Pervasive Dialectal Perceptions in Education Contributing to Language Dedialectalization: Appalachian, a Case Study a Dissertati

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Pervasive Dialectal Perceptions in Education Contributing to Language Dedialectalization: Appalachian, a Case Study

A Dissertation

Presented to

The Faculty of the Education Department

Carson-Newman University in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements of the Degree

Doctorate of Education

Nola Carrie Queen Isobe

May 2016

Committee: Dr. Deborah Hayes, Dr. Mark Brock, and Dr. Patrick M. Taylor (Advisor)

Copyrighted

Nola Carrie Queen Isobe

2016

iii

Abstract

Pervasive Dialectal Perceptions in Education Contributing to Language Dedialectalization: Appalachian a Case Study Nola Carrie Queen Isobe School of Education, Carson Newman College May 2016 Appalachian English is a dialect of American Standard English. It is spoken in much of North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. There is concern that this dialect could follow the path of dedialectalization through cultural unacceptance, generational changes, and saturation of newcomers to the area. Society views speaking proper English, the standard dialect, the route for much of the rural areas inhabitants to take to achieve better jobs and find social acceptance and a successful life. Society’s social view of an uneducated people speaking the Appalachian dialect prompts teachers to change students’ dialect to help them ensure success in school and society at large. Could teachers in fact hold perceptions of students that are accelerating the dedialectalization of the Appalachian dialect? This study will shed some light on the perceptions that educators have in regards to dialects, specifically the Appalachian dialect.

List of Figures and Tables

FIGURE 1: Appalachian Regional Commission Map of Appalachia……………………….. 1

FIGURE 2: Robert Delany Map of American English……………………………………… 140

FIGURE 3: Summary of Dialect Samples Graph………………………………..…………... 141

TABLE 1: Summary of Dialect Samples Chart………………………………………………. 144

TABLE 2: Individual Dialect Sample Results………………………….………………...….. 145

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT...... iv

List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………..… v

Chapter

1. INTRODUCTION………………………………..…………………………………… 1

Research Problem……………………………………………………………………… 5

Purpose of the study…………………………………………………………………… 6

Rationale of the study………………………………………………………………….. 7

Specific need for the study…………………………………………………………….. 8

Research question……………………………………………………………………… 8

The Researcher………………………………………………………………………… 9

Definition of Terms…………………………………………………………………… 12

Chapter Summary…………………………………………………………………….. 13

LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………………... 14

Introduction …………………………………………………………………...... 14

The History…………………………………………………………………………… 15

The Appalachian Dialect in Literature……………………………………………….. 16

The Geographical Area………………………………………………………………. 17

The Culture…………………………………………………………………………... 18

The Language………………………………………………………………………… 20

The Teachers Role…………………………………………………………………… 21

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Languages that Die Include Dialects that Die……………………………………….. 23

Summary……………………………………………………………………………… 23

RESEARCH METHODS……………………………………..…………………….. 25

Description of qualitative research………………………………………………….. 25

Description of specific research approach…………………………………………… 25

Description of the study participants and setting……………………………………... 26

Data collection ……………………………………………………………………….. 26

Sample………………………………………………………………………………... 27

Instrumentation………………………………………………………………………. 27

Pilot Study……………………………………………………………………………. 28

Proposed Data Analysis………………………………………………………………. 28

Trustworthiness/Credibility………………………………………………………….. 28

Transferability………………………………………………………………………... 29

Dependability………………………………………………………………………… 29

Confirmability………………………………………………………………………... 30

Limitations and Delimitations………………………………………………………... 30

Ethical considerations………………………………………………………………… 30

Summary………………………………………………………………………………. 31

2. MANUSCRIPT ONE: BRIDGING THE CULTURAL GAP IN EDUCATION

THROUGH APPALACHIAN MUSIC AND DANCE……………………………….. 32

The Importance of Music Education…………………………………………………... 33

Appalachian Folk Music and Dance…………………………………………………... 34

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Appalachian Music Time Periods……………………………………………………... 35

