DW 3a

I studied the reading " A Perspective on Teaching Black Dialect Speaking Students to Write Standard English," By Judith P. Nembhard from A Reader for Writers. Summarized, the article talks about the surge to improve the writing skills of all students, but questions is black students can be carried along with this wave of improvement. Nembhard then continues to say why teaching black students is an attainable goal. Teachers must rebel against the thought that SE cannot be taught to black dialect speakers. She believes that when teaching BD speakers SE, that it cannot be taught in a manner to replace their first language. She states:

The object is not to eradicate the first-learned language... Rather, the aim of teaching composition to black speakers is to provide the with effective communication skills and to help the recognize that the individual who harbors and hope of ever being in a position to help influence change or correcet social injustice (Nembhard 435).

Judith believes that learning SE will be a great way to open doors to do more things. With this dialect to communicate, a BD speaker can do more things than they could have done with a black dialect. Nembhard gives 8 essential tips to what is needed for teachers to successfully teach black dialect speakers Standard English. They include:

1. Teachers must demonstrate confidence in the students as potential learners... 2. Teachers must display high expectations for the students' success... 3. Students must be aided in making the distinction between oral speech and Standard English... 4. Writing assignments must be graded fairly but thoroughly... 5. All English teachers must set aside time for conferences with students... 6. Students must be required to do some writing in class... 7. Students must be provided with outside-of-class support... 8. Teachers must not be afraid to give their students failing grades(Nembhard 436-437).

I think the article discusses the importance of BD as a cultural language, but is more dedicated in how BD speakers can be successfully taught SE. The author beleives that teaching the usage of SE is important, because it is the most effective form of communication. Nembhard believes that AAVE is a great dialect culturally, but isn't necessarily the best language to effectively communicate. I think it somewhat discusses AAVEs importance in composite studies, because it discusses the importance to effectively teach those who speak black dialect. Its role in composite studies is how to teach the speakers of AAVE to effective communicate with others with the usage of Standard English. This particular article doesn't really discuss the usage of AAVE, but instead discusses how AAVE speakers can be taught to speak more effective forms of communication. I believe it could have more through discussed the effectiveness in learning AAVE and how its usage is beneficial in daily use. It agrees with its importance as a cultural dialect, but does discuss its importance in usage. Overall, I believe that Nembhard wrote a good article which discussed the issues that she believe were important, which was how to effectively teach SE to black dialect speakers.