For this assignment, you’ll read a short article from the magazine The Atlantic. This article discusses African-American varieties of English and one speech pathologists’ effort to have schools understand and accept other varieties of English. Julie Washington, a speech pathologist, believes that helping kids switch seamlessly between dialects is a key to their success. After you read the article, briefly respond to each of these questions in a typed document. Focus on telling me your thoughts clearly and directly, like this is your personal notes. Do not try to sound overly academic. Most people should be able to answer these questions in 2-3 pages, but feel free to go over/under as long as you are writing clearly and have depth.
- What did you know about this topic before reading the article?
- What do you think the author means by “code switching” in this context?
- In bullets, outline the major points made in this article. What do you think “the point” was?
- What is your immediate impression after reading the article? What do you think about this topic?
- This article is based on the assumption that English has a lot of different varieties. In your opinion, do you think one variety of English is better/worse than another variety of English?