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The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom
From the MacArthur Award- winning author of Other People's Children, a collection that gets to the heart of the relationship between language and power in the classroom. A powerful and sophisticated reminder that words can indeed do as much damage as sticks and stones, The Skin That We Speak takes the discussion of language in the classroom beyond the highly charged war of idioms�in which "English only" really means standard English only�and presents today's teachers with a thoughtful exploration of the varieties of English we speak and the layers of politics, power, and identity those varieties carry. Edited by MacArthur Fellow and bestselling education author Lisa Delpit and education professor Joanne Dowdy, the book includes an extended new piece by Delpit herself, as well as groundbreaking new work by Herbert Kohl and Gloria Ladson-Billings, and classics by Asa Hilliard and Jules Henry. Award-winning educator Victoria Purcell-Gates looks at language-based assumptions about poor Appalachians and Schuaib Meacham follows the very different fates of two bright young African American teachers-in-training, one of whom speaks "standard" English and one of whom speaks in school as she has been taught to speak at home. As children are written off in our schools because they do not speak formal English, and when class- and race-biased language used to describe those children determines their fate, The Skin That We Speak offers a cutting-edge look at crucial educational issues.
Author Biography: MacArthur Fellow Lisa Delpit received the award for Outstanding Contribtuion to Education in 1993 from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She currently holds the Benjamin E. Mays Chair of Urban Education Leadership at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. Joanne Kilgour Dowdy is the Assistant Director at the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy and assistant professor at Georgia State University.
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
July 8, 2008
I cannot begin to laud this book enough. It was fantastic. It is a collection of essays about the stereotypes and biases associated with various dialects of English. It very strongly makes the case that Standard American English is merely one of a multiplicity of valid dialects. The standard dialect is no more correct, just more common and more respected. It goes on to suggest that the best way to get students to learn Standard American English is to begin by respecting their existing speech pattern, and encourage them to explore the differences in structure and use when it is compared with their home dialect. I should also note that the book addresses dialects of English spoken outside of the US as well, including Trinidadian English and various dialects spoken in Britain.
June 28, 2011
the essays in this collection are quite diverse, hence the name of the book! I was able to think deeply about how I will tackle diversity in my own classroom, even in English... the reality is that teachers are not quite up to speed on what needs to be considered when thinking about culture and about teaching away the concept of racism, linguisim, and classism.... but this book is a start.
August 16, 2013
“If it means forgetting that the language of everyone else around you bears witness to two hundred years of cross-pollination, then so be it” (7)
“We were given all the latitude in the world to suspend our reality as Trinidadians, the proud survivors of three hundred year of British, French, and Spanish domination, and to perfect the one language system that we should have ripped from our throats at the earliest age possible. Instead, we made our throats moist and forced our tones up an octave so that our voices matched the quality of the few expatriates who had survived the independence movement of the 1950’s.” (9)
“The “successful” colonized person understands, with the help of her family’s and her community’s experience of colonization, that the survival technique for the subjugated group involved double realities.” (11)
“The war will be won when she who is the marginalized comes to speak more in her own language, and people accept her communication as valid and representative.” (13)
“I love the United States of America. I love my country’s flag. I love my country’s language. I promise:
1. That I will not dishonor m country’s speech by leaving off the last syllable of words.
2. That I will say a good American “yes” and “no in place of an Indian grunt “un-hum” and “nup-um” or a foreign “ya” or “yeh” and “nope”
3. That I will do my best to improve American speech by avoiding loud rough tones, by enunciating distinctly, and by speaking pleasantly, clearly, and sincerely.
