Blog #4.1 Question: As composition teachers, how should we make sense of the successes and failures of our dialect speakers, our new immigrants, and our immigrant heritage students?  What factors (home, school, community, etc) might promote success and failure?  And how as teachers can we foster success?

When asked to make sense of the success or failure of dialect students, my gut reaction is to ask you how much time you have. There are dozens of books and articles on this subject with no clear cut answers. What we do know is that a lot of the success of a dialect speaking student comes from acceptance: acceptance from family and peers in terms of the student actively pursuing the study of English in general, and acceptance of the student's desire to go to school in particular. Some communities may have reticence or distrust of school in general, or of the student's motives, in particular. Some communities may see the student as wishing to shed their cultural identity in favor of the dominant culture, forever shedding their own cultural heritage. With such a heavy burden on a student, it is easy for me to see why so many students fail.

The best learners have a support network: peers, friends and family, extended family, neighbors. Even just one person who will stand behind the student and provide a sounding board is enough for a student to excel. Nobody works in a vacuum. It takes a village. In order for a dialect speaking student to succeed, his or her "village" has to realize that they will not be losing a son or daughter in this transformational process, but gathering an ally and advocate.

As teachers we must resist the urge to "correct" a student's speech or behave as though we cannot understand students with a dialect, because they are all speaking English and it is up to us to learn how to listen and understand. We must provide a classroom experience that is nurturing and embracing of all cultures and celebrates cultural diversity, agency and self-efficacy.