Multicultural Issues in Human Communication Essay

Multicultural Issues in Human Communication - Essay Example The fact is that many African American students are facing academic problems due to their inability to speak and fully comprehend standard English and, therefore, the use of AAVE as a language of instruction during the transitional stage towards learning standard English, will improve the academic performance of these students and teach them standard English fluency. There are several dialect within American English. As Pei (1958) explains, the coexistance of two or more languages, each fulfilling different purposes, or the same one, is as old as language itself. According to Pei (1958), AAVE is the most widely spoken of these dialects in the United States and its use, as a tool in language instruction, will not threaten Standard English. Indeed, the use of Ebonics as a language of instruction in the transitional stage towards teaching African American students fluency in Standard English, will strengthen, and not threaten, the linguistic unity in the United States. ... The implication here is that the adoption of AAVE will not threaten standard English but can positively contribute to the acquisition of fluency in it. The academic performance of African American students illustrates that there is linguistic disunity in the United States. This can be solved through the use of AAVE as a tool for eliminating the language barriers that exist between blacks and whites. AAVE will not only improve the Standard English linguistic skills of African American students, leading to better academic performance but, will give white teachers the ability to understand their black students as students and not as black students, distinguished from the whites by more than colour. The social psychologists, Williams and Whitehead (1973) have observed that African American children are stereotyped according to whether they speak AAVE or Standard English, creating a communication problem between the student and the teacher. The teacher is unable to objectively evaluate the child and the child becomes nonresponsive to the teacher. As Williams and Whitehead (1973) report subjects listened to dialogues spoken in different d ialects and described the personality of the speaker accordingly. Non-English, or non-standard English speakers were given negative personality characteristics. The authors argue that it is, therefore, important to teach teachers what AAVE is and to help them understand it as a valid dialect and not jump to the conclusion that those who speak it are of poor intelligence, come from poor backgrounds, live in violent neighborhoods and are not very interested in school. Williams and Whitehead (1973) also point out that this attitude is clearly communicated to the African American students and becomes an obstacle to academic

Maya Angelou Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Maya Angelou - Essay Example This paper will discuss her style of writing and highlight how she manages to inspire people with her works. Getting a basic understanding of Angelou’s life is essential in order to understand her poetry. She has explored the world of literature widely and is a writer, poet, actress, dancer, and producer. Due to her insurmountable experience in literature of different genres, she excels in presenting unique poetry (Kuhlman 12). From her autobiography, it is evident that Angelou managed to exhibit resilience despite the challenges she faced as a black woman. Her poetry highlights some aspects of her life. Background information on her life indicates that she spent her early childhood with her grandmother after her parents divorced. In her teen age, she lived with her mother. Other challenges in her life included rape and teenage pregnancy. Her life experiences ands the strength she manages to gather from the circumstances in her life inspire her poetry. Maya Angelou has an incredible style of writing that makes her stand out among many poets. Her poetry exhibits a constant use of strong language. She brings out power in her arrangement of power and ideas making her poetry highly inspirational. Angelou explores several themes in poetry, and manages to utilize the power of language in communicating with her audience. It is evident that her good command and use of language makes her poetry much more interesting. For example, in her poem ‘still rise’, there is evidence of her expertise in language use. An analysis of Angelou’s style in this poem will serve as a benchmark in getting highlights about its uniqueness. In this poem, she makes use of the usual English words to bring out an intense theme. In addition, she augments her good command of language with numerous literary devices. Angelou uses both short and long lines in her stanzas. However, she creates a rhythmic version in her