4. That I will learn to articulate correctly as man words as possible during the year.” (29)
“All people have the right to their own language. We cannot constantly correct children and expect them to continue to want to talk like us.” (33)
“The children whose language is considered defective are themselves viewed as defective.” (41)
“No language or dialect is inherently superior or inferior to any other, and that all languages and dialects are suited to the needs of the community they serve.” (70)
“Language is not a uniform object. It is a basic principle of sociolinguistics that there are no single-style speakers. That is, everyone is multidialectal and multistylistic, in the sense that he adapts his style of speaking to suit the social situation in which he finds himself…Speech and situation are no entirely separable… all speech communities use ranges of different language varieties in different social contexts.” (74-75)
“We all have a passive knowledge of many aspects of our language, words and constructions, which we understand but never actively use.” (77)
“comprehension or production? language structure or language use? prescriptive norms of correctness or appropriateness to social context? grammatical or communicative competence? the child’s language itself or the school’s attitudes to his language?” (78)
“Instead of thinking of “standard” as common or ordinary, “standard English” is thought of as a standard of quality.” (94)
“The prime test of the “normalcy” of the language of a child is to compare the child’s language to the environment within which it was learned.” (97)
“It is the teaching behavior and not the language of the child, no matter how different, that creates the problem for learners.” (101)
“Keep a sense of uncertainty and willingness to question in the forefront.” (118)
“Learners from impoverished and low-status groups fail to develop as fully and productively literate as compared to learners from sociocultural groups that hold sociopolitical power and favor” (124)
“whether we interpret…as deficit or difference depends primarily on our preconceptions, attitudes toward, and stereotypes we hold toward the individual children’s communities and cultures.” (130)
“The language one speaks is the clearest and most stable marker of class membership” (133)
“printed word codes language.” (134)
“The difference is that people with social and political capital get away with their “deviations,” learn to adjust their language to the oral or written context, and are never made to believe that the way they talk is responsible for any failure to learn to read and write” (137)
“Knowledge and intelligence is more important than conformity to the norms of testing.” (149)
“Language exists not merely on the level of words, sentences, paragraphs, dialects, accents, and linguistic differences. It is a social phenomenon that has complex personal implications relating to how the more formal aspects of reading, writing, and talking are interpreted on an everyday basis.” (151)
“she responded out of her college intellectual experiences rather than the exigencies of the classroom.” (157)
“Look like to me only a fool would want you to talk in a way that feel peculiar to your mind.” (166)
“A child cannot afford to be fooled. A child cannot be taught by anyone whose demand, essentially, is that the child repudiate his experience, and all that gives him sustenance, and enter a limbo in which he will no longer be black and in which he knows that he can never become white. Black people have lost too many black children that way.” (171)
“Her family and community functioned as a kind of cultural womb, which nourished her with educational reinforcements and roles models, and protected her from the negative valuations of the White mainstream. This educational support was not provided in Standard English, but in Black or African American English. This language was a pervasive aspect of Linda’s experience.” (183)
“I mean everybody that’s any Black person that I was around would say that same thing… And how could you change it if you constantly around the same people everyday using the same messed us words.” (193)
“Writing, however, offers much more moment-to-moment control in the communication process. Students who have difficulty speaking Standard English can more successfully write it because they can be more conscious of editing their communication.” (195)
“I don’t feel I should be defined as a person by European American culture.” (196)
“fallen prey to invalidated linguistic assumptions of the mainstream culture, they had no tolerance for the speech of these children.” (207)
“our obsession with the familiar form can obliterate the significance of the content.” (210)
“language is who we are.” (212)
“We were given all the latitude in the world to suspend our reality as Trinidadians, the proud survivors of three hundred year of British, French, and Spanish domination, and to perfect the one language system that we should have ripped from our throats at the earliest age possible. Instead, we made our throats moist and forced our tones up an octave so that our voices matched the quality of the few expatriates who had survived the independence movement of the 1950’s.” (9)
“The “successful” colonized person understands, with the help of her family’s and her community’s experience of colonization, that the survival technique for the subjugated group involved double realities.” (11)
“The war will be won when she who is the marginalized comes to speak more in her own language, and people accept her communication as valid and representative.” (13)
“I love the United States of America. I love my country’s flag. I love my country’s language. I promise:
1. That I will not dishonor m country’s speech by leaving off the last syllable of words.
2. That I will say a good American “yes” and “no in place of an Indian grunt “un-hum” and “nup-um” or a foreign “ya” or “yeh” and “nope”
3. That I will do my best to improve American speech by avoiding loud rough tones, by enunciating distinctly, and by speaking pleasantly, clearly, and sincerely.
