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Many of our students are new to academia and its ways of speaking and writing. We who have been in it for years are enculturated and the speaking and writing conventions we follow may be invisible to us. But academic discourse may be mysterious and strange to our students. We may also worry that their way of speaking and writing may disadvantage them in academic and professional endeavors. How can we help our students communicate in ways that are valued in the academic world and in some career fields while respecting their own ways of speaking and writing?<\/span><\/p>\nTake a SIP of This: Valuing multiple Englishes<\/h3>\n
We all come from communities that are defined by their values, traditions, and customs, including ways of speaking. Different communities value different ways of speaking and ways of speaking that are different can be less valued or even considered to be \u201cwrong.\u201d Language is part of culture, which is part of identity; when a particular way of speaking or writing is labeled \u201cnonstandard English,\u201d the identity of the person who speaks that English is being identified as \u201cwrong\u201d or \u201cless than.\u201d The fact is that we all speak a dialect\u2014there is no \u201cpure\u201d form of English. Likewise, we all have an accent\u2014we just don\u2019t recognize our own accents as such.<\/span><\/p>\n Scholar Leah Zuidema identifies several commonly held beliefs about English that are inaccurate, including these two:<\/span><\/p>\n In fact, all dialects and languages have grammatical rules, and the English we may call \u201cStandard English\u201d is no more clear or sophisticated \u00a0than any other variety. Instead of sending the message to students that their dialects or varieties of English aren\u2019t \u201ccorrect,\u201d which isn\u2019t linguistically accurate, we can empower them to learn to speak and write academic discourse.<\/span><\/p>\n Here are some things you can do to help your students learn to speak and write academic discourse:<\/span><\/p>\n Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Many of our students are new to academia and its ways of speaking and writing. We who have been in it for years are enculturated and the speaking and writing conventions we follow may be invisible to us. But academic discourse may be mysterious and strange to our students. … <\/p>\n\n
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Still Thirsty? Take Another SIP of\u00a0Valuing multiple Englishes<\/h3>\n
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