The ethnographic research of Roadville and Trackton clearly show how language passed on through stories affect the children’s perception of their world. As children easily do, they adjusted to different ways of communications outside their family circles and communities. The core values they are taught and the emphasis on the behavioral patterns to follow may not be completely replaced by the school system and culture. I believe that, the survival instinct of children kicks in and children from both towns now that in order to function in society, they must to comply with the different views proposed or imposed upon them. For a period or indefinitely, these views may be adopted in parallel to theirs. The children may also may blend them to different extend, thus, becoming an integrated person in the society.
In the June Jordan reading, the analysis the students undertake to understand their way of communicating takes them on a self discovery about the use of “their” language and the effect it has on society. The teacher helps them see and recognize that the African American way of communicating has its “own” standard. The fact that the student did not recognize themselves in the Color Purple seems to demonstrate that somewhere there is a feeling of not belonging to the larger, dominant, white culture. It is only by understanding and acknowledging their own culture that Ebonics could have a chance to be recognized and understood (respected even) by all.
Jennifer Lee’s article, gives us a strong example of a change of shift in language use. We are witnessing a dramatic change through technology. This shift separates the teenager from the adult or older people as nothing did in the past. Older people who do not have access to this computer technologies can not relate to the younger generations. The gap that this created may take us in new directions and socially, economically, & politically. This short hand or text message will make contacting people from all over the world have a sense of belonging, thus extending boundaries. I may just be far off. Just a though
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This story reminds me of the movie "Blood Diamond" in which the African communist leaders force African villagers to mine diamonds day in and day out and steal the children from their parents and force them to become children soldiers. The children are trained through a series of false "language use" to brain wash them to think that they are part of a life that is non existent and were raised in villages that were to be exterminated and they were stolen from their leaderhood of brothers to now be rejoined together and soldiers and kill their own parents. This example is extreme compared to the story but it reminded me of that movie when the children did not recognize or see themselves as a minority compared to the white culture and were completely obliviouse to the fact that they were looked at as so much different than the outside world. The outside world that we all live in.
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