4. That I will learn to articulate correctly as man words as possible during the year.” (29)
“All people have the right to their own language. We cannot constantly correct children and expect them to continue to want to talk like us.” (33)
“The children whose language is considered defective are themselves viewed as defective.” (41)
“No language or dialect is inherently superior or inferior to any other, and that all languages and dialects are suited to the needs of the community they serve.” (70)
“Language is not a uniform object. It is a basic principle of sociolinguistics that there are no single-style speakers. That is, everyone is multidialectal and multistylistic, in the sense that he adapts his style of speaking to suit the social situation in which he finds himself…Speech and situation are no entirely separable… all speech communities use ranges of different language varieties in different social contexts.” (74-75)
“We all have a passive knowledge of many aspects of our language, words and constructions, which we understand but never actively use.” (77)
“comprehension or production? language structure or language use? prescriptive norms of correctness or appropriateness to social context? grammatical or communicative competence? the child’s language itself or the school’s attitudes to his language?” (78)
“Instead of thinking of “standard” as common or ordinary, “standard English” is thought of as a standard of quality.” (94)
“The prime test of the “normalcy” of the language of a child is to compare the child’s language to the environment within which it was learned.” (97)
“It is the teaching behavior and not the language of the child, no matter how different, that creates the problem for learners.” (101)
“Keep a sense of uncertainty and willingness to question in the forefront.” (118)
“Learners from impoverished and low-status groups fail to develop as fully and productively literate as compared to learners from sociocultural groups that hold sociopolitical power and favor” (124)
“whether we interpret…as deficit or difference depends primarily on our preconceptions, attitudes toward, and stereotypes we hold toward the individual children’s communities and cultures.” (130)
“The language one speaks is the clearest and most stable marker of class membership” (133)
“printed word codes language.” (134)
“The difference is that people with social and political capital get away with their “deviations,” learn to adjust their language to the oral or written context, and are never made to believe that the way they talk is responsible for any failure to learn to read and write” (137)
“Knowledge and intelligence is more important than conformity to the norms of testing.” (149)
“Language exists not merely on the level of words, sentences, paragraphs, dialects, accents, and linguistic differences. It is a social phenomenon that has complex personal implications relating to how the more formal aspects of reading, writing, and talking are interpreted on an everyday basis.” (151)
“she responded out of her college intellectual experiences rather than the exigencies of the classroom.” (157)
“Look like to me only a fool would want you to talk in a way that feel peculiar to your mind.” (166)
“A child cannot afford to be fooled. A child cannot be taught by anyone whose demand, essentially, is that the child repudiate his experience, and all that gives him sustenance, and enter a limbo in which he will no longer be black and in which he knows that he can never become white. Black people have lost too many black children that way.” (171)
“Her family and community functioned as a kind of cultural womb, which nourished her with educational reinforcements and roles models, and protected her from the negative valuations of the White mainstream. This educational support was not provided in Standard English, but in Black or African American English. This language was a pervasive aspect of Linda’s experience.” (183)
“I mean everybody that’s any Black person that I was around would say that same thing… And how could you change it if you constantly around the same people everyday using the same messed us words.” (193)
“Writing, however, offers much more moment-to-moment control in the communication process. Students who have difficulty speaking Standard English can more successfully write it because they can be more conscious of editing their communication.” (195)
“I don’t feel I should be defined as a person by European American culture.” (196)
“fallen prey to invalidated linguistic assumptions of the mainstream culture, they had no tolerance for the speech of these children.” (207)
“our obsession with the familiar form can obliterate the significance of the content.” (210)
“language is who we are.” (212)
December 10, 2025
This book taught me so much about myself, my diverse community, and why change in the educational structure is essential.
Many children and young adults are not valued because of their language, dialects, and accents. Language is harshly used to judge students and yet it’s their culture. We cannot and shouldn’t strip their culture. We cannot and should not simply judge intellect or potential success based on language.
The skin we speak provides a diverse perspective; one which will only benefit communal understanding, productivity, and growth. Such difference should be celebrated, acknowledged, and used to reform education in white centered spaces that tailor to one cultural outlook/ history.
Why have one outlook when you can have many?
I learned that I allowed my skin, my culture, and my language to often be minimized, in order to succeed as best as I could.
Many children and young adults are not valued because of their language, dialects, and accents. Language is harshly used to judge students and yet it’s their culture. We cannot and shouldn’t strip their culture. We cannot and should not simply judge intellect or potential success based on language.
