To find the "ghetto" accent just go to any city's downtown area
Hey Jazz,
Which brings up something I have been wondering about for a bit...a year or so ago we were hearing a lot about "Ebonics" being taught in schools as a language spoken by inner city African Americans. It was also said that there were some schools where only Ebonics was spoken.
I thought this was somewhat limiting for the children since, outside of their neighborhoods, Ebonics was not a spoken language and would therefore limit these children to their own back yard. What also seemed troubling was that the examples we got were simply examples of English being spoken incorrectly (errors in grammar, verb tenses, word definitions etc). This gave the impression that the language was a type of slang, and slang, being what it is, changes dramatically and quickly – thus rendering the teaching of it obsolete since it has changed by the time it reaches the blackboard.
I realize, though, that what is on the news is not alway accurate and often a reflection of the values of the that particular broadcaster.
Were the presented facts accurate? Are schools still teaching this language and is it really a "street" version of English?
