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joshua’s journal

California Wildfires

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Most people don't have an appreciation of the scale of the fires, other than seeing the incredible and frightening images of those fires - they seem like on a Biblical scale.

I wanted to learn more exact details of the status of the fires, and BBC put together a great page that summarizes everything -

This is an amazing picture from space -

image

Now that is a smoke trail.

Also, it appears that the fires may have been started deliberately - where is the ELF when you need them? This link has some really striking pictures of the devastation. I wouldn't be surprised if arson was the cause, but it has to be said that the whole of SoCal is essentially a desert to begin with.. natural fires occur every year.

PS - a completely unrelated note. I had a random thought this morning - I wanted to know how it is that the American accent has developed into what it is now. So during my random web surfing this morning I was on Wikipedia, and I learned something today. Its no longer "ebonics" folks - now its "African American Vernacular English!" Behold.

Now NPR has a phrase to use so that they can avoid the blushes!
245 words

💬 20 comments

  1. janelle ·

    The usage of AAVE has been around for a bit as a replacement for ebonics. At least since 1990s when I took linguistics. I think AAVE is fascinating and understanding it is important in terms of race relations and education. AAVE isn't just poor English grammar. It has its own consistent grammatical structure. When people complain that "those people" don't speak English correctly. Well, it's because they're not speaking standard Engish. They're speaking AAVE. So it makes sense to teach AAVE in some schools so that kids learn the distinction between Standard English and AAVE. AAVE is the most noticeable example of this dialectical issue in the US but people in areas that speak creoles (South Carolina, Louisiana and Hawaii) also need to distinguish between their creoles and standard english if they want to move through the larger society. Okay...I should stop here, but it's hard. I think language is fascinating!

  2. joshua ·

    Hmm. Perhaps in academic circles. Who in the common vernacular actually refers to it as AAVE? Not many. To be perfectly honest I think its a politically correct term regardless, and in general I loathe such things... although I recognize the need to come up with a more academic term than "ebonics."

    I was reading about this and one particularly striking difference between other American dialects and AAVE is that all of them are a regional phenomenon except for AAVE, although I suppose it could be argued that AAVE originated during slavery in the south. AAVE is a dialect that is used across the country, whereas the southern and northeastern dialects tend to stay where they originated. Also, AAVE is criticized by black people who view it as a cultural drag and say themselves that its poor English.

    I have to disagree about teaching AAVE in schools though. I think its a terrible idea.

  3. jason ·

    Of course it was deliberate. Friends of the Earth say that we can't let George Bush burn California down:

    :::link:::

  4. janelle ·

    It's definitely not a cut and dry issue in the black community. There are folks who abhor it (i.e. Bill Cosby) and folks who embrace it as a dialect and switch back and forth between AAVE and Standard English as appropriate (Michael Eric Dyson).
    It wouldn't have to be a cultural drag if children who are raised speaking AAVE are taught that it's distinct from Standard English and their's a time to speak standard English and there is a time to use AAVE. I don't mean teaching it in the strictest sense. But teaching enough for children to get that when they enter school, they are going to learn a second language, Standard English as opposed to being told that they speak incorrectly and are now going to learn the proper way to speak.
    How are you going to tell these kids they speak incorrectly when everyone in their environment speaks that way? As a parallel, you don't tell the African immigrants in the US schools that they speak an incorrect language. You tell them that you're going to teach them a new language that will allow them to access mainstream society. But they can still speak their African language which keeps their tie to their cultural heritage.

  5. james ·

    Most educational research on the topic that I have read proposes that we teach kids as if they are bilingual. Teach that there are appropriate times for AAVE and Honkey-English. Students learn to switch between languages in coded situations.

    Where most people fail at this is calling AAVE a lesser language because it isn't proper and therefor one has to switch between bastardized English and real English. Such terminology and there attending attitudes alienates AAVE students and makes their school work wholly irrelevant.

    Other People's Children by Lisa Delpit is the standard text on the topic.

  6. jason ·

    I guess I don't necessarily see the point. Are we going to coddle Italian Americans who use their own dialect, or southern rednecks, or chowderheads?

  7. janelle ·

    Coddle, no.

    Teach standard english in schools on the basis that it is a distinc dialect in school, yes?

    Applicable to italian americans, southern rednecks, and chowder heads? Yes, if they speak a distinct dialect from Standard English.

    See my examples in the post below, people who speak cajun creole, hawaiian creole, gullah, pideon Native American/English variations all need to be taught Standard English as a language distinct from what they speak. Consider it an unofficial way of having a standard national language.

  8. joshua ·

    For me, I simply don't like it.

  9. joshua ·

    Wow, I accidentally submitted that comment without finishing! Anyway, my question is this - is AAVE bastardized English when millions of blacks believe it is? What I do not like is the suggestion that the presence of Standard English on standardized test presents some kind of intrinsic bias. Next we are going to hear that the presence of English in any format is intrinsically biased against students who don't speak English at all.

    I think introducing multiple forms of speech in an academic setting sets a bad precedent, and in exchange what you get is a dubious at best benefit to the majority of students. What will happen next - will universities be compelled to do the same thing in a generation because a percentage of the matriculating students never had to speak Standard English at school regularly?