The skin we speak provides a diverse perspective; one which will only benefit communal understanding, productivity, and growth. Such difference should be celebrated, acknowledged, and used to reform education in white centered spaces that tailor to one cultural outlook/ history.
Why have one outlook when you can have many?
I learned that I allowed my skin, my culture, and my language to often be minimized, in order to succeed as best as I could.
June 17, 2017
Check out my full book talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWGLy...
This is a fantastic collection of essays with a good mix of personal experience and objective research from a range of experts. It really helped me understand the importance of linguistics in the classroom for understanding and communicating with my students. I have already referenced this work in three major research projects since I was introduced to it less than a year ago, and I'm sure that I will continue to reference it for the rest of my life. Even though the focus is on the classroom setting, this discussion is certainly applicable to all facets of daily communication.
This is a fantastic collection of essays with a good mix of personal experience and objective research from a range of experts. It really helped me understand the importance of linguistics in the classroom for understanding and communicating with my students. I have already referenced this work in three major research projects since I was introduced to it less than a year ago, and I'm sure that I will continue to reference it for the rest of my life. Even though the focus is on the classroom setting, this discussion is certainly applicable to all facets of daily communication.
March 22, 2025
A compendium of research, stories, helpful guides, and heart wrenching realities, this collection that Lisa Delpit combines shows the shocking truth behind the limitations of destroying “home language” in schools. Whether it be an Appalachian dialect, southern, or even what people call Standard English dialect, all “home languages” ought to be fostered, even studied, and then added to in the classroom. If you don’t believe that previous sentence, then this book is for you.
August 19, 2024
Excellent book, I have not read this in several years and it felt like time to pick it up again. In a nutshell- “Ebonics” or black English IS a valid language, teachers must learn to incorporate it into the classroom and understand the roots of the language, because there is a long and rich history within it.
Until we accept black history and stories as AMERICAN history and stories, I’m not sure what to do. This history belongs to all of us and that means learning it. And the language matters.
Until we accept black history and stories as AMERICAN history and stories, I’m not sure what to do. This history belongs to all of us and that means learning it. And the language matters.
April 19, 2011
it's not often that i say "this book changed my life," but this one did - insofar as it changed the way i think about the various forms of english spoken on either side of the pond, which is more than a mildly important part of my world. it formalized and validated some things i had sort of intuited about certain dialects and speech patterns, and it shed valuable light onto the crucial role language plays in the learning process, regardless of subject matter. some of the essays are a little dated, some of the rhetoric is a bit much, but overall, i can't recommend it highly enough.
September 29, 2010
A must read for every educator, every human.
December 31, 2012
A book that every future teacher should read.
October 26, 2017
A very interesting book that describe the problems students are facing at school because of their home language. The way one's speaks are often judged and assumed, and brings up more issue like races, social status, one's ability and so much more which becomes a very serious issue at school. The book provides a lot of personal essays from different authors which each of them pointed out the existing problems and how we can make a change. For our kids, for our next generation, this book is very well worth to read and discover the issue we have to improve the school system, teachers and techniques to help our children learn better.
June 9, 2017
Overall this was an excellent collection of articles written by various professionals involved either directly or indirectly with the field of education. Several articles in The Skin That We Speak clearly illustrate the need for differentiated instruction in classrooms while other articles serve as reminders that the more things change the more they remain the same--language discrimination and ridicule will always exist.
July 3, 2019
“No one had taught me that that the language I had grown up loving was used to bludgeon others into submission and feelings of inferiority.”
Edited by Lisa Delpit. All the writers who contributed to this book wrote strong pieces. Some essays I was reading for the second time and they were even better on the re-read.
Edited by Lisa Delpit. All the writers who contributed to this book wrote strong pieces. Some essays I was reading for the second time and they were even better on the re-read.
December 7, 2023
This book was an amazing read about the role of institutional power in schools deciding whose language is “standard” and how children of color (AAVE, Spanish speakers, etc) in schools are made to feel cognitively inferior (being told that Standard English is better/superior) This book also explains how this view is limiting white children & perpetuating oppression.
July 21, 2017
An excellent collection of essays about language in the classroom. I could relate just about all of them to experiences I've had in the classroom. Highly recommended for teachers interested in equity work.
