Mister Poll: Ebonics -language or dialect/variety?

Ebonics, or African American Vernacular Enlglish, is a subject of hot debate. With the rise of the hip-hop culture, it has come to the forefront. We hear these non-standard words all the time ("playa", "balla", etc.) in popular music and all around. We note the different grammtical featrues (such as absense of the copulative verb ["She fly!"]. When the Oakland school board (California) declared that Ebonics was not English, nor even an Indo-European tongue but a West African language in 1996 and decided to use it in teaching children who primarly used Ebonics, the conflict exploded.

You ask why many linguists consider Ebonics a separate language from English. It's because linguists classify languages on the basis of their grammatical structure, not lexicon (vocabularly). Do you think that languages should be classified like this, exculisively on the basis of structure, or do you agree with Rickford/the old method that if two tongues share 80% or more of the same words, they are actually dialects of the same language?

A language should be classified based soley on its grammatical structure. Ebonics' grammar is derived from that of West African languages, not Enlglish. Ebonics is a separate language.

The vocabulary should play a role. If 4 of 5 words are the same, it is not truly a different language, but a different variety of the language. Ebonics is an African-influenced variety of English.

Do you approve schools using Ebonics in classroom instruction, or do you feel it only helps keeps blacks subjugated by not stressing the skills they need to communicate well in the white-collar workplace?

Schools should use the language that the student uses at home/talk to the minor on his/her own level so that he/she will understand and learn more.

Schools should use only standard English. Ebonics will only hinder students from succeeding in college and the professional workplace and achieving economic equality.

Schools should begin with Ebonics for such students in early grades and slowly progress to using Standard English only. Standard English should be taught first in the student's primary tongue.

Should we continue to use Ebonics?Should African Americans hold to Ebonics dearly as part of their heritage and take pride in it, or is it an unbecoming relic of a past of morally abominable social injustice?

Ebonics should be spoken and written with pride.

Ebonics should be spoken and written with pride in appropriate environments such as the home and creative literature.

Ebonics should not be used, or used as seldom as possible and only in the most private environs. It is an ugly reminder of a grotesque past and only serves to keep blacks from educational and economic equality.

FOR GRAMMITICALLY PROFICIENT CAUCASIANS ONLY: Are you willing to respect a person's right to use his/her native speach within their own homes and social circles as long as they are respectful of Standard English and make every effort to learn it well and use it in mixed social, greater public, and formal settings?

Yes

Maybe/Other (Please explain.)

FOR THOSE WHO PRIMARILY SPEAK EBONICS ONLY: Are you willing to put forth sincere effort to learn Standard English and use it when more appropriate for the sake of contributing to society ifn facilitating communication, especailly needed between culturally diverse groups?

Yes, I am willing to respect the standard language of my society.

No, I insist that others learn to speak my minority variety/language if they want to communicate clearly with me.

Maybe/Other (Please explain.)

This poll was created on 2006-12-26 21:48:58 by ASoleil