Sea Island Dialect And Standard English Case Study

Mary E. Blake and Meta Van Sickle, professors at the College of Charleston, conducted a study at Sea Island High School for high school students who had trouble passing the South Carolina Exit Exam and displayed dialect diversity. The purpose of the study was to allow linguistic learners to share what they know and to provide them with instructional strategies to code switch. The two students discussed in the case study, Demain and Josiah are both native speakers of the African American English dialect, known in Charleston as the Sea Island Dialect. The researchers wanted to provide the students with strategies to code switch between the Island Dialect and Standard English. Demain and Josiah failed the SCEE more than once, so the researches
focused on code switching in critical subjects such as Mathematics and Science to help the students pass the SCEE Exam, mainstream courses, and standardized tests.
The case study research method was chosen because researchers wanted to study the participants in depth. The case study method “was used precisely because the researcher wishes to understand the particular in depth, not to find out what is generally true of many” (Blake & Van Sickle, 2001). The notion that low test scores of students who speak other dialects other than Standard English reflect their knowledge is completely false. “Many teachers believe that students who exhibit language diversity actually know more than the test scores reflect” (Blake &Van Sickle, 2001). It is important for educators and students to know that test scores are not a reflection of knowledge; not all students are good test takers. The researchers conducted this study with the notion that diverse learners are knowledgeable, they just need to establish the ability to
code switch. , especially in academic areas. The initial steps of the research were inquiry phases, which were used to gain information on the students’ interests. The instructional strategies used were created to help the participants enhance their language and content skills. The writing activities consisted of brief minilessons, dialogue about the status of ongoing work, actual writing, and sharing what was written (Blake & Van Sickle, 2001). When studying the dialogue journals researchers noted that Sea Island dialect modified the African American English. Visualizations were created through the participants’ words. The participants used “been” or “had” to replace –ed, pronouns were simplified to “I”, “O” was used to imply possession, “um” means them, and “okay-all right” implied that the dialogue was complete (Blake & Van Sickle.) Through the participants’ results, especially results from Demain and Josiah researchers were able to note that community culture and dialect diversity were closely connected. Through Demain’s struggle to fold a paper in equal parts of twelves he was able to recognize his inability to recognize the paper in twelves instead of a whole.
This contributes to the community culture of Sea Island dialect. When telling stories in their communities, speakers of Sea Island dialect usually focus on the whole story not individual parts. After working with researchers Demain was able to produce sequential writing in English, science, and math class that was heavily detailed, pass the SCEE, and he was able to attend a small college. Josiah, who was mathematically inclined, had major gaps in his math education. Josiah struggled to write using correct verb tense and enriching details. By the end of the study Josiah was able to describe the essence of an object, code-switch when explaining a drawing, and pass the SCEE exam. Studying Josiah, Demain, and other participants; provided researchers with note-worthy results about linguistically diverse
students. Researchers noticed that in the Sea Island dialect there was no time reference; stories were usually told as if they happened in the present moment. Language development was an issue due to the inability of those who speak another dialect to apply meaning to their stories. It was noted that the participants could code-switch, they just lacked details in their statements making it difficult for those communicating in Standard English to understand.
When considering the classroom, it is important for educators to recognize language differences among students. Language diversity in schools is necessary to allow students to remain in touch with their culture but be exposed to other cultures. The more students are exposed to different language styles, the better their ability to code-switch and understand different dialects will become. Instead of encouraging students to abandon their dialect, educators should encourage could code-switching and promote it in the classroom. It is important to note that students who have different dialects are capable of being knowledgeable. As a future educator, it is important to accept all cultures and dialects, and to allow students to use them freely in the classroom.