[HPforGrownups] Re: OT--dialects ("fixin' to")

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 9153

Victoria McLure wrote:

> I jest joined this here list and I'm fixin' to write this here re-ply.
> I used to could just write these here thangs real fast, but I've
> slowed down a bit.  ;-)
> Sorry!  Couldn't resist.  I teach freshman composition at a rural
> community college and believe me, the dialect has not died out!
> Anyone got a formula for an anti-dialect potion?  Perhaps an aerosal
> variety??

My professors, who were teaching future teachers, advised teaching
Standard English (the kind one must write and speak for The Establishment
to touch you) sort of as a second language, presenting it as something you
must know. That way, the student's original dialect is not denigrated,
just presented as a different mode that is appropriate in some situations,
just not all. And students respond better to this approach, I'm told. But
you probably already knew that.

--Amanda