Does Huang have Academic Value? Students Right to Their Own Language: Is there Room for Multiple Dialects in a College English Classroom?
Essay 2 Prompt: Does Huang have Academic Value? Essay 2: Students Right to Their Own Language: Is there Room for Multiple Dialects in a College English Classroom? 6-8 pages; 12 point, times new roman font; MLA citations Is there a place for non-traditional dialects in an English Classroom? Fresh off the Boat is a memoir written in a voice that is probably unlike many texts you’ve read while in school. The book’s author, Eddie Huang, has stated that it was immensely important to him that his memoir be written in “a voice” that was genuine to the way he communicates on a daily basis. Similarly, the article “A Students Right to their Own Language” argues that academic settings need to be more inclusive and accepting of students who enter the college classroom with versions of English that aren’t “traditional.” Nonetheless, some have argued that there needs to be some degree of standardization and that acknowledging an array of versions of English is doing students a disservice. Where do you stand on these calls for inclusiveness? Your Task You are all students in a college classroom. You are all here for some purpose, probably pertaining to your future. That makes you all authorities on this subject. What is it you want out of a composition classroom? Do you believe including texts like Huang and Anzaldua is conducive to your goals within this class? Can we make an argument as to how they should be used in a class like English 100(or any other college class)? Is there some kind of value for exploring different dialects of English? Use Huang’s book, along with at least one of the other texts from this unit (“Students’ Right to their Own Language”, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, “If Black English isn’t a Language…”, “Mother Tongue”, etc.) to support for your points. Do you feel there’s a place in academia for multiple forms of English or is there a need to standardize English in academics? From an academic standpoint, does Huang’s personalized version of English add to the message that you feel he’s trying to convey? Does it detract? Similarly, please consider the arguments in “A Students Right to their Own Language” and other articles we explore on this topic. Could Huang’s book ever be considered “academic” in the “nontraditional” way it presents his arguments? Try and think about what you want out of this writing class; will a nontraditional text like Huang help you get there? It may also be helpful to take into account the arguments and themes Fresh off the Boat explores (i.e. race, the American dream, assimilation, hip hop etc). Similarly, it may help you to define what you feel an “academic” text should do; that is, what exactly is the purpose of an academic text and does Huang accomplish this goal despite his non-conformist use of English? When analyzing the topic of student voice, please use properly cited(MLA) quotes from both Huang’s book along with another text from this unit. Please use the following sources: – Fresh of the Boat by Eddie Huang – The article “A Students Right to their Own Language”Students’ Right to Their Own Language Conference on College Composition and Communication Explanation of Adoption (The following appeared as a Special Issue of CCC, Fall, 1974, Vol. XXV.) page 1 through 23 only. -How to Tame a Wild Tongue By Gloria Anzaldua -If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is? By JAMES BALDWIN Please cite each quote with its appropriate page number.