Appalachian Music History and Styles………………………………………………... 36

Appalachian Instruments……………………………………………………………… 38

Dance Philosophy……………………………………………………………………... 39

Importance of Dance Instruction……………………………………………………… 40

Appalachian Folk Dance………………………………………………………………. 41

Buck Dancing………………………………………………………………………….. 41

Flat Footing……………………………………………………………………………. 42

Clogging……………………………………………………………………………….. 42

Teacher’s Role…………………………………………………………..…………….. 44

Conclusion…………………………………………………………….………………. 45

References………………………………………………………..…………………… 46

Article Submission Guidelines for Chapter 2…………………………………………. 50

3. MANUSCRIPT TWO: BRIDGING THE CULTURAL GAP IN EDUCATION

THROUGH APPALACHIAN ORAL STORYTELLING……………………………. 52

Storytelling………………………………………………………………………….…. 52

Types of Storytelling……………………………………………………………...…… 53

Benefits of Storytelling…………………………………………………………..……. 56

Read Aloud vs. Storytelling…………………………………………………………… 56

Oral Storytelling through Songs and Ballads………………………………………….. 57

Storytelling in the Classroom………………………………………………………….. 58

Teachers Role in Storytelling………………………………………………………….. 61

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….. 62

References…………………………………………………………………………….. 63

Article Submission Guidelines for Chapter 3……………………………...………….. 66

4. MANUSCRIPT THREE: BRIDGING THE EDUCATIONAL GAP THROUGH

DIALECT DIVERSITY APPRECIATION: APPALACHIAN A CASE

STUDY…………………………...…………………………………………………… 69

Looking Through My Personal Lens…………………………………………………. 69

Linguistic Premises…………………………………………………...……………….. 70

Social Class and Linguistic Prestige…………………………………..………………. 71

Weak Ties Theory…………………………………………………………….………. 71

Regional, Social, and Local Dialects………………………………………………….. 72

The Study………………………………………………………………………...……. 73

Results of the Study…………………………………………………………...………. 75

Appendix Charts……………………………………………………………………… 78

Discussion……………………………………………………………………………... 85

Code Switching………………………………………………………………..………. 85

Code Switching in Appalachia…………………………………………………...……. 86

Loss of a Dialect………………………………………………………………...…….. 86

Restoring the Appalachian Dialect………………………………………….………… 87

Classroom Implementation………………………………………………...………….. 90

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….. 90

References……………………………………………………………….…………….. 91

Article Submission Guidelines for Chapter 4…………………………….…………… 94

5. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………….…………….. 99

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………. 99

Summary of Chapters…………………………………………………………………. 99

The Study…………………………………………………………………………….. 102

Importance of the Study……………………………………………………………... 102

Implications…………………………………………………………………………… 103

Recommendations for Further Study…………………………………………………. 103

Limitations of the Study………………………………………………………………. 103

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………… 104

REFERENCES…………….………………………………....………………………………. 105

APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………………….. 120

APPENDIX A: Letter to Director of Schools……………………………………….. 120

APPENDIX A-1: IRB Request……………………………………………………… 121

APPENDIX A-2: Proposal Defense Approval………………………………………. 122

APPENDIX B: Letter to Teachers Requesting Volunteers………………………….. 123

APPENDIX C: Informed Consent Form…………………………………………….. 124

APPENDIX D: Focus Group Questions……………………………………………... 128

APPENDIX E: Interview Questions…………………………………………………. 132

APPENDIX F: Questionnaire………………………………………………………... 136

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Introduction/Background of the Study

Appalachia is a topographical area that spreads over Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia,

West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania (Bergeron, 1999). The language/dialect spoken in this area is Appalachian English. Language is defined as any one of the systems of human language that are used and understood by a particular group of people (Merriam Webster, 2015).

Dialect is a form of a language that is spoken in a particular area using some of its own words, grammar, and pronunciations. In literature Appalachian English is referred to as both a language and a dialect because it has attributes of both.

In Appalachia and surrounding areas there is social pressure to stop speaking the

Appalachian dialect and to teach children a more standard form of English (Clark & Hayward,

2013). In part this is due to the social pressure that the children face when immersed into public education. Typically the morphology and syntax will change in public school, but the phonology will not. This is the path that a language travels as it dies. There are four types of language death, sudden, radical, gradual, and bottom-to-top death (Brenzinger, 1992). Gradual death happens when there is a gradual shift to the more dominant language in language contact situations. When languages die, everyone suffers a loss of a part of a great culture. In order to understand a better way to preserve a dialect through education and acceptance, we will take a look at the pervasive perceptions that teachers hold of dialects. One such dialect is the Appalachian dialect. The teacher’s role, the history of the language, geographical area, the embedded culture, and how languages die will also be discussed. This in turn may show the perceptions of the Appalachian dialect.

Languages and dialects are complex in nature and evolve with time to meet the needs of its users (Birner, 2012). One such language that is not immune to this characteristic of language is Appalachian English. In 2015 there were 318.9 million people in the United States (United

States Census Bureau, 2015). Of that number roughly 9 million speak the Appalachian dialect

(Garn-Nunn, 1999). This shows the language as a minority. During 1990-2000 Appalachia showed a loