A Look at Ebonics

Статья и з журнала: Вісник Запорізького державного університету. — 2000. — No 1. (В файле 3 стр.). "The term Ebonics, coined by the author in 1973 at a conference on the language of Black children, was formed by combining ebony (black) and phonics (speech sounds). Two schools of thought on the origin of Ebonics are presented: (a) pidgin/Creole and (b) African retention. What sparked the national controversy on Ebonics was the Oakland school board’s decision to recognize Ebonics as a legitimate language. The school board’s primary goal is to discover more effective ways to improve African American children’s acquisition of Standard English and reading skills. Many African-American children speak Ebonics or home language. Using the language children bring to school as a bridge to teaching new language system is a widely used technique in school language acquisition". . .