I'd like to thank R. Reis for bringing the CCCC statement about Ebonics
to the attention of the ATEG list. It's important for teachers to
understand that students vary with respect to which variety of English
is predominant in their home environment, and that this variation is due
to sociohistorical factors, not the intellectual ability of the student.

I'm puzzled by the subject line, though. The CCCC statement doesn't say
anything about 'teaching Ebonics grammar'. The statement does not
encourage teaching Ebonics to anyone. It encourages teaching teachers
_about_ Ebonics (and I'd add all sorts of other variation) so they can
better help students from all backgrounds master standard English. The
teachers in Oakland whose statement started the Ebonics controversy were
widely misunderstood on this point. People believed they were promoting
teaching Ebonics to students. What they were promoting was the
acknowledgment and use of Ebonics in transitioning students whose
primary language is Ebonics to standard English.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johanna Rubba   Assistant Professor, Linguistics
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
One Grand Avenue  • San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Tel. (805)-756-2184  •  Fax: (805)-756-6374 • Dept. Phone.  756-259
• E-mail: [log in to unmask] •  Home page: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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