Linguistic Justice:�How It Looks �in the Classroom�
Alex White MA & Rachel Spangler MA
Sacramento City College
March 29, 2024
Amplifying ALL Students Voices in Writing�
~from Just Lead Washington
As a community, let’s allow ourselves the freedom to wonder, to not know it all, to embrace the challenges, to allow each person to be on their own journey as equity-minded educators.
Where are you in your linguistic justice journey?
Please respond in the chat.
Overview�
Unit 1 “Becoming the Writer I Want to Be”
What is linguistic justice?
Linguistic justice is an antiracist approach to language and literacy education.
It is about dismantling Anti-Black Linguistic Racism and White linguistic hegemony and supremacy in classrooms around the world.
Linguistic justice does not see White Mainstream English as the be-all and end-all.
Baker-Bell, April. Linguistic Justice : Black Language, Literacy, Identity,
and Pedagogy. NCTE-Routledge, 2020.
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) Abolitionism/Slavery & Reconstruction Period
Langston Hughes- (1901-1967) Harlem Renaissance/Jim Crow Period
U.S. Linguistic History Highlights (Pre-Civil Rights)
U.S. Linguistic Highlights (Post-Civil Rights)
June Jordan (1936-2002) Black Power Movement/ Black Arts Era
In her 1972 essay “White English/Black English: The Politics of Translation” Jordan gets to the heart of the problem behind enforcing White mainstream English rules onto Black students. She laments that “…the white child is rewarded for mastery of his standard, white English: the language he learned at his mother’s white and standard knee. But the black child is punished for mastery of his non-standard, black English…non-standard is sub-standard, and even dangerous and must be eradicated.”
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U.S. Linguistic Highlights (Post-Civil Rights)
bell hooks (1952-2019) Contemporary/Black Lives Matter
In Teaching to Transgress written in the 90s hooks expands on the critical nexus of language and power by arguing that in order to make diversity, multiculturalism and inclusion meaningful we must make a space for the black vernacular. She calls out American Standard English as a “mask which hides the loss of so many tongues, all those sounds of diverse, native communities we will never hear, the speech of the Gullah, Yiddish, and so many other unremembered tongues.”
U.S. Linguistic Justice Highlights Contemporary
Asao Inoue- Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing For A Socially Just Future (2017)
“…I argue for a term, “racial habitus,” as a way to understand the function of race in writing assessment ecologies, making all writing assessment ecologies racial projects of some kind…”
“…my ideas were not taken as seriously as my ideas were…”
April Baker Bell -Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy (2020)
“The belief that there is a homogenous, standard, one-size- fits-all language is a myth that normalizes white ways of speaking English and is used to justify linguistic discrimination on the basis of race.”
Linguistic Diversity Syllabus Statement
Diverse languages and Englishes are welcome in this classroom. I want you to express your ideas in your own voice, not someone else’s. You get to make your language choices as you write based on your purpose and audience. As we communicate with one another, keep in mind that the reader/listener should work as hard as the writer/speaker in the communication process. This means that we will listen patiently, work to understand one another, seek out clarification when necessary and avoid finishing each other's sentences or correcting unless invited to do so.
“Becoming the Writer I Want to Be”
My Objectives
Student Objectives
Week 1: Introduction
Read “Why Do You Think You’re Right About Language? You’re Not”
Watch “3 Ways to Speak English” by Jamilla Lyiscott
Class discussion & written reflection
Week 3: Turning the lens on our own writing
“Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott
Essay 1: Becoming the Writer I Want to Be”
Create four writing goals
Week 2: Admiring non-standard English 🡪“What is good writing?”
“On Witness and Repair” by Jesmyn Ward
“Who You Insult When You Call This a Wasted Year” by Karla Villavicencio
“Crafting Vulnerable and Emotional Writing” by Jesse Harris
Share an example of good writing
Class discussion & written reflections
“Why Do You Think You’re Right About Language? You’re Not” �by Gretchen McCulloch �
“[V]arious arbitrary preferences have found their way in and became crystallized as dogma, so much so that, to quote the linguist Stan Carey, “the aim of these non-rules is to maintain anachronistic shibboleths that allow an in-group to congratulate itself on knowing them.”
3 Ways to Speak English Jamilla Lysicott
As you listen, write down strong lines. What implications does this have for the classroom?
Sharing & Strong Lines
Black English is a language.
Syntax | Semantics | Pronunciation | Rhetorical Features |
Habitual Be We be at Rouge Park hoopin’ on Saturdays. Regularized Agreement We was at Lisa’s house last night. He have to be at work in the morning. Zero Copula You right about that. Multiple Negation I ain’t got no friends. Den It’s too late. He done already paid. Bin We been done with our project. Optional Possessive ‘S I’m going to my father house this summer. | Words and Idioms Ashy Saddity Triflin Fake it til’ you make it Tryin’ to make a dollaout of fifteen cent. Slang Swag Keep it 100 Mood Fleek Issa Vibe | Consonants Aks or Axe (ask) Final Consonant Clusters Han (hand) Tes (test) Sounds Dey (they) Dese (these) Dem (them) Wit or Wif (with) Smoov (smooth) | Signifiyin Do it look like money grown on trees? Derrick: “I be kickin’ it with all the girls in the seventh hour.” Sean: “Yeah right! The only thing that be kickin’ in seventh hour is yo breath.” Her outfit is baddd! Nah, that’s my nigga right there. |
Students Share
Read the excerpt.
