrupting influences that would cause decay in its form.                  English has already been corrupted by slovenly use and should be                reformed to the standards of yesteryear. 
But linguists and others             are also concerned with using language in ways that are appropriate             for the situation. We can call this Rhetorically Correct English,               and it is associated with the following assumptions: 
* Some forms             of the language work better than others in certain contexts. For                example, there are some contexts in which "She ain't home today"                will work better than "She is not home today." 
* No                           institutionalized authority exists to govern the production of                  English. Appropriate language production is governed by the                     speaker's intention, the audience, and the context. 
Because change            is a fundamental feature of human language, the Rhetorically Correct            English of any particular context will most likely be different                 from, but neither inferior nor superior to, the Rhetorically Correct            English of yesteryear. 
Discussing different views of correct                  English helps students gain a more scientific understanding of                  language. The goal is for students to see that language variation is            integral to human language. CONCLUSIONLanguage variation is an            engaging topic for learning about language. It helps students                   understand that language has evolved and that it continues to be                shaped by geographic, historical, social, and ethnic factors. In                addition, learning about language variation allows them to examine              their views about what constitutes correct English and to evaluate              intolerance toward certain varieties of English. Through the study              of language variation, they are better able to understand the                   dynamics of language and its role in society. FOR FURTHER                     READINGChristian, D. (1997). "Vernacular dialects in U.S.                   schools" (ERIC Digest). Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on                   Language and Linguistics. 
Crystal, D. (1995). "Cambridge                      encyclopedia of the English language." New York: Cambridge. 
Demo,             D. (2000). "Dialects in education" (ERIC/CLL Resource Guide Online).            Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Language and                              Linguistics. 
Wolfram, W. (1990). "Incorporating dialect study into            the language arts class" (ERIC Digest). Washington, DC: ERIC                    Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics. 
Wolfram, W., Adger, C.            T., & Christian, D. (1999). "Dialects in schools and communities."              Mahweh, NJ: Erlbaum. 
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This digest was prepared with funding            from the U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Educational Research and            Improvement, National Library of Education, under contract no.                  ED-99-CO-0008. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the            positions or policies of ED, OERI, or NLE.                                   **Title:** Teaching about Dialects. ERIC Digest.                                        **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics, 4646 40th Street,              NW, Washington, DC 20016. Tel: 202-362-0700; For full text:                     http://www.cal.org/ericcll/digest.                                           **Descriptors:**  Dialects, English, Language Patterns,  Language Variation, Learning            Activities, Standard Spoken Usage,  Teaching Methods                         **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests, Language Change                                                
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