An effective way of heightening students' awareness maybe to present them with instruction that systematicallyaddresses diverse languages as rule-governed codes thathave functional value in different settings
Finding a way to engage students in learning the correct information is vital
However, we found that because of the diversestudent population at BMCC, we could identify studentsof other races and cultures who also used nonstandardvarieties of subject-verb agreement in their writing
The more diverse a group is, the more diverse the writing will be
Author Milton Baxter, a Black American, providedinstruction via contrastive analysis to the experimentalgroup, while two other English professors, both WhiteAmericans, provided traditional instruction to thecontrol group
Controlling the variables can affect the outcomes
Many students who are native speakers of Englishhave not, during the course of their education, encounteredliterature that discusses the different varieties of Englishspoken in America in general and the nonstandard varietyof English they speak in particular
Many people have not had to deal with different forms of the language
This disregardfor Standard English is sometimes evident when thesestudents complain that they don't want to sound"White."
Stereotypes can affect how people speak
They, in fact, think they are usingStandard English rules when they are not.
People do not know they are speaking "incorrectly" without guidance
When asked by a teacher why the verb takesan -5 ending in the sentence "He likes cake," many studentswill respond, "I don't know; it just sounds right." Theywill be unable to state explicitly that when the subject isthird person singular, the verb takes an -5 ending in thepresent tense
People subconsciously know why something might be correct but can't express it
This means a student would be able to switch codes fromEbonics to Standard English whenever the situationwarrants it
An impressive trait to be able to switch
A denialof the existence of such a code can be viewed as a denial ofthe culture that sustains it
If gone about incorrectly, someone can be accused of hate because they try to teach Standard English
When college-educated students use an inappropriate form of subject-verb agreement in the workplace, it is likely that employerswill form false assumptions about them and believe thatthese employees lack intelligenc
I've noted before that the "incorrect" language can make people think less of you
"They was waiting at the bus stop,"instead of "They were waiting at the bus stop."
The difference between "non-standard" and "standard" English
We understand that Standard English in America issimply a prestigious variety of English that may vary fromone region to another
I noted in my other article how dialect can affect language
Many of her nonstandard dialectfeatures are marked as incorrect, and, consequently, hergrade is lowered significantl
As I marked in the annotation above
The problem with her writing is that shewrites the way she speaks
Using slang in the classroom can affect writing in a negative way in the eyes of the teacher
Some of these studentsare able to switch codes, using Standard English whennecessary. Others are unable to do this effectively and, as aresult, suffer the negative academic and social consequencesof using nonstandard English in settings where StandardEnglish is required
Being able to code-switch is necessary in the classroom
Another interesting observation arising from this study is that the most commonly usedfeatures in 2014 coincided with those most commonly used in 2004.
Interesting to note that the features remained the same after a decade
Writing in a high-stakes examination setting has generally amore formal character and, as such, does not typically favour the use of non-standard features.
"At-home" language is not typically seen in the classroom
As mentioned earlier, the students in this study came from different parts of the UK, withregions in England being the most represented in the sample
Dialect could play a role in this from region to region
This calls for more instructional support to be provided tolow-attaining students.
The author believes low-attaining students should be helped more in the classroom to improve their writing
If students fail to recognise them as non-standard features, then they are morelikely to use them in formal contexts of communication such as that of high-stakes exam-ination writing.
The definition of "non-standard features" can vary from person to person
Unlike most studies to date, it adopted a diachronic approach to the examinationof this issue. It focused on two points in time, 2004 and 2014, and explored the extent towhich students’ use of non-standard English changed over the course of this period.
How would this study go if it were conducted today?
The data analysis indicated that, overall, the 2014 corpus contained more instances ofnon-standard English compared to the 2004 one.
This could be due to the fact that slang has evolved
The texts which the students produced in 2004 and 2014 were in response to a narrativetask
Puts both studies in the same scenario
By analysing longer extracts of writing produced by858 16-year-old students in 2004 and 2014, it attempts to explore whether there have beenany changes in the use of non-standard English in students’ writing in more recent years.
Exact same study, but ten years apart
The study sought to address the following four questions:1. Did students’ texts contain more or less non-standard features in 2014 compared to2004?2. Which non-standard features were most commonly used in students’ texts in 2014?How do these compare to the non-standard features most commonly used in students’texts in 2004?3. Which non-standard features were least commonly used in students’ texts in 2014?How do these compare to the non-standard features least commonly used in students’texts in 2004?4. How were the non-standard features distributed geographically in 2014? How doesthis geographical distribution compare to that observed in 2004?
Important questions with information to back them up. Good thesis questions leading into the research
Seeking to address this gap, this study exam-ined the use of non-standard features in students’ writing over time.
Again, trying to determine the difference specifically for school work
Non-standard varieties have received considerable research attention in the field of educa-tional linguistics internationally, with a substantial number of studies focusing on the useof non-standard features in students’ speaking and/or writing
There have been many studies to try and find the difference in language for writing and speaking