Language in the Classroom Andrea Sturgeon Education 301

Language in the Classroom § Andrea Sturgeon § Education 301/ Section 02 § Diversity Technology Lesson Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 1

The Structure § Unit: Poetry § Intended Grade Level: Open for grades 7 -12 depending on the poetry selection § Lesson: Voice in Poetry Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 2

Objectives Recognition of multiple voiced speakers in the poems Audible identification of dialects, intonations, and cultural linguistic traits. Comprehend the value of multiple dialects Cultural Identity Sturgeon Diversity Lesson Linguistic Variances Individual Perspectives 3

Materials Needed Poetry Selections from You Hear Me Ed. Betsy Franco Selections from Things I Have to Tell You Ed. Betsy Franco One classroom Computer Classroom Setup Sturgeon Diversity Lesson Conducive to Discussion 4

Does Language Affect Our Environment? Take 3 minutes to free write examples of language affecting your personal environment Consider your realities…home, school, social life Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 5

Do Words Have a Different Meaning and Power in Different Setting or Situations? Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 6

What Is the Study of Language § Linguistics is the study of language, and the system of human communication. § Linguistics involves multiple fields. Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 7

Linguistic Fields Dialectology investigation of regional variation in language Sociolinguistics relation between social structure and language usage, and of social issues involving language Semantics study of word and sentence meaning http: //www. wfu. edu/%7 Ewhitley/homepagesites. html#loc al Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 8

What does Linguistics Have to do with Me? § Remember learning to read, all those goofy sounds the letters had? § That was the Phonetic alphabet, a product of Linguistics. And where would Grammar be without its big brother Linguistics? Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 9

Dialects and Stereotype § What stereotypes are equated with certain dialects? § Does geography play a role? Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 10

So what is Dialect? § Dialect is variation in language. § This variation is also called an accent, and usually depends on the region you live in. Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 11

Dialect Example From Huck Finn It was a close place. I took. . . up [the letter I'd written to Miss Watson], and held it in my hand. I was a-trembling, because I'd got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: "All right then, I'll go to hell"— http: //www. sparknotes. com/lit/huckfinn/quotes. html Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 12

Grab a Partner, and Decode the Underlined Words Word from Huck Your Definition Clues that Helped You What do we know @ Huck? Close Place Took Up A-Tremblin Betwixt Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 13

Modern Examples Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 14

How does a reader identify with a speaker § Language is the only method available to cross the void between speaker and audience. § If a conscience effort is made to speak properly the writing will be stiff and difficult to relate to. § A reader will seldom understand the speaker or characters. Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 15

What does this speaker reveal ? § Take notes while I read the following poem § Try to answer the five W’s and H § I’m Asian. But my heart’s something else, another tone entirely. Yeah, I’m a black kid, though I’m white. A redhead on my bus mocks the speech of a Caucasian, Utterances who gets off the bus with his best friend, By Want a darker counterpart. You’re either black or white; there’s no in. I watch through the windows as they between. push and laugh. Then what does that make me? Their friendship knows no separation of skin. The Hmong kid in the back asks my § Respect. question, as I consider my skin. So give and get. Traditionally, I am supposed to be yellow Diversity. But I’m not. Cannot be avoided. There is no crayola color for me. I’m pale, and sure: http: //www. carmel. lib. in. us/ya/stories/want. htm Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 16

Speaker Revelation Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 17

What does language tell us? How What Why Who When Where Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 18

Advocates for Dialect § Affirm the students' right to their own patterns and varieties of the language -- the dialects of their nurture or whatever dialects in which they find their own identity and style. § A nation proud of its diverse heritage and its cultural and racial variety will preserve its heritage of dialects. – NCTE – http: //www. tesol. org/pubs/catalog/downloadable/adger 2. html#8 Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 19

Problems with Dialect § Some type of endorsement of one particular language variety seems inevitable. § Issued a weaker version asserting that students should learn the conventions of written standard English § Can you think of any other problems? ? Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 20

21 Your Personal Dialect § Take 10 minutes to record your personal language conventions – Do you have an accent? – Do you say certain words “funny” – Do you say different phrases? Sturgeon Diversity Lesson 21