December 9, 2021
I didn't finish this book. I struggled with structure and flow. It came highly recommended so I kept it going for over a year and maybe made it 60% of the way through. It's rare I don't finish something.
November 13, 2017
This book made me consider deeply my own interaction with students and my own hidden bias. the essay format made reading it easy, even when the subject matter was hard hitting.
December 11, 2018
chapter three for anthropology: language & culture class
August 3, 2019
Written in 2008, parts of the book are outdated but the message is clear.
October 27, 2019
Great essays with research-backed claims. Linguistics meets pedagogy and social justice. Love it!
May 14, 2021
Collection of essays on literacy, language and learning through the lens of inclusive culture.
June 28, 2023
All educators should read this book. Very powerful.
October 15, 2025
I had to read this for a class and it was surprisingly interesting since it was 12 different POV’s from different authors
March 13, 2024
Didn't quite finish, read a significant selection for a Literacy class. Really great conversation starters about raciolinguistics and cultural influences in education -- very interesting to consider as a librarian in higher ed.
January 25, 2020
At the time of this review, I am a student teacher studying and working towards my Master's and teaching certification. I came across this book when one of my departing professors gifted a copy to each of the students she taught during the 2018 summer courses. She noted that Lisa Delpit's work in particular really influenced her own philosophy in teaching. And now, after reading both Delpit's essay and the nineteen other influential essays included in this book, I clearly see why.
This is not just a book for educators. This is a book for parents, students, politicians, and just about anybody who has an opinion, well-informed or otherwise, about what constitutes "proper language", especially when it comes to the language of children. The whole crux of the book across twenty essays is that what we say and imply about students' languages impacts them profoundly--if we say that a student's language is "improper", "coarse", or "illegitimate", we are therefore saying that a student is these things as well, and cast them within that shadow not only for the rest of their educational careers, but for the rest of their lives so long as they believe that.
Though I had not previously given much thought on the process, use, and implementation of Ebonics and non-Standard English, I am now thinking about it much more regularly. That is definitely the mark of a good read, in that it not only educates me on an important issue, but that it leaves me thinking long after finishing it. I kept putting the book down to think on my own about what the essays said and how they related to my own thoughts and feelings towards language while growing up. I had learned long ago that Standard English as we know it was never a permanent set-in-stone language; it has always continuously shifted and flowed, adding different vocabulary, grammar, and syntax rules while losing or changing others. It's easy to see how even White native Standard English speakers have changed speech patterns and terms used within even the past fifty years, and still we are not condemned for failing to sound exactly like a Shakespeare play. And even if the rules and structure were always permanent, that doesn't make Standard English the superior language--even my own undergraduate linguistics class never supposed that English was the standard against which all other languages and dialects are judged and analyzed. Every language has its own set of rules and use within its own cultural contexts--that does not mean that any of them, whether Spanish or Mandarin or ASL or Ebonics, is inferior and meant to be cast aside.
One source quoted in the book (unfortunately, she also happened to be an educator who passed this thinking on to her students) said that Standard English is a large part of the human race, therefore making every other language a failure in worth. (note: she was quoted as an example of dominant views on the legitimacy of non-Standard English) That statement is so laughably false and demeaning, and I think this thinking can be made better by a simple edit: language itself is a large, and integral, part of being human. To demean a person's language as inferior is to deny a person their worthiness of humanity. How we make children feel about themselves and their identities definitely sticks with them even after leaving school. So, if we do want all of our children and students to stay strong within their humanity and sense of self-worth, the first step in the right direction is the recognition of the languages within classroom culture as both legitimate and thriving.
We already live in increasingly fraught and divided times, with people turning against each other because of the ways they look and how they sound, from their skin color to the cadence of their voice. This is not a new or recent trend, but it is immoral to let it continue on, especially with children. Multiculturalism and diversity, I must repeat, is a good, enriching aspect of our schools and our country--to deny and extinguish that is failing our students and ourselves as an enlightened populace. I hope to do my own part in my educational career. I may not know exactly how much I'll teach or at what level or which students I'll encounter, but if I can appreciate and encourage students' self-worth through their languages, then that is worth all the effort.