Discuss:
“On Witness and Repair” �by Jesmyn Ward
Discuss:
“Who You Insult When You
Call This a Wasted Year”
by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
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Writing Assignment 1 “Becoming the Writer I Want to Be”
Write an essay of approximately three pages describing some of your writing experiences in the past and explaining specifically how you want to grow as a writer. Consider this in terms of both the products you want to create and the process and mindset you’d like to have with respect to writing.
While you have already written several reflections that have touched on some of these ideas, for this assignment, you’ll write something more “essay-like.” Your reflections were primarily a way of helping you uncover your own ideas for yourself; an essay is about investigating ideas for yourself AND sharing it with an audience. How does that change the way you will write? That means you will need to be more intentional about...
Writing Goals
Spring 2024 ENGWR 300 Writing Goals
Goal #1 (Required): By the end of the semester, I will be able to meaningfully incorporate the ideas and words of sources into my own writing, following MLA conventions.
Goal #2 Process Goal:
Goal #3 Big Picture Goal:
Goal #4 Sentence Style Goal:
Use these goals when providing feedback!
UMOJA Practice: Language As Power
UMOJA Practice: Language As Power
What do UMOJA students think?�
African American Vernacular English
Sample discussion board post from UMOJA English 300-108:
Student Voices
I don't think there is anything wrong with the use of AAVE, especially when used by black people. It's a way for black people to communicate with each other and how they've been brought up, its natural to them. There's a negative connotation with the use of AAVE, it looks down upon and refereed to as improper and not correct. Who's really to say it's not correct? Just because it seems different to others doesn't make it wrong. It may seem improper to those who are non-black, whom most perceive it as so, because they didn't grow up on it and simply aren't black. Which is also quite ironic because the same people who say its "improper" love to use AAVE to seem cool, as a trend, to fit in or listen to rap music and black artist who use AAVE in their music. When black folks do something its always ghetto and not right but as soon a non-black goes to do the same thing it's never looked down upon or ghetto. Does AAVE have a place in academic setting? Im not sure. If it is meant and used by and for black people then those who are non-black in the academic setting wouldn't understand. ~Azalia
Student Voices
Using AAVE is in my everyday vocabulary naturally. Everybody has their own way of communicating within their culture. AAVE is a very cultural way us Black Americans speak to one another. If you live in a house where AAVE is used, how will you be able to use standard english. For instance, growing up in a house where broken english is spoken you would not know how to use standard english because you were never taught that. If I were to take a phone call that I would have to use my professional voice in many others would tell me that I am speaking as if I am white just because of my code switching. As if white people are the only race that can speak standard english. That is another way of a stereotype which comes in many different forms. It is very interesting because when people hear others who are not Black or African American speak using AAVE. They are told that they are acting black…Black english should re cognized more because that is who we are at the end of the day. When other countries speak with an ancient it is not a problem even though we can barely understand them as well. Black people are just hated as a whole. No matter what we are doing or how we do it somebody always has something to say. I feel like when it is learned we will know how to adapt to code switching. That's why white people already know how to talk in standard english because it is already taught in their homes. ~Jordan
Student Voices
…I believe African-American Vernacular English is just Black English that is frowned upon and judged. In classrooms, we are all taught to speak "proper" English, but who is to say that the way black people speak is improper? We get judged a lot on how we speak or our use of slang and it’s completely unfair. But when caucasian people use it as slang or in rap music, is it okay? I think Black English has a place in the academic setting, considering a good fraction of the population is African-American. It’s only right others understand how we talk isn’t wrong, dumb or "improper". The part in this video that really stood out to me was how the principal stated "Dismissing a child’s words is diminishing their identity". I agree that just because we talk differently doesn’t make us less than or less intelligent, and rejecting our language by saying it’s wrong diminishes the way we speak to certain races. Our black community all grew up hearing black English being used. That has been carried on from generation to generation. The way we talk is a part of our culture and our history and it should be more accepted than being told it’s incorrect. ~Amajae
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What does this mean for our grading?�
Some Guiding Principles
We are not the language police.
We are coaches.
Give feedback as an individual reader.
Put down the red pen.
Consider the student’s writing goals.
Rachel’s Grading Contract
Grade | # of Complete Writing Assignments | % of process work | # of peer reviews | Conferences with prof |
B | 6 | 80%+ | 3 | 2 |
C | 5 | 70% | 2 | 1 |
D | 4 | 60% | 1 | 1 |
F | 3 | Less than 60% | 0 | 0 |
A grades
Alex’s Grading Contract
Your Default Grade: The default grade for this class is a “B.” If you do all that is asked of you in the manner that it is asked, you will get a “B.” If you violate the terms of this contract, your grade will be lower. If you go above and beyond the contract, you can earn an “A.”
Contract Conditions: You are guaranteed a course grade of a “B” if you meet the following conditions:
What questions or challenges does today’s discussion surface for you?
What shifts in your own approaches to teaching might today’s discussion inspire?
Please share your thoughts on this Linguistic Justice jam board
Resources
Next Level English Unit from English colleagues at Las Positas College (on Canvas Commons)
“Should Writers Use They Own English?” by Dr. Vershawn Ashanti Young
“10 Ways to Tackle Linguistic Bias in Our Classrooms” by Catherine Savini
THE RE-EDUCATION OF NEISHA-ANNE S. GREEN
Students Right to Their Own Language
Baker-Bell, April. Linguistic Justice : Black Language, Literacy, Identity,
and Pedagogy. NCTE-Routledge, 2020. Available in the Los Rios Library.
Ruiz, Iris, and Damián Baca. “Decolonial Options and Writing Studies.” Composition Studies, vol. 45, no. 2,
Parlor Press, 2017, pp. 226–29. Available in the Los Rios Library.
Enjoy the journey!