Essay, Research Paper: Ebonics

One of the conflicting issues among African Americans and Caucasians is the

issue of ebonics. It s not just an issue facing one race or the other it effects both races

along with other ethnicity s. On one side people believe that ebonics is a distinct language

that African American use and is part of their culture, and they believe that ebonics should

be taught in schools. Other people believe that ebonics is just a black dialect that black

people use as slang, and that teaching ebonics in school should not be permitted. I believe

that although ebonics may be spoken in the home of many African American people, it

shouldn t be taught in schools because everyone should be taught the proper form of the

English language. I also believe that you will be able to get farther in schooling and the

work force with the proper English skills.

Many African Americans believe that ebonics is part of their culture and should be

taught in school. Teachers who have actually tried using ebonics in reading and teaching

English, actually helped the child understand the concepts of English better. Ebonics is a

way that people from the African American culture communicate to each other and many

people including teachers feel that these people should be allowed to express themselves

for who they are, and also be able to be taught in a language they understand. Where

ebonics was quietly experimented it proved to show improvements in the comprehension

of the English oral language skills. With evidence that it works on the children it s taught

to many people believe that ebonics should be adapted into our English language as a

second language.

I believe that even though ebonics is spoken freely among our African American

citizens, it still should not be adapted as a second language added to our English language.

Ebonics in my opinion is slang and for the most part more people speak proper English

more than people speak ebonics. African Americans are often teased if they speak proper

English and talk in proper speech. People should not be ashamed of how they talk. English

is our primary language in the United States. When many African American speak ebonics

to each other it s one thing if it s socially outside of the work and school place, but when

it s brought into places of professions and learning many people not of the African

American culture understand many of the concepts of ebonics. I don t believe that there

are set ways to speak ebonics like there are set rules for speaking English. Also where

ever African Americans are among the minority what are the other cultures and ethnicity s

to do when ebonics is being taught to the others? Are they to learn ebonics also or are

they supposed to be separated.

Different people will have different emotions about the issue of ebonics. One side

will always be to adapt it into our school systems and teach it to the younger generations

to help them process the English language, in a way that people believe, will help them.

The other side will always be that ebonics is not a language it is more of a dialect or slang

rather than a language. I believe that it should be recognized as a cultural dialect and that

it should be recognized is widely spoken among the African American culture; but it

should also be left at a social barrier.

Watch out for improper word usage...

affect v. effect

Vary word choice...

"believe" is used 5 times in the first paragraph