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When it comes to language, our passions are inflamed. Mention grammar, and people become tense, intimidated by rules they can’t quite remember. Talk to a Southerner, and hear tales of lessons designed to free them of accent so others will not judge them ignorant, stupid, or slow. Open the newspaper, and encounter parents, educators, and others who are "weary of young people’s conversations littered with ‘like,’ ‘da beast’, and other misused phrases." (USA TODAY, 4/2/98). Mention Black English, and even high ranking officials such as The Reverend Jesse Jackson, or nationally syndicated columnist William Raspberry are sure that "Ebonics" is "garbage", and "sounds remarkably like what our mothers used to call Bad English." Notice the Hispanic speakers in our country, and witness the dozens of state legislatures lining up to pass English Only laws. While our passions are inflamed, our reason is silent. In each case -- grammatical correctness, dialect (esp. Black English and Southern/Appalachian speech), and multilingualism -- students and lay people alike respond with knee-jerk reaction. At present, neither students nor the lay public responds to language issues with reason informed by compassion. The consequences of being ruled by our passions rather than our minds are substantial, ranging from acts of personal discrimination to ill-informed public and national policy. This Web site moves to help remedy this situation, thus serving the Weber State and Ogden communities by providing informative, current resources, and PowerPoint presentation-ready materials. This Web site offers a range of reputable language resources. The links you find here go to materials distributed by professional linguists (Ph.D.s trained in the structure and use of language). For example, in the section on Ebonics, you will find professors from Berkeley and Stanford explaining the relevant issues. And in the section on English Only, you'll find web links to the Center for Applied Linguistics, a group of linguists specializing in language issues, and language policy in America. On the web, you'll find a lot of inflamed ranting about language use and language users. You might find it interesting to contrast such immoderate and uninformed sites with those you'll find below. And now,here's what this site covers:
This Web site and the slide presentation were written by
Rebecca Wheeler in, Spring 1999. Technical assistance was provided by Carol Hansen,
Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah. Initial funding for this project was
given by the Weber State University Research Scholarship and Professional Growth
Committee. |
| Please send comments and Questions to Rebecca S. Wheeler |