This is not just a book for educators. This is a book for parents, students, politicians, and just about anybody who has an opinion, well-informed or otherwise, about what constitutes "proper language", especially when it comes to the language of children. The whole crux of the book across twenty essays is that what we say and imply about students' languages impacts them profoundly--if we say that a student's language is "improper", "coarse", or "illegitimate", we are therefore saying that a student is these things as well, and cast them within that shadow not only for the rest of their educational careers, but for the rest of their lives so long as they believe that.
Though I had not previously given much thought on the process, use, and implementation of Ebonics and non-Standard English, I am now thinking about it much more regularly. That is definitely the mark of a good read, in that it not only educates me on an important issue, but that it leaves me thinking long after finishing it. I kept putting the book down to think on my own about what the essays said and how they related to my own thoughts and feelings towards language while growing up. I had learned long ago that Standard English as we know it was never a permanent set-in-stone language; it has always continuously shifted and flowed, adding different vocabulary, grammar, and syntax rules while losing or changing others. It's easy to see how even White native Standard English speakers have changed speech patterns and terms used within even the past fifty years, and still we are not condemned for failing to sound exactly like a Shakespeare play. And even if the rules and structure were always permanent, that doesn't make Standard English the superior language--even my own undergraduate linguistics class never supposed that English was the standard against which all other languages and dialects are judged and analyzed. Every language has its own set of rules and use within its own cultural contexts--that does not mean that any of them, whether Spanish or Mandarin or ASL or Ebonics, is inferior and meant to be cast aside.
One source quoted in the book (unfortunately, she also happened to be an educator who passed this thinking on to her students) said that Standard English is a large part of the human race, therefore making every other language a failure in worth. (note: she was quoted as an example of dominant views on the legitimacy of non-Standard English) That statement is so laughably false and demeaning, and I think this thinking can be made better by a simple edit: language itself is a large, and integral, part of being human. To demean a person's language as inferior is to deny a person their worthiness of humanity. How we make children feel about themselves and their identities definitely sticks with them even after leaving school. So, if we do want all of our children and students to stay strong within their humanity and sense of self-worth, the first step in the right direction is the recognition of the languages within classroom culture as both legitimate and thriving.
We already live in increasingly fraught and divided times, with people turning against each other because of the ways they look and how they sound, from their skin color to the cadence of their voice. This is not a new or recent trend, but it is immoral to let it continue on, especially with children. Multiculturalism and diversity, I must repeat, is a good, enriching aspect of our schools and our country--to deny and extinguish that is failing our students and ourselves as an enlightened populace. I hope to do my own part in my educational career. I may not know exactly how much I'll teach or at what level or which students I'll encounter, but if I can appreciate and encourage students' self-worth through their languages, then that is worth all the effort.
December 19, 2015
I wanted so badly to love this book. Having a background in sociolinguistics and being a teacher, I found that some of the essays were unoriginal. I've read countless other articles, essays, and books that reiterate similar ideas. However, there were a few standouts. Judith Baker's essay, "Trilingualism," offers an accessible entry point for introducing linguistics to students. She has her students list the different types of English they speak and the features of each dialect. She also has them engage in role play, which is a brilliant way to unpack code switching. I enjoyed Lisa Delpit's discussion of code switching in "No Kinda Sense" as well. The last essay in the book was the most refreshing. "We don't talk right. You ask him." is an essay by Joan Wynne that approaches dialect variation from an angle I haven't been exposed to before (or if I have, I don't remember). Wynne offers an appealing argument and her writing style is both concise and articulate. Oftentimes discussions of language and race (or gender, age, class, etc.) is divisive; contrary to that, her essay offers unity. Some of the quotes I hope to remember:
"If we believe as James Baldwin that all languages define, articulate, and reveal individual realities ('Black English,' 1997), then by not recognizing Ebonics, we keep white children trapped in myopic visions of world realities ... We deny them the opportunity to look at their own ancestors and history in a way that might help them recognize their collective responsibility for injustices, as well as their collective potential for redemption."
"Language is a political decision and a group experience of a lived reality, not a manifestation of intellectual prowess or language superiority"
"If any of us refuse to respect the other's language, it becomes too easy, consciously or unconsciously, to then disrespect the person."
"Glorifying Standard English as a superior mode of expression is intellectually limiting."
And her connection to Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces?? Oy. Fantastic.
"Joseph Campbell, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1968), tells us that a hero must assimilate his opposite, must put aside his pride, and in the end must realize 'that he and his opposite are not of differing species, but one flesh.' We have to educate our White children to understand that we are, indeed, 'one flesh.' That we are 'the other.' Then, what a gift to teach them that they are connected to the heroism of those African American students who engaged in sit-ins and marches; who against all odds survived arrests and beatings; and who created 'a dazzling moment of clarity' for the South and the nation (Curry 2000). To be taught that they belong not only to the history of the oppressor but also to the history of those who fought so bravely and won those battles for justice is a lesson all children deserve to hear."
"If we believe as James Baldwin that all languages define, articulate, and reveal individual realities ('Black English,' 1997), then by not recognizing Ebonics, we keep white children trapped in myopic visions of world realities ... We deny them the opportunity to look at their own ancestors and history in a way that might help them recognize their collective responsibility for injustices, as well as their collective potential for redemption."
"Language is a political decision and a group experience of a lived reality, not a manifestation of intellectual prowess or language superiority"
"If any of us refuse to respect the other's language, it becomes too easy, consciously or unconsciously, to then disrespect the person."
"Glorifying Standard English as a superior mode of expression is intellectually limiting."
And her connection to Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces?? Oy. Fantastic.
"Joseph Campbell, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1968), tells us that a hero must assimilate his opposite, must put aside his pride, and in the end must realize 'that he and his opposite are not of differing species, but one flesh.' We have to educate our White children to understand that we are, indeed, 'one flesh.' That we are 'the other.' Then, what a gift to teach them that they are connected to the heroism of those African American students who engaged in sit-ins and marches; who against all odds survived arrests and beatings; and who created 'a dazzling moment of clarity' for the South and the nation (Curry 2000). To be taught that they belong not only to the history of the oppressor but also to the history of those who fought so bravely and won those battles for justice is a lesson all children deserve to hear."
January 11, 2024
TOC
Part 1 - Language and Identity
Part 2 - Language in the Classroom
Part 3 - Teacher Knowledge
Summary
This book is organized into three parts: Language and Identity; Language in the Classroom; and Teacher Knowledge. The editors, Delpit and Kilgour Dowdy, selected artifacts such as essays, analyses and case studies, to provide perspectives on how language affects children especially in the classroom.
Part One has two essays that give a background into the problems arising from language. These personal stories show the process of alienation that learners go through when their home language is different from classroom language.
Part Two has essays and studies on the social aspects affecting language, learners and the classroom. Attitudes in the classroom are articulated and analyzed. Solutions that are constructively-oriented and not deficit-bound are shared and supported.
Part Three presents arguments about national language policies and the legitimacy of non-mainstream languages being protected and maintained. It does this by sharing stories from teachers’ perspectives. Attitudes and suggestions are shared.
Evaluation
This book provides a rich assortment of perspectives through a variety of written artifacts. The stories included offer a wider perspective to listen to and look at language, classrooms, and learners. The case studies and analyses were well written, easy to follow and engaging. All work chosen for this book was supported by references to widely accepted experts as well as an excellent addition of personal essays and non-academic sources.
Reflection
Talk about agency and power of children in classrooms is incredibly important. The editors’ selections help to show and legitimize that discourse around how children are ‘formed’ – not just their language, but their identity – are critical aspects for educators and the educational system to address more holistically.
While this book focused on children in classrooms, the information discussed, because it focused and contrasted home and classroom culture, is transferable to discussions of other environments. It provides perspectives to view and query, not just classrooms, but any learning environment. The discussion of identity is also applicable to adults – especially when learning other cultures or learning outside traditional job training.
Part 1 - Language and Identity
Part 2 - Language in the Classroom
Part 3 - Teacher Knowledge
Summary
This book is organized into three parts: Language and Identity; Language in the Classroom; and Teacher Knowledge. The editors, Delpit and Kilgour Dowdy, selected artifacts such as essays, analyses and case studies, to provide perspectives on how language affects children especially in the classroom.
Part One has two essays that give a background into the problems arising from language. These personal stories show the process of alienation that learners go through when their home language is different from classroom language.
