Dialects

English 222 and my Linguistic 150 class provided me with so much support on understanding language. I had several sessions that involved African-American writers. In my linguistic class, we covered a section on dialects, and I learned how the English dialect of African-Americans is often perceived as of less prestige. It is not that African-Americans do not know how to speak proper English, but it is their dialect of English. Sometimes there can be fear of speaking in public because the person may feel he/she does not speak the Standard American English. I saw this hesitation in two of my sessions. The difference was that I was able to establish comfort during the first ten minutes of the session when the writer told me she used a lot of slang. Thus, the next time we met, we both knew what needed to be worked on, and we were able to push aside this fear. In order to avoid any fear or awkwardness, it would be best if tutors can be informed about what population attends the writing center the most. It always helps to know the background of students just so tutors can be familiar with the language and culture. In this case, English 222 could cover those components. Also, before the tutoring session starts, it would be best if the tutor can ask the writer about their writing history. This can help the tutor have an idea of what to expect and to think about ideal strategies to use with a particular writer.