Wednesday, November 5, 2008

RQ response

Since my topic addresses standard english, the Gee, Delpit, and Fecho articles have all been fairly relevant, as are some of the articles on English journal. I think my main problem lies in how each of these writers seems to settle for compromise in each situation; Fecho appreciates his students' inquiries into language, but standard english is not defeated or even given a shared status with other non-standard forms. This is the bias I'm bringing to the assignment, and this may be why most of the articles I've read frustrate me: the writers begin by critiquing the problem, then seem to shrug during its dissection, as if identifying the problem is most of the victory. I don't expect a complete victory, but I don't accept a complete compromise either.

1 comment:

Troy said...

I think your topic of using standard english vs. local dialect english (I think that's your idea) is relevant to literacy professionals, and I believe your issue with the articles' discussions of the topic will allow you to write a different type of paper; in other words, since you have identified a frustrating writing technique, you know what not to do in your own paper. I'm not really sure how you're going to go about it differently, but you probably are so it's all good. I'd like to know what and who your primary sources are, the ones you're (maybe) interviewing, because it'd be interesting to see the difference in research between the articles and a current teacher. After all, your topic of standard English is definitely a current issue, and the educational system has undergone so many changes recently that a fresh perspective from someone who is in the field right now will be helpful. Good luck on your research, young grasshopper.
-Troy