Hannah Sharpless Professor Jan Rieman English 1101 SRTOL Personal Statement America holds high its basis

of diversity and freedom. Everyone has a dialect and their own right to that dialect. These dialects are unique and help us identify who we are. In the classroom, students should have a right to their dialect and feel confident while it is in use. When we force one certain way to do things it eliminates the individuality and confidence in the student, making it harder for them to learn. Coming together in one common form is necessary for universal understanding, but it is crucial for teachers to help students develop this form in a way that continues to uplift the students own dialect.

Outline: Opening statement Begin talking about different dialects and how they identify us -How does this create individuality and show our culture? How does forcing another dialect/form of language onto students affect their individuality? -How does this affect the students learning? (talk about patricias talk on it putting a stop to the spread of great ideas) -How does it affect their confidence? How does dialect affect the way we are viewed? -How do dialects affect what types of jobs we have? -If I cant understand your accent, I cant trust you speaks on how the dialect of the speaker affected the believability of a statement. A study found that people consistently rated statements spoken by people in a foreign accent as less believable than statements spoken by people with American accent. Why is it that dialect affects our trust? It was found that the harder it was for people to understand what was being said, the harder it was for them to believe it. -Most emphasis is placed on how words are used rather than what is said. Christensen speaks marvelously on this topic by sharing her own experiences with speaking and writing. This paragraph in teaching standard English: to whose standard? gives us a crystal clear idea of how inferiority is placed on dialects outside of SAE, especially when in the classroom setting. *insert paragraph*

She mentions how her dialect placed her and her family in the working class. Those who made and practiced the rules of this SAE dialect were considered superior making everyone else foreigners. She decided not to teach her students in that way to eliminate the ill feelings she experienced herself. Is this how all teachers need to teach their students? How do teachers need to provide information to students about writing/language use? -Should teachers let students begin writing in their own dialects and eventually move into
SAE/EAE or should they immediately introduce these forms?

-How does one way or the other help/hinder the students abilities to learn? How do we build the confidence of the writer? -Should we ensure the confidence of students writing in their own dialect before we introduce Standard American? -Do we allow students to remain using their own dialect and not teach Standard American English or EAE at all? -How does the early teaching of these forms affect how the students read, write, and talk outside of an academic setting? Why do people strive to learn the SAE dialect? -To not be judged so negatively? -Does it ensure opportunity? Success? -talk about mania and why the Chinese want to learn English Why teach SAE and EAE? -Is this necessary for communication? -Does it hinder natural language use outside of the classroom? -Does it provide prejudice to place this one dialect over the rest?