considered unworthy or unequal, is the same.^9 To challenge the first
statement in the U.S. educational system is to question the primacy of one
language variety over all others.^10
At the same time, it is important to remember that ideologies and social
strategies for the limitation of one language over another are not limited to
one segment of the population. The following statements indicate that the
concept of appropriacy has a wider, and quite relevant place in the
discussion of the distribution of language varieties over social space:
1. A child who is a native speaker of Hawai’i Creole English
may be criticized for using her home language rather than
*SAE in the classroom.
2. A child who is a native speaker of Hawai’ian Creole English
may be criticized for speaking “school English” rather than
her family’s home language at the dinner table.The varieties of English spoken in peripheralized communities persist
because they are a primary way to establish solidarity and loyalty.
Minority language community ideologies can be just as powerful as the
ideologies and strategies of the dominant bloc institutions, and both are
worthy of study. Individuals caught between competing ideologies must
learn to deal with this “push–pull.”
The argument put forth by teachers in support of *SAE-only classrooms
and schools generally sounds something like this:
Student A must give up her home language in certain situations for her
own good. This doesn’t mean she has to give it up completely; there’s no
reason to deny that language; instead, redirect the student’s use of that
language to those environments and circumstances in which it is
appropriate. At the same time, give the student another language (*SAE) –
for those situations in which it will be the only socially acceptable
language. This is necessary if she is to pursue a career or education in the
wider world where potential employers would otherwise reject her because
of the variety of English she speaks.
The NCTE guidelines for teaching the English language arts includes this
very idea, but in different terms: