Impact

What effect will having Ebonics in the classroom have on students and teachers? Had the Oakland school board been successful it would have proposed an initiative to encourage the already overburdened teachers to take what amounts to a "kinder and gentler" position on the practice of teaching standard English. While affirming that proper English remains their teaching goal for the students, they have suggested that Ebonics be considered a "legitimate" language. Clearly giving the teachers more tasks is not the answer. They would be forced to take a course and learn the rules of the Ebonics language in order to communicate with their students and correct them, which would cost a tremendous amount of money. Furthermore there is not a completely clear consensus among linguists whether Ebonics is a language. Lastly, are there enough qualified linguists to teach teachers Ebonics?

Students should learn standard English. In Where We Stand by Albert Shanker he concurs with the NAACP on the importance of Black children to learn standard English in order to have access and be able to understand the rich store of knowledge that has been recorded primarily in standard English. To see a complete copy of Where We Stand see: http://www.aft.org/wws/ww10597.htm

The stir Ebonics has caused will bring attention to the fact that there is still not equal opportunity in the schools. African American leaders have played a large role in what the Black community has thought on the issue of ebonics. One politician who has been very vocal has been Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jackson said he hopes the widespread media attention on Ebonics will throw a spotlight on the needs of African-American students. To see more of what Jesse Jackson has to say about Ebonics go and see Rev Jackson & Ebonics at: http://www.sfu.ca/~wwwasad/ebonics.html

Other leaders of the African American community have spoken out on Ebonics. Poet-educator Maya Angelou was quoted as saying she was "incensed" by the ebonics plan, and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume called it "a cruel joke." To read about how other respected leaders feel about Ebonics, and how the Oakland School Board faltered in their attempt to tackle the difficult task of defining Ebonics in the opinion of J. Douglas Allen-Taylor. Read his article entitled Double Talk at: http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/02.27.97/cover/ebonics1-9709.html

Since Ebonics has become a hot topic it has raised multilingual and multicultural debates among teachers. To see what happened when 50 teachers in Utah discussed the issue during a two-day conference on Sunday, April 20, 1997 on how to deal with pupils who speak English as a second, or even third language visit: http://www.sltrib.com/97/apr/042097/utah/12191.htm What occurred has been summarized in a article entitled Teachers Talk On How to Teach English.

Other issues tied to Ebonics that will also effect teachers is Teacher certification and Expanding the public education definition of bilingual education and ESL (English as a Second Language). In Ebonics? The Hidden Issue Is About Teacher Certification, Dr. Keith Orlando Hilton feels that Ebonics will never become part of the educational system because of the large number of whites in the power positions of the educational system. To view this article and e-mail Dr. Hilton on his viewpoints visit: http://www.blackworld.com//archive/spot7.htm

In terms of how parents are reacting to ebonics and multiculturalism many parents both black and white are delighted about seeing black children and families in reading material their children are going to read but are not happy that the language they are portrayed speaking is not standard English but ebonics. In the article Divided By Dialect: Parents welcome books about black families, but not their use of non-standard English By Cassandra Spratling this idea is expressed while the authors of these books defend themselves and their writing. To see Divided By Dialect see: http://www.freep.com/blackhistory/qebon161.htm

Get a first hand look at what Oakland, CA Students think are the Proís and Conís of Ebonics: http://www.gripvision.com/ebonics.htm To see some more information on Ebonics check out the Center for Applied Linguistics at: http://www.cal.org/ebonics/

In conclusion there are many viewpoints on the topic of Ebonics, experts and intellectuals frequently change their opinions on the issues surrounding Black English. This site will not answer all of your questions but it does provide access to information that before the ìinventionî of the Web would have taken days to compile from the library. Use this information to better educate yourself on the topics that are influencing education in America today. Please visit the other subjects in the Citizenís Guide to Education Reform it can only better the education of your children and the children of the future.