Tina Bell
English 5001
Week 8

Acceptance

Approximately fifteen years ago, I taught a student, Anthony, who had anger control issues. His father was in prison for murder and his mother was a drug addict. He lived on welfare. He lived in the seedy part of town. He lived an unstable life. And although he sat in my remedial English class, he wrote some of the most moving pieces I have ever read. Not one of these pieces had correct grammar, spelling, nor punctuation. But, like Leon in Tom Fox’s article, I also believe that Anthony understood literacy. I found it sad then and still do today that although this student has a brilliant mind, he will always be discriminated against and considered remedial due to his lack of skill with the English language. I can not help but wonder what our society has missed by ignoring contributions from students like Anthony who do not conform to our expectations of acceptability which in turn limits their access to higher levels of education.

Currently, I work with two women, Pho and Maria, two very intelligent and capable women. Two women who are obviously learners of English. Recently, a colleague of ours told one of these women, my friend Maria, that her career choices would always be limited. Our colleague informed Maria that as a learner of the English language, she would never be able to master all of the intricacies of standard English and would therefore never achieve levels reserved only for native speakers. Unfortunately it seems Arnetha Ball and Rashidan Jaami’ Muhammad are correct in their belief that “in our society, people are not only judged by the color of their skin but also classified by the way they speak” (76). As Maria came to me practically in tears and hardly able to repeat this conversation, I had to remind her that she was already successful in a position equal to our rather rude colleague and is currently being trained to take an even higher position. I reminded her that Pho held one of the top positions in our organization. Maria and I both had to conclude that she was the victim of a discrimination that permeates our society. A belief that those who do not use standard English are in some way inferior to others.

I do, however, believe that we have the means to fight this discrimination. The solution is education. Ball and Muhammad support an educational environment in which teachers learn that ‘the notion that language can be ‘correct or incorrect’ is a myth” (78). Their efforts have been to expose teachers to the diversity of language. They wish educators to understand “that literacy is access to privilege” (86). When one believes in a “correct and incorrect” literacy, one may deny students access to privilege. David Russell and David Foster have studied the teaching of writing in other countries. In their article, “Rearticulating Articulation,” they demonstrate that students can learn to write well in specialized disciplines. Russell and Foster demonstrate the need to look at literacy instruction across the globe. I believe that one system of teaching literacy does not reach all students. If we can come to an understanding and acceptance of various forms of literacy and then look beyond our own system to discover new methods of teaching, students like Anthony and colleagues like Maria will be allowed the voice and power they deserve.