Language

Autobiography

Philip Keller

In kindergarten, I went to a Swiss International school in Accra, Ghana. My

teacher was a German-Ghanaian who had grown up in Berlin. After a while
in her class, my parents once made this remark to me: Youre speaking
German like a Berliner!
Already from a young age, I learned that even within the same language
group, people speak different styles of their language and certain accents and
phrases index a persons background.

As a child in English speaking Ghana, my parents told me:

You dont need to talk like a Ghanaian meaning that I had
adopted some of the phrases and dialects of the Ghanaians I
was around. Clearly, our social settings influence our style of
speech. For me as cross-cultural child, there was a process of
learning what style of English fit my own social setting and
family.

Thats really high German was my dads comment once

when asking him about a certain German word I had
learned. He was making the distinction between the German
spoken in much of Germany, and his variety of Swiss
German.

Question: Where are you from?

Answer: Waxhaw, North Carolina!
My father has lived in English speaking countries for over
30 years, and now has lived in Waxhaw, North Carolina for
more than a decade. He can get irked when people
immediately ask where he is from, sometimes without even
letting him finish his sentence. This experience has
cautioned me against making assumption about where
people are from based on accent, and to not other
someone based on speech. It has also taught me how our
speech community and background never really escapes us.

I think at least they should at least use correct grammar.

Its Kevin and I, not Kevin and me!

My family and social group communicated to me growing

up that there was a correct and incorrect way to speak
English, and some people, including teachers, should make
sure they speak in the correct way in professional settings.
In my case, it was the way my educated, white, Californian
mother spoke. This experience illustrated the biases that
people often feel towards that dialect and style of speech
with which they are comfortable. I have now realized how
difficult determining what Standard English really entails.

When I studied
abroad in Tbingen,
Germany, I
undertook an oral
assessment to place
me in the correct
German class. The
teacher quickly
determined that I
would be in the
highest level course.
On the first day, she
was surprised that I
had trouble with a
rudimentary
grammar chart. But
I could communicate
so well!

My Germany experience illustrated the difference

between classroom language learning and socially
acquiring a language. Strengths and weaknesses exist
for both realities and I believe both need to be enacted
in order to really learn a language. In Germany, I had to
focus on the grammatical aspects and writing, while
many of my classmates who had learned German in
the classroom setting had to turn their focus to accent
and oral communication.
The second lesson from this experience is that oral
language skills and literacy are very different
phenomenon and are not necessarily mutually
constitutive.

Working in an almost entirely African-American environment

has confirmed the reality of cultural differences in
communication styles and dialect. As the linguistics studying
African American speech have confirmed repeatedly, this
dialect is grammatically consistent and logical.
Lisa Delpit confirmed that effective communication to
European-American students is not necessarily effective with
African Americans students. A simple example is the tendency
for my African-American colleagues to use clear directives such
as Sit down right now! rather than what many EuropeanAmerican are accustomed to, such as Would you have a seat?
Like learning another language, I have had to be in the
environment to truly understand this culture and
communication. I feel like I am a student of culture and dialect.

Berlin: http
://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Berlin_-_Siegessaeule_Aussicht_10-13_im
g4_Tiergarten_(cropped).
jpg
Ghana: lifeinkumasi.com
German dialects: German.About.com
Waxhaw Map: www.bestplaces.net
Tuebingen: Personal photo and www.uni-tuebingen.de
Guilford Preparatory Academy: Guilfordprep.org

Image Sources