When she was young, Celaisha Pipes would just talk how she talks. She didn’t think too deeply about her tone, word choice or inflection. She would just talk. Until a Black friend told her she sounded “too white.”
Pipes, who graduated from Appleton North High School last spring, didn’t realize it at that young age, but that was when she started code-switching.
It`s altering your language or the way you communicate with others to better align with your social setting at the time.
It wasn’t long after that a white friend told Pipes she sounded “too Black.”
"From that day on, it`s just like I`ve just code-switched, but not intentionally," she said....
...The power of language — and the language of power
The need to walk that tightrope can start early in a child’s life.
In her research on multilingual and English learners, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Mariana Pacheco said children as young as 6 or 7 can pick up on the double standard that white, English-dominant students can be placed in a bilingual classroom and be celebrated for their bilingualism, while the same isn’t true for their Spanish-dominant counterparts. ...
The need to walk that tightrope can start early in a child’s life.
In her research on multilingual and English learners, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Mariana Pacheco said children as young as 6 or 7 can pick up on the double standard that white, English-dominant students can be placed in a bilingual classroom and be celebrated for their bilingualism, while the same isn’t true for their Spanish-dominant counterparts. ...
Ken Notes: Great read!
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- - Volume: 10 - WEEK: 41 Date: 10/5/2022 5:36:09 PM -