Code-Switching Pedagogies
Code-switching pedagogies call for employing students’ home language to facilitate appropriate nonstandard and standard contexts for writing and speaking (Adger et al., 1999; Bakhtin, 1986; Delpit & Dowdy, 2002; Wheeler & Swords, 2006). Traditionally, teachers have regarded Standard English as correct while nonstandard features are deemed as errors that warrant correction. Carrie Secret, a noted teacher in Oakland, California, maintained a corrective approach until recognizing that students were more responsive upon being encouraged to translate the structure of AAVE in a first draft to Standard English for the final draft (Miner, 1997). Rather than regard AAVE features as incorrect, code-switching pedagogies require that teachers make a transition from the paradigm of correction to helping students use language patterns for appropriate settings (Baker, 2002; Wheeler & Swords, 2006). Teachers must be knowledgeable of AAVE features (Delpit, 1997) to model corresponding rule-governed aspects of AAVE and Standard English (Baker, 2002; Wheeler & Swords, 2006). Thomas Sabo Charms
To illustrate, Wheeler and Swords (2006) pointed out the rule, owner owned possession, a rule-governed aspect of AAVE. In Standard English, the corresponding rule is owner’s owned possession. The AAVE feature friend house, for instance, corresponds with the Standard English feature friend’s house. Rather than assume that students do not understand possession, teachers must juxtapose grammatical differences side by side and help students determine the appropriate context for use (Wheeler & Swords, 2006). When writing a nonstandard narrative, for example, friend house would be acceptable. Friend’s house would be appropriate for a formal essay or standardized test.
Code-switching pedagogies align with standards devised by the International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English (1996) and embed developing an understanding of, and respect for, diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects. Teachers in Michigan are required to implement standards from Grade Level Content Expectations to inform instructional decisions. Nonstandard conventions are embedded in appropriating voice and a personal style by exhibiting individuality to enhance the written message.
Thomas Sabo Earrings
In contrast, local and national standards posit that standard writing conventions embody standard grammar and usage. Fecho, Davis, and Moore’s (2006) work with African American adolescents prompted researchers to question traditional grammar practices that were threatening in nature, because of conflicts surrounding what they knew about students’ lives and perceptions that their use of AAVE was regarded as wrong. Researchers determined that explicit grammar instruction yielded minimal results, which prompted them to facilitate student analysis of mainstream and AAVE language features in a nonthreatening manner. Similarly, Baker (2002), a high school English teacher, prompted her students to study the features of how they speak with family and friends. Eventually, students became fascinated with what she terms triangulation, in which they compared home language features with academic and professional English.
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