Response to "How to Tame a Wild Tonuge"

"From kids and people my own age I picked up Pachuco.  Pachuco (the language of the zoot suiter) is a language of rebellion, both against Standard Spanish and Standard English.  It is a secret language.  Adults of the culture and outsiders cannot understand it" (Anzadula 2949).

I speak slang.  I embrace it.  It is a coded, homey-language that just feels good when I speak it.  It's a part of my culture, like I "rock" slang.  Sometimes, people from the dominant culture turn their noses up when they hear me say, "Yo, it is cold as hell" or "I can't wait to get home to dawg that food cuz I'm hungry as hell."  That's how I feel.  I can just as easily code-switch by saying its standard equivalent but why?  Changing who I am is like asking me to change my identity.  I won't.  Slang is especially cozy within my community when I speak to my best friend, but then when I come to work, I have to switch to Standard American English.  Sometimes the words feel like marbles in my mouth.  But I use them.  I "spit" these marbles onto paper or use them when I speak to colleagues.

 Truth be told though, I stand with Anzadula.  I appreciate her determination to speak Pachuco or Chicano Spanish; these language variants identify her much like slang identifies a part of me.  Slang is a coded language, much like Pachuco, that can only be understood by its members.  That's one of the reasons I like it.  Many adults cannot understand it as the language changes frequently.  What once was "hot" may now be "whack".

Much like Anzadula many basic writing students, though not limited to only this population, feel very strongly about their language.  Oftentimes, the way basic writers speak is how they'll write. They are mixed breeds living in both an academic world and home culture, living in either presents challenges to them.  How can we teach them to embrace both of their identities?  On my quest to understanding basic writers, I've learned making editorial comments on their first draft about language use, has disastrous consequences.

While students have a right to own their language, teachers bear the responsibility of teaching them how to write in a language that's clear to all readers, namely Standard American English.  However, many basic writers come to school with a deficit in their writing.  What do we do then?  Do we encourage them to use their home language in their writing where only a privileged view understand their coded words?  Do we provide them the opportunity to translate these emotive drafts into Standard American English? Do we recognize like Anzadula so proudly proclaims that we hurt them when we talk about their language?  Where do we draw the line?  How do we best help our students while helping them stay true to their language, writing, and identity?  These are the questions I wrestle with while on my quest to understanding both the basic writer and basic writing.

Is this student featured in this clip a Chicana basic writer?  How should I encourage her to embrace both her Mexican-American, Chicana and American identity in her writing? I find it interesting that she chooses to speak Spanish while her words are translated into English.  Anzaldua does the same in How to Tame a Wild Tongue.  She writes parts of her story in Spanish and boldly proclaims, "...as long as I have to accommodate the English speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate" (2951).  I wonder if this Chicana student feels the same.

Another question I ask myself is how can I get my students to "sing" in their writing?  In this clip, Anna Deveare-Smith talks about her experience interviewing various persons.  She asks participants three questions central to her study. She reveals that when participants are asked questions that elicit an emotional response, there is music in their voice. I choose to connect the music of Chicana words (identity) to Deveare-Smith's project. 
Chicana Spanish is used in comfortable settings and musicality of the voice (Deveare-Smith) is used when participants connect to the subject matter.  Watch as she explains: .

Hmmmmmm, how can I evoke music in my students' writing?  The quest never ends.