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(Provocative Title) Ebonics Exists
(Introduction) (Hook) Many people do not understand that Ebonics should be
considered a language, as James Baldwin puts it, “A language comes into existence by
means of brutal necessity, and the rules of the language are dictated by what the
language must convey.” (6). (Bridge)Baldwin’s message is that Ebonics is a language
of its own and should not be considered “slang”. (Divided Stasis) (Opponents claim
informed by 3 scholarly articles) Although opponents feel that using Ebonics in the
classroom is holding these students back, (Rhetor’s Main Claim informed by 9
scholarly sources) it is necessary to implement Ebonics because (Reason/Support 1) it
will help students whose first language is Ebonics learn standard English,
(Reason/Support 2) it is a legitimate linguistic system it will give students a feeling of
comfort when learning, and (Reason/Support 3) it will give students a feeling of comfort
when learning.
(Narration) The Oakland School Board addressed the controversial issue of
implementing Ebonics into the classroom on December 18, 1996. On this day, a resolution
was proposed that students of Ebonics speaking background would be able to have
Ebonics used as a tool in the classroom to help learn Standardized English. This would
help to give these students a better chance to succeed. The supporters of this resolution
believe that using Ebonics as a tool will help students to catch on easier to Standardized
English while also helping them to feel more comfortable while learning. The critics of
the school board resolution feel that it is a waste of time to give these children help when
they are already failing. The critics are failing to understand that using Ebonics in the
classroom will give these students a fair chance to succeed. As Baldwin said, “language is
also a political instrument, means, and proof of power.” (4)
(Confirmation) The Oakland School Boards resolution is benefiting the overall
school experience for Ebonics speaking students. The program serves as a way for the
culture of Black students to be implemented into the classroom environment to give these
students a fair chance at learning Standard English. As John Rickford puts it, “the point is
not to teach Ebonics as a distinct language but to use it as a tool to increase mastery of
Standard English among Ebonics Speakers,” (30) which is what often confuses the critics
of this resolution.
(Concession/Refutation) It is known that many people oppose the Oakland
School Board resolution and believe Ebonics has no place in a classroom
environment. (1) Leon Todd, a critic of using Ebonics, says that,” It matters little if the
inappropriate speech pattern derives from poverty, rap music, hip hop culture, a
dysfunctional ghetto family, or historical speech variations from Africa or the plantation,
the problem still needs to be diagnosed as a major language disorder and/or a learning
disability,” (5). Todd is explaining that Ebonics should be considered a learning disability
and should not be supported in a classroom. (2) Other opponents argue that finding
teachers who can implicate Ebonics into teaching is a huge waste of
money. (3) Opponents also feel that Ebonics is just lazy English and should not be
considered a language. (Refutation: Rhetors Main Claim + Support 1) However,
students who are able to use Ebonics as a tool to learn Standardized English
generally do better. (Toumlin Warrant) In the same way that we teach Spanish
speaking students standard English using Spanish, teaching Ebonics speaking
students should be done in the same way. (1) Dr. John Rickford found a study in
which, “The kids who started in the vernacular were outperforming in English the
kids who started in English, in subjects ranging from reading to social studies, and
even arithmetic.” (3) This proves that doing this really does help. Kids really are able
to succeed if they are given an even playing field to help them. (2) Stephanie Gallo
states in her essay that, “many teachers who are willing to use Ebonics in the
classroom have indicated that by using Ebonics, they would be acknowledging it, not
teaching it.” (10) They are not teaching the language to the students, they are just
putting the work in a way that these students will understand to assure they
learn. (Conclusion) From the information stated we can conclude that using
Ebonics will help students learn Standard English.