Part Two has essays and studies on the social aspects affecting language, learners and the classroom. Attitudes in the classroom are articulated and analyzed. Solutions that are constructively-oriented and not deficit-bound are shared and supported.
Part Three presents arguments about national language policies and the legitimacy of non-mainstream languages being protected and maintained. It does this by sharing stories from teachers’ perspectives. Attitudes and suggestions are shared.
Evaluation
This book provides a rich assortment of perspectives through a variety of written artifacts. The stories included offer a wider perspective to listen to and look at language, classrooms, and learners. The case studies and analyses were well written, easy to follow and engaging. All work chosen for this book was supported by references to widely accepted experts as well as an excellent addition of personal essays and non-academic sources.
Reflection
Talk about agency and power of children in classrooms is incredibly important. The editors’ selections help to show and legitimize that discourse around how children are ‘formed’ – not just their language, but their identity – are critical aspects for educators and the educational system to address more holistically.
While this book focused on children in classrooms, the information discussed, because it focused and contrasted home and classroom culture, is transferable to discussions of other environments. It provides perspectives to view and query, not just classrooms, but any learning environment. The discussion of identity is also applicable to adults – especially when learning other cultures or learning outside traditional job training.
June 14, 2010
This is yet another book that I picked up after reflecting on how who I am affects how my words are perceived, what Herb Kohl, in Ch. 9, refers to as "attunement." Of course, there is no changing my background and, as a result, who I am. As Gloria Ladson-Billings lays out in "Dreamkeepers," it is on me to become hyper-aware of the respective realities of my students, which affect how knowledge is constructed. In this book, Lisa Delpit presents this issue through the specific lens of language. The overall theme of this collection of papers addresses the question of how language is used to make assumptions about intellect and potential. While much of the text deals with the tension between the enforcement of Standard English, the language of power, and Black English as an expression of personal identity, other perspectives are brought into the fold, including Native American and, most thoroughly, English spoken in Great Britain. We come away mindful of the fact that in no way is Standard English not to be taught; it is, as Joan Wynne says in Ch. 12, "the language of power, the chosen form of communication of those who own the missiles, the tanks, the banks, the bombs, and the government" (213). We must do this by not undermining non-standard English dialects and teaching that they are inherently inferior or deficient. No language or dialect can be scientifically inferior. When language is viewed as inferior, it is a political phenomena. As the saying goes, a language is a dialect with an army and a navy.
September 6, 2015
If you are a teacher, parent, or an aware citizen in the world today, this is a must-read. As a native English speaker in America, there are many things I take for granted in the realm of "standard English", but in today's society, assumptions require a deeper look. What, truly, is "standard" when language is so fluid? How can we possibly judge another person's superiority or inferiority based on the structure of their expressions? Our students (and us adults as well!) deserve to learn why such judgments can be--and often are--so misleading. As a teacher of language learners, it is critical for me to advocate for our students, that because they have yet to master English does not mean they are unintelligent. Linguistic differences are not indicative of intelligence levels, and the many ways in which Delpit reminds readers of the implications of our perceptions are easily grasped. As a teacher, this book has made me think so much more distinctly about how I can better use the examples of my students' many linguistic dimensions, and to reflect on how my attitude on "standard" or acceptable English continues to change as I become increasingly aware. Language and its constant change, in the sense of assumptions, perceptions, and misunderstandings, is also a delicious start point for those interested in social justice.
I love when books are provocative. This one does not disappoint.
I love when books are provocative. This one does not disappoint.
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January 5, 2014The influences language and color have on our life and the changes it makes is just unbelievable. Most of us has been pre-judged by the way we look and speak on daily basis. By the look I do not solely mean color but the appearance of you face as well. I have enough living personal examples in the regard of language influences. Those cultural misinterpretations which led and leads to misunderstanding and the aftermath is a cultural clash. Educationally speaking, the aftermath will be a culturally and epistemologically illiterate being, as we can see every day in our life. Language and look differences affect educational process, it slows it down and makes us constantly busy with it and remember the quality education necessary.
read the rest here:
http://pashewmajeed.blogspot.com/2014...
read the rest here:
http://pashewmajeed.blogspot.com/2014...
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