Intangible Heritage of Standard English Learners

Ogo Okoye-Johnson

doi:10.1177/2158244011408441

Abstract

Standard English Learners (SELs) are ethnic minority native speakers of English whose mastery of the “standard English language” used in the curriculum of schools is limited due to their use of ethnic-specific nonstandard dialect. Research in language development highlights language as a tool that allows the individual access to basic civil rights and opportunities in the area of politics, economics, and education. A correlation exists between proficiency in the use of Standard English and academic achievement, thereby highlighting the importance of validating the intangible language heritage that these students bring to the school environment while they are schooled in the use of Standard English.

Highlights

The persistent glaring gap in the achievement levels among the student subgroups in the U.S K-12 public schools that is apparent in standardized tests data has been expertly documented over many years by research organizations such as the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and Child Trends
There are African American Standard English Learners (SELs), American Indian SELs, Hawaiian American SELs, and Mexican American SELs. These students were born in the United States and grew up speaking English as their first and sometimes only language, thereby distinguishing SELs from English Language Learners (ELLs) who were usually not born in the United States and grew up speaking another language other than English as their first language
According to LeMoine (1999), SELs can attain mainstream literacy through practices similar to second language acquisition. It would be shrewd for policy makers to include all viable strategies in their examination and implementation of several policies, regulations, and practices that are designed to bridge or eliminate the achievement gap that exists among the various student subgroups by addressing the identified factors that lead to the gap and by adopting educational practices such as culturally relevant curriculum and pedagogy that include language and literacy proficiency

Summary

Introduction

The persistent glaring gap in the achievement levels among the student subgroups in the U.S K-12 public schools that is apparent in standardized tests data has been expertly documented over many years by research organizations such as the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and Child Trends.

Results

Conclusion