(Refutation: Support 2) Ebonics is a legitimate linguistic system and should be
treated as such. (Warrant) Language is defined as the method of human
communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured
and conventional way. Ebonics does exactly that. (1) Reporter Vinson Cunningham for
“The New Yorker” says that, “black talk has—at high cost, too often beautiful effect—
become a moral language, too.” (17) His article explains the logistics of how Ebonics
works. It’s made up of its own set of rules that include dropping “r’s” and how to
properly use the word “be.” (2) As James Baldwin says, “Language, also, far more
dubiously, is meant to define the other–and, in this case, the other is refusing to be
defined by a language that has never been able to recognize him.” (1) A very large
demographic of people speak this way to communicate with each other. The
language may be taken from Standard English, but in the end so much of it is
changed that it is now its own language. (3) Professor Wheeler from Christopher
Newport University, gives her class a 3rd graders writing that is written in Ebonics.
The students are often very confused on what the child is trying to write, it isn’t until
after she explains to them the vernacular that the child is using that they realize,
“she walk yesterday” isn’t a mistake. Just as a child who uses “y’all” hasn’t failed to
speak in the second person, a child who says, “mama Jeep run out of gas” hasn’t
failed to indicate possession. He’s simply using a different set of rules to do it.” (6)
Children using this vernacular do not see anything wrong with their writing or
speech because they grew up around it. To them there are a set of rules they follow
as well when they speak. They are just different than the ones used in Standard
English. (Conclusion) From this information we can conclude that Ebonics is a
legitimate linguistic system with its own set of rules.
(Refutation: Support 3) Using Ebonics will give students a feeling of comfort
when learning. (Warrant) Ebonics speaking students don’t feel that they are being given
a fair chance when learning because they don’t understand Standard English. Explaining
things to them in Ebonics won’t make things feel as hopeless for them. In “Talking
White” by Jamelle Bouie, she explains her thoughts that are, “we’ve gotten to a place
where as a culture-as a race- if you sound as though you have more than a fifth-grade
education, it’s a bad thing.” (1) Students feel somewhat embarrassed that they will be
made fun of for actually trying in class. If teachers are speaking the way they do and
transitioning into Standard English, it may make students feel comfortable. (2) Bree
Picower says in her article that, “The walls inside the main building were covered with a
vibrant mural tracing leaders of African American history. The children, primarily
African American, but also Latino and Asian American, seemed to feel so at home at the
school, as if they had a real sense of ownership of the place” (11) Showcasing these
students culture so proudly would also give these students a feeling of comfort when
being in their school environment. (Conclusion) From this information we can conclude
that using Ebonics would help give students a feeling of comfort when learning.
(Summation) The implementing of Ebonics into classrooms have benefited
Ebonics speaking students immensely. Studies have proven that it is helping students to
learn Standard English must faster and there are much higher graduation rates in these
students since. The hopeless feeling while learning has since dwindled and these students
truly feel that they are given more of a fair chance to succeed. Many more students have
been able to succeed since this program has taken off and will only prove to be more
successful as time passes.
(Hook) In regards to the 1996 debate surrounding the Oakland School Board’s
resolution on Ebonics, writer James Baldwin declared, “It is not the black child’s
language that is in question, it is not his language that is despised: It is his
experience.” (Bridge) Baldwin’s message is that the Ebonics debate is a reiteration of
a conflict that has persisted for much longer–the recognition of Black people and
Black culture as worthy of respect and celebration. (Divided Stasis) (Opponent’s
Claim informed by 3 scholarly sources) Although opponents to the resolution claim
that Ebonics is not a language and is unfit for the classroom, (Rhetor’s main claim
informed by 9 scholarly sources) using Ebonics as a tool to teach Ebonics-speaking
children will help close the learning gap because (Reason/Support 1) Ebonics can
indeed be classified as a language in itself and can therefore qualify for bilingual
teaching standards, (Reason/Support 2) such an alternative teaching method has been
shown to be successful, and (Reason/Support 3) the recognition of Ebonics in the
classroom will elevate students’ views of Black culture, which will in turn benefit
Black students throughout their lives.
