This is an assignment based on June Jordan’s “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan”, a translingual piece about Black English in academic settings. In that article, she writes about teaching Alice Walker’s The Color
Reading: June Jordan’s “Nobody Mean More to Me”
In “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan,” poet, essayist, and activist June Jordan, argues for the legitimacy of Black English, now often referred to as African American Vernacular English, by intertwining two
Textbook: Reading Culture
Reading Culture, edited by Diana George and John Trimbur, was the first textbook I used and is used throughout Emerson College’s First-Year Writing Program. Based on George and Trimbur’s backgrounds in rhetoric and composition, the reader comes from a social-epistemic
Activity: SEAE Freewrite and Discussion
Often, translingual courses will critically engage with genres of academic writing by complicating the idea that “Standard Edited American English” is a neutral, unmarked discourse. While undergraduate students probably haven’t been asked to consider the conventions and underlying assumptions of
Reading: Gloria Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
“So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity—I am my language.” —Gloria Anzaldua, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” Gloria Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
Reading: Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue”
In this literacy narrative, Amy Tan explores her language and identity by reflecting on her mother’s language use. Tan writes that, “Lately, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described
Presentation: Discourse Communities
For any course dealing with language difference, I like to start by introducing definitions of language and discourse communities. While this presentation isn’t the most visually engaging, it is packed with information about common beliefs about language. I start by