Language

Discussion, articles, books, links about language diversity and teaching language, as well as teaching grammar (or not).

Patrick Hartwell, classic article: "Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar." Don't let this academic article put you off, because overall it provides very clear explanations of the different kinds of "grammar" there are, and argues strongly that the formal teaching of grammar is either unnecessary, unhelpful, or possibly harmful.

//June Jordan, "Nobody Mean More to Me than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan." Harvard Educational Review, August 1988. Still one of the most powerful articles about teaching Black English that I know of. This story of Jordan's experience with a college class and one young man in that class will stay with you forever. (Steve)// [|jordan nobody.pdf]

//Lisa Delpit, "The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children." Harvard Educational Review, Aug. 1988. Must have been a special issue of the Review. Delpit's article is a classic. Read it and also read her books.// // [|delpit silenced dialogue.pdf]//

//[|Lisa Delpit, Other People's Children]// //[|Lisa Delpit, The Skin That We Speak]// //[|The Real Ebonics Debate: Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children]// edited by Theresa Perry and Lisa Delpit, with contributions by James Baldwin, Geneva Smitherman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, teachers and students in Oakland, etc.

//Lovejoy, Kim Brian, Steve Fox, and Katherine Wills. "From Language Experience to Classroom Practice: Affirming LInguistic Diversity in Writing Pedagogy." Pedagogy, 2009. An article I enjoyed co-writing that shares the co-authors' own experiences with language diversity and their suggestions for teachers.// // [|PED92_06-Lovejoy.pdf]//

//article by Mary Louise Pratt, a classic// [|Arts_of_the_Contact_Zone.pdf]

STYLE
[|Tough, Sweet, Stuffy Style Machine]

LANGUAGE, LINGUISTICS, USAGE
Dennis Baron's Web of Language, a website that looks at language in the news [|The Web of Language]