(Narration) On December 18, 1996 the Oakland School Board adopted a
resolution on Ebonics, or black speech, determining that it is a language separate from
Standard English that can qualify for bilingual teaching standards. In the words of the
resolution, it was the School Board’s goal to “[instruct] African-American students in
their primary language for the combined purposes of maintaining the legitimacy and
richness of such language.” This meant that the schools under the Oakland School
Board would allow students to be taught Standard English using their home language,
Ebonics. Supporters of the resolution believe that using Ebonics to teach Ebonicsspeaking children Standard English will improve their self esteem and close the
learning gap between them and students who speak Standard English at home.
Prescott Elementary, a school that had adopted the program, scored higher than other
schools in the district and according to Bree Picower, a teacher there, it was because
“they help students make connections between their local, national, racial, cultural,
and global identities.” Critics of the resolution claim that recognizing Ebonics in the
classroom will actually discourage students from learning Standard English and will
inhibit them later in their life. What critics don’t understand is that the School Board’s
resolution will give the students the tools to necessary to improve their grasp of
Standard English and will help them excel later in life.
(Confirmation) The resolution by the Oakland School Board is one that has
changed the way that some Black children learn Standard English by giving help to
the students that need it most. As Baron wrote, “The school board tried to do
something to change the negative image of black language by calling it Ebonics and
asking teachers to learn something about the speech of their students.” The resolution
is a step towards an equal society to which we should all strive. The resolution will
not only help students learn Standard English, but it will help improve their selfesteem and help them be confident in a country whose institutions are largely
dominated by White people.
(Concession/Refutation) It is, indeed, true that many Americans believe that
Ebonics is not a language and is unfit for the classroom. (1) For example, Dr. Richard
Rioux, pioneer of an education program for people recovering from substance abuse,
writes that “It is one thing to… speak in the familial and folksy manner that permits
you to identify with the cultural roots of a treasured historical past. It is quite another
thing to try to elevate the folksy dialect to the level of a language because you think
you are better able to reach and educate the children who use it.” Dr. Rioux is saying
that although the use of non-standard varieties of English, such as Ebonics, is
permissible and even encouraged in the home, Ebonics is nothing more than a dialect
and children should be taught to model perfect Standard English. (2) Another example
comes from Dr. Dennis Baron, professor of English and linguistics at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He claims that “Everyone who has taught or taken a
foreign language in school knows the difficulty of getting students to learn a language
well in a classroom situation,” and that “Simply translating from one language to
another is never enough to achieve fluency.” He means the methods that are used to
teach students foreign languages will not be effective for teaching Ebonics-speaking
students Standard English. (3) Finally, many people believe that bringing Ebonics into
the classroom will actually handicap students, and prevent them from learning the
skills necessary in later life (Leon). (Refutation + Reason/Support 1) But using
Ebonics as a tool to teach Ebonics-speaking children will help close the learning gap
because Ebonics can indeed be classified as a language and can therefore qualify for
bilingual teaching standards. (Toulmin Warrant) Ebonics is the language born of the
unique history of Black people in America. (1) James Baldwin writes, “A language
comes into existence by means of brutal necessity, and the rules of the language are
dictated by what the language must convey.” Baldwin is referring to how Black
speech was created as a result of how Black slaves were forcibly stolen from their
homes and brought to America. The elements of Ebonics are strongly influenced by
the fact that historically, Black people have been mistreated and ostracized in
American society, and especially in academic settings. (2) John Rickford, a prominent
linguist, shows that Ebonics contains a separate vocabulary, as well as the more
systematic and deeply rooted elements of a language, like pronunciation and
grammar. (3) There are even parallel examples of other languages that are very
similar to English and are largely understandable by English speakers, but are in fact
considered different languages based on their socio-political background. An example
is Scots, one of the three languages of Scotland, that has now been largely displaced
by English. Because of its similarity to English, many consider it to be a corrupted
form of English, but it is in fact its own language because of its unique history
(Fasold). (Conclusion) As shown above, Ebonics can be classified as a language,
based on its structure and history.
