Teaching About Dialect Variations and Language in Secondary English Classrooms: Power, Prestige, and Prejudice - Hardcover

Devereaux, Michelle D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415818451 ISBN 13: 9780415818452

Publisher: Routledge, 2014

Synopsis

Standardized tests demand Standard English, but secondary students (grades 6-12) come to school speaking a variety of dialects and languages, thus creating a conflict between students’ language of nurture and the expectations of school. The purpose of this text is twofold: to explain and illustrate how language varieties function in the classroom and in students’ lives and to detail linguistically informed instructional strategies. Through anecdotes from the classroom, lesson plans, and accessible narrative, it introduces theory and clearly builds the bridge to daily classroom practices that respect students’ language varieties and use those varieties as strengths upon which secondary English teachers can build. The book explains how to teach about language variations and ideologies in the classroom; uses typically taught texts as models for exploring how power, society, and identity interact with language, literature, and students’ lives; connects the Common Core State Standards to the concepts presented; and offers strategies to teach the sense and structure of Standard English and other language variations, so that all students may add Standard English to their linguistic toolboxes.

About this title

About the Author:

Michelle D. Devereaux is Assistant Professor of English and English Education, Kennesaw State University, USA.

Review:

"This book introduces current and future teachers of secondary English to a revolutionary and linguistically sound approach to addressing dialect diversity in their classrooms, complete with detailed lesson plans and clear explanation of how the material fits the Common Core State Standards."

Michael Shepherd, California State University, Fresno, USA

"Devereaux conveys linguistically informed ideas about language in the classroom via practical, classroom-tested unit plans and lessons. She does more than pay lip service to language variation by demonstrating how language cannot and should not be moralized, revealing ways to empower students―not only linguistically but also academically and socially― and to truly celebrate linguistic diversity. With a foot in both the high school classroom and the university classroom, the author provides clear background information on language ideologies; by clearly explaining and situating these concepts, this book promises to transform how teachers approach language in our classrooms."

Kristin Denham, Western Washington University, USA

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0415818451
• ISBN 13: 9780415818452
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224