Reforming Writing and Rethinking Correctness

Abstract

L anguage never stands still. It is a living, breathing organism--one that is adorned with human aspirations and intertwined in politics. When we begin to consider the many conventions of language-and paradigms for right and wrong in our classroomswe do so without a map upon which to plan our course. Language correctness, like reality itself, is contingent on context, audience, and power. Instead of ignoring these linguistic verities, the arts teacher should help students appreciate the complexity of reading and writing in many contexts. In my writing class for first-year college students, we try to expunge simplistic rules of right and wrong and begin to define notions of correctness more complexly. Many students who enter a high school or college English class are not aware of the questions and controversies surrounding and notions of correctness. They see reading and writing as objective, dispassionate endeavors that require one to simply follow a set of rather standard rules. Teachers teach because they have learned the rubric-because they have mastered the right way to speak and write. Students listen and try to become proficient in acquiring models of correctness, so that they will be successful in a world that demands a common set of standards. In this scenario, is not fluid and dynamic but stagnant, fixed, monolithic, and impervious to the rhythms of culture and change. There are correct and incorrect ways to use and no need to ponder the social or cultural aspects of the interaction. In reality, we know that is forever contingent on the dynamics of the specific linguistic act. When two people of the same culture write to each other, shared rules of correctness are determined by their relationship and aspirations. When people of different cultures speak, other political dynamics are revealed. The African American who seeks a job from a white manager is quick to articulate the standard dialect that the manager speaks and writes. In contrast, the white applicant seeks a job from the African American employer, there is no chance that the applicant will use the African American Vernacular English (AAVE) that is a familiar part of many African American homes. It would immediately be exposed as being contrived and ingratiating. Interestingly, the African American student uses AAVE in a formal setting, it is deemed inappropriate despite the complexities of the dialect and its clear efficacy as a communication system. Such political dynamics are rarely covered in the grammar and usage books that line the shelves of English departments, but they are critical to an effective, egalitarian pedagogy. See, writes linguist Geneva Smitherman in pondering questions of correctness and the of minorities, when you ... dissin dem, you talkin bout they mommas! (151). Gloria Anzaldfia offers yet another perspective she writes, [slo, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language (59).