(Refutation: Support 2) There is also evidence in support of using Ebonics to
teach Standard English. (Toulmin) This way, students can form connections between
the language they already know and the language that they are to learn. (1) In a
presentation to Cal State Long Beach, Rickford displayed a study which included 540
black children in 27 schools in five different parts of the United States. In the study,
students taught using conventional methods, after four months, only showed 1.6
months of reading gain. However, the students who were first taught using Ebonics
and then slowly transitioned to Standard English, showed 6.2 months of reading gain.
(2) Hanni Taylor, a professor at Aurora University, performed a study in which she
tried to improve the English of a group of Black university students using two
methods. In the first group, she showed the students the differences between Ebonics
and English using contrastive analysis, and in the second group she used traditional
teaching methods. The first group reduced the use of Ebonics features in their writing
by 59%, while the second group actually increased in Ebonics features, by 8.5%. (3)
An elementary school in the Oakland school district which was already practicing
these methods showed much higher achievement than other schools in the same
district which used traditional teaching methods. (Conclusion) From these studies and
real life examples, it is evident that there is good reason to teach Ebonics-speaking
students Standard English using their own language.
(Refutation: Support 3) By using Ebonics to teach Standard English, teachers
will elevate students’ views of black culture, which will in turn benefit black students
throughout their lives. (Toulmin) The recognition of one’s culture in an academic
setting legitimizes that culture, which is a step that must be taken to bring Black
Americans an equal standing in America. (1) At Prescott elementary school, a teacher
named Carrie Secret incorporated Black culture and African American history into
many aspects of her class. As a result, it gave her students a newfound sense of self,
as shown by an interview of a woman who was once Secret’s student. She said, “I
began to love myself for who I am and where I came from because of Carrie Secret…I
walk like a peacock with my tail feathers spread all the time.” (2) According to
Marcyliena Morgan, a linguistic anthropologist at UCLA, Ebonics-speaking children
may be the only group in the United States who attend schools in their own
communities, in which their teachers are ignorant of their language, and some refuse
to even believe it exists. She writes, “This attitude leads to children being
marginalized and designated as learning disabled.” If teachers were trained to
recognize and appreciate Ebonics, then Black students wouldn’t be a victim of this
stigma. Teachers would be given the opportunity to expand their worldview and
understand the origins of the students they’re teaching.” (3) Finally, in an article by
Picower, she writes that to be successful as a teacher in a school that is mostly nonwhite, “It requires a continual quest for both learning more and doing more to address
the root causes of racism and white supremacy in order to really teach the children
you are hoping to educate.” Part of that quest can be the acceptance of Black language
as a teaching tool and the recognition of Black language as a manifestation of history
and culture. From this acceptance, teachers can help students learn to balance their
identities as Black people and as Americans. (Conclusion) From the above, it is
shown that when black students see their culture represented at school, they lead more
confident, empowered lives.
(Summation) To conclude, it was shown that Ebonics can be considered a
language separate from English, and it can therefore be used to teach Standard
English in ways similar to how a foreign language is taught using a known language.
Students who were taught using these alternative teaching methods showed great
improvement in their English, and thus were better equipped with the tools necessary
to function in larger society. Finally, students who see their home language
recognized in the classroom are empowered to embrace their own culture. Thus, they
are primed to contribute to the rich diversity of America and to stand tall against the
many challenges that they will face in their lives.
The Ebonics Debate Turns into an Ethical Problem
(Hook) The Oakland School District has regarded Ebonics as the
primary dialect of African-Americans and implemented an entire program for
black students to utilize, and grapple Standard English better; James Baldwin
author of If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is? wrote,
“language… It reveals the private identity, and connects one with, or divorces one
from, the larger, public, or communal identity.” (Bridge) If this stands as truth,
individuals re …
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