Reconsidering Standard English

Resource list courtesy of Pippa Hemsley

If you find yourself wanting to look at Standard English from another angle, you might read Vershawn Ashanti Young’s chapter, “Should Writers Use They Own English?”, in Writing Centers and the New Racism, not to mention “Writing While Black,” by Cedric Burrows, and Neisha-Anne Green’s examination of code-meshing. 

For more information about how to support students who come from different types of language-diverse backgrounds, take a look at One on One with Second Language Writers by Dudley W. Reynolds. 

For those hoping to to zoom out for a broader examination of how structural oppression functions, I recommend Race Talk by Derald Wing Sue and Is Everyone Really Equal? by Ozlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo. 

Burrows, C. (2016). Writing while black. Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, 14(1). Retrieved from http://www.praxisuwc.com/burrows-141/ 

Green, N.-A. (2016). The Re-Education of Neisha-Anne Green: A Close Look at the Damaging Effects of “A Standard Approach,” the Benefits of Code-Meshing, and the Role Allies Play in this Work. Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, 14(1). Retrieved from http://www.praxisuwc.com/green-141/ 

Greenfield, L. (2011). "The "Standard English" fairy tale". Writing centers and the new racism: A call for sustainable dialogue and change. 

Greenfield, L. & Rowan, K, eds. Utah State University Press, 33-60. Sensoy, Ö. (2012). Is everyone really equal?: an introduction to key concepts in social justice education. New York: Teachers College Press. 

Sue, D. W. (2015). Race talk and the conspiracy of silence: understanding and facilitating difficult dialogues on race. Hoboken: Wiley. 

Young, V. A. (2011). "Should writers use they own English?" Writing centers and the new racism: A call for sustainable dialogue and change. Greenfield, L. & Rowan, K, eds. Utah State University Press, 61-72.