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Ebonics
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Published: October 11, 2006
Have you ever been out in public, say walking down the street or riding in an elevator, and heard a group of people talking about "da hood," their "crib," or "gittin' Benjamins and bling-bling?" They're not speaking a foreign language per se. They're talking in Ebonics, a language primarily used by African Americans and street gangs.
The word "Ebonics" is combination of ebony and phonics and is considered slang or street lingo. Lately, Ebonics has crept into the vernacular of rap groups, even the white rapper Eminem, as well as high school students. However, numerous experts offer negative criticisms and objections of Ebonics.
Linguistics Professor Charles Fillmore of the University of California, Berkeley, wrote an insightful essay about Ebonics in 1997 which was posted on the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) website. According to Professor Fillmore, the root cause for concern is that school aged children go to school speaking fluent Ebonics. The children speak it throughout their day and the problem is that their teachers cannot understand what the children are saying. The effect is that the children perform poorly in school, fail their classes, and therefore cannot succeed in the outside world.
In an effort to combat this problem in the late 1990s, the Oakland (California) Unified School District's December 18th "Ebonics" resolution was drafted so "the Superintendent in conjunction with her staff shall devise and implement the best possible academic program for imparting instruction to African American students in their primary language (Ebonics) for the combined purposes of maintaining the legitimacy and richness of such language ... and to facilitate their acquisition and mastery of English language skills." This was basically an "if you can't beat them, join them" philosophy to teach African-American students in their Ebonics language.
Writer James Shaw of the Los Angeles Times agrees with the "if you can't beat them, join them" conclusion of Professor Fillmore. Shaw calls the Oakland Ebonics resolution "inverted racism." Comparing the language to drive-by shootings and riots, Ebonics is another example of black people's self-racism.
Secondly, Shaw quotes Oakland Board of Education President Toni Cook who said that Ebonics originated in Africa. However, after talking with African language and literature professors at various universities, Shaw disagrees with President Cook's comment. "(Ebonics) is an American construction, neither known nor spoken anywhere in the huge continent of Africa," Shaw said.
The anti-Ebonics views were not just made by educated people during the latter half of the 1990s. Many school-aged children are still talking about the Ebonics controversy in today's society. One posting in a forum on Teenspot.com offers more negative opinions about speaking in Ebonics:
Some people in Ebonics is a poor excuse for a language. Laziness in talking in an uneducated "pseudo-language" has replaced English as a mainstream language. Others say that Ebonics is hip, modern, or just their chosen vernacular. The fact is young people, both black and white, are speaking Ebonics. Older people have no idea what these people are saying and they believe speaking in the Ebonics language should stop immediately.
Fillmore, Charles J. "A Linguist Looks at the Ebonics Debate." Center for Applied Linguistics. January 1997. Copyright 2006. Center for Applied Linguistics. October 11, 2006. http://www.cal.org/topics/dialects/ebfillmo.html
Shaw, James E. "Perspectives on 'Ebonics' Don't Self-inflict Another Obstacle." linguistlist.org. December 27, 1996. Los Angeles Times. October 11. 2006. http://linguistlist.org/issues/8/8-52.html
Puggsy_galore. Forum comment on ebonics. Teenspot.com Teen Message Boards. January 13, 2006. Copyright 2006. NetFX Media, Inc. October 11, 2006. http://www.teenspot.com/boards/showthread.html?t=2 58950&page=4
Linguistics Professor Charles Fillmore of the University of California, Berkeley, wrote an insightful essay about Ebonics in 1997 which was posted on the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) website. According to Professor Fillmore, the root cause for concern is that school aged children go to school speaking fluent Ebonics. The children speak it throughout their day and the problem is that their teachers cannot understand what the children are saying. The effect is that the children perform poorly in school, fail their classes, and therefore cannot succeed in the outside world.
In an effort to combat this problem in the late 1990s, the Oakland (California) Unified School District's December 18th "Ebonics" resolution was drafted so "the Superintendent in conjunction with her staff shall devise and implement the best possible academic program for imparting instruction to African American students in their primary language (Ebonics) for the combined purposes of maintaining the legitimacy and richness of such language ... and to facilitate their acquisition and mastery of English language skills." This was basically an "if you can't beat them, join them" philosophy to teach African-American students in their Ebonics language.
Writer James Shaw of the Los Angeles Times agrees with the "if you can't beat them, join them" conclusion of Professor Fillmore. Shaw calls the Oakland Ebonics resolution "inverted racism." Comparing the language to drive-by shootings and riots, Ebonics is another example of black people's self-racism.
Secondly, Shaw quotes Oakland Board of Education President Toni Cook who said that Ebonics originated in Africa. However, after talking with African language and literature professors at various universities, Shaw disagrees with President Cook's comment. "(Ebonics) is an American construction, neither known nor spoken anywhere in the huge continent of Africa," Shaw said.
The anti-Ebonics views were not just made by educated people during the latter half of the 1990s. Many school-aged children are still talking about the Ebonics controversy in today's society. One posting in a forum on Teenspot.com offers more negative opinions about speaking in Ebonics:
A poor excuse for a failure to grasp the basics of English. When in doubt, throw an "izzle" sound in the middle of any word (or) just string random thoughts together and insinuate that they actually mean something. When backed into a corner, you can always claim that it has something to do with a sort of symbolism or is a defining trait that makes your race great, versus own up to the fact that it is essentially laziness at it's finest...Ebonics is really the study of the rules applied to turn English into some uneducated sounding pseudo-language whose purpose is for the most part to insult and denigrate 'Whitey'.
Some people in Ebonics is a poor excuse for a language. Laziness in talking in an uneducated "pseudo-language" has replaced English as a mainstream language. Others say that Ebonics is hip, modern, or just their chosen vernacular. The fact is young people, both black and white, are speaking Ebonics. Older people have no idea what these people are saying and they believe speaking in the Ebonics language should stop immediately.
Fillmore, Charles J. "A Linguist Looks at the Ebonics Debate." Center for Applied Linguistics. January 1997. Copyright 2006. Center for Applied Linguistics. October 11, 2006. http://www.cal.org/topics/dialects/ebfillmo.html
Shaw, James E. "Perspectives on 'Ebonics' Don't Self-inflict Another Obstacle." linguistlist.org. December 27, 1996. Los Angeles Times. October 11. 2006. http://linguistlist.org/issues/8/8-52.html
Puggsy_galore. Forum comment on ebonics. Teenspot.com Teen Message Boards. January 13, 2006. Copyright 2006. NetFX Media, Inc. October 11, 2006. http://www.teenspot.com/boards/showthread.html?t=2 58950&page=4
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