Y'all think speaking Ebonics/black English effects your grammar?

[Poh SIti Dawn]

Sometimes I'll be writing papers and I'll think "does this even make sense?". Its just my syntax that has me puzzled often.

My mother and I were talking to my baby cousin yesterday, he's 7, and my mom asks "who is this" and she points at a picture. He says "iont know who is this". Lool funny and cute, and ofc he speaks socially accepted English but at home he speaks English like this.

Do you think this has an effect on him? Or you? Or I?

 

[Groanman]

 

[WaveCapsByOscorp™]

no. in african-american studies, they call that a code switch depending on his audience's racial make up and setting. the point of language is to be understood. while grammar is designed to assist in understanding, it's really just a set of rules to construct and form your ideas. different languages have their own set of rules (grammar). that's why i don't get too bent out of shape about it. it's good to have a strong handle on english grammar but reality is that grammar is flexible depending on factors.

 

[Poh SIti Dawn]

no. in african-american studies, they call that a code switch depending on his audience's racial make up and setting. the point of language is to be understood. while grammar is designed to assist in understanding, it's really just a set of rules to construct and form your ideas. different languages have their own set of rules (grammar). that's why i don't get too bent out of shape about it. it's good to have a strong handle on english grammar but reality is that grammar is flexible depending on factors.

Grammar is flexible, depending on your audience. You may write something that seems incomprehensible because of it's grammar, but in reality it totally is.

With the example I used for my cousin, "Iont know who is this" If you asked one set of people they may think he said "I don't know, who is this?" and if you asked another he might say "I don't know who this is." . That's based on speech, disregard code switch because if you're writing something you're thinking with the voice that's in your head, not the code switch.

If I talk like this "Iont know where they be at" then most likely that's one of the voices I think with. Now try forming a paper with that kind of voice. If you talk like that as well, then you are using a manipulated structure of English, they're not the same. So when it comes to interpreting English that's spoken by others it may be confusing. IMO

 

[Zero]

It shouldn't...or at the very least, you should learn to differentiate the two at an early age. Like phourtay said above, you have to switch up accordingly.

I don't think a lot of kids know this though because how they talk often times translates to how they write on paper and the results are hilarious and sad at the same time. Even worse is they sometimes never grow out of it.

 

[CinnaSlim]

My mom always corrected our grammer though we grew up in the hood. Im glad she taught us to code switch. It's like being bilingual.

 

[KplusK]

hell to the naw