    Anyway, this entry really was about the wildfire - my AAVE comment was just a smart ass anecdote. At least it sparked a conversation.

  10. janelle ·

    I like AAVE, although I'm not sure I'll ever be in a time or place when it's appropriate for a white middle class female to speak it. LOL.
    I particularly like the phrase, "to hate on" something which has a distinct meaning from "to hate" something. An action versus an emotion.
    I also like the use of the transitive "be" as in "don't be hating on me" indicating an action that is in progress and continues on as opposed to a discrete moment in time of being hated on.

    I also like the word "nebby" from Pittsburgh which means nosey. And the word "slippy" which is the lazy Pittsburgh way of saying slippery.
    I like how the Italians in Phillies say "Yous guys" and say water ice instead of italian ice. And I love the distinct Kensington/Fishtown accents, but I can't think of anyway that they talk that constitutes a distinct dialect. Too bad.

  11. jason ·

    You know what, I guess I don't really care what a school system does in this regard, even if it is to continue the status quo, as long as the kids are being taught the dialect that is going to get them through their educational and professional lives.

  12. jason ·

    Oh yeah, Janelle. I dated a Philly Italian. I got many, many earfuls of their particular speech. I like Water Ice.

  13. janelle ·

    I am suggesting teaching AAVE only to the extent to allow children to understand it as distinct from Standard English so they understand that they are learning another dialect in school, Standard English. I'm not suggesting a serious focus on AAVE. After all, they already know how to speak it.
    If you teach standard english in schools then there is no bias on standardized tests. Everyone's learning standard english and everyone is being tested in standard english.
    As for universities, the standards for highschool students entering into our universities, oh man, that's a whole other blog comment that encompasses so much more than language issues. I could write based on my experiences at Temple U. as a TA.
    Yeah, the main post was about the wildfires but you made the mistake of talking about language which is a subject I particularly enjoy, so I grabbed it and ran with it! Sorry!



  14. james ·

    To clarify Joshua, by using both languages in a classroom one is able to teach standard English for use in academic and professional settings. By treating dialects as a valid language you actually address the problem of not knowing when or how to switch from dialect to standard English.

    This method deals with the problem. Only hammering standard English just leaves minority students out in the cold.

  15. drew ·

    As for the fires, Randi Rhodes suggested that some of the fires may have been set because Blackwater wants to move into that area.

    I don't necessarily believe it, but I wouldn't put it past them, either.

    I speak differently in different situations. My school used "Pittsburghese," but not in English classes (or really anything written). It's important to recognize different ways of speaking and the ways that they influence everyone's speech.

    If it weren't for AAVE, I would have never had a chance to have a glass of haterade.

  16. jason ·

    Is there an AAVE dictionary I can find?

  17. jason ·

    Nope, can't find an Ebonics dictionary, no more than I can for any other American dialect. It is mostly just crap information on how the words are pronounced. =(

  18. jenks ·

    Wow... Language fascinates me too. And thus I don't know if it's just years and years of studying, and striving to master (overly) 'proper' grammar (in english and other languages) - or if it just means I'm a horribly racist snobby bitch- but I really can't stand the sound of it. I can't stand "yous guys" (which I hear quite a bit in buffalo) and "axing" someone a question just makes me cringe.

    I guess I need to read up on it some more. But to me "AAVE" seems more like just "bad english" than a dialect, like creole. I can understand preserving a LOCALIZED dialect, especially one that originates in other languages (creole/french etc) and helping kids understand the language spoken in their community, vs 'standard english'- but to me supporting/preserving/promoting a nationwide 'dialect' that just sounds, to me (and I'm sure many others), like uneducated ghetto slang- is not helping anyone get ahead. Because it's 'limited' to one RACE, and not one geographic area/nationality/culture (and race does not equal culture), it strikes me as a different beast. And as much as we [the US] have made great strides in equality etc- we certainly can't say we've achieved it yet- and I think making a "black language" would be a step in the wrong direction. I can see the argument that doing otherwise is just forcing everyone to "be white", which maybe is no better, but... For right or wrong, I just don't see someone who says "don't be hating on me fo axing a question" getting all that far in life... But maybe not everyone wants the same things from life that I do, and that's ok...

    Ok, I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this, and I think I should stop before you all thing i'm a horrible racist- because I'm not.

  19. joshua ·

    Has anyone ever heard the phrase "the soft bigotry of low expectations?" This is how many people (not necessarily myself) view the entire issue of the minority/underprivileged educational environment. Personally I don't think there are any easy answers, but at least we know that there are people who care about the issue and are trying something, as opposed to doing nothing. I think the language in the classroom is only one element. I have friends who have taught at Traditional, Bennett, and a few other high schools in the area and I can assure you that the speech in the class was the least of their worries.

  20. janelle ·

    Has anyone ever heard the phrase "the soft bigotry of low expectations?"

    Yup, sure have. It's what liberals do. It's why liberals aren't always that far ahead than conservatives in any number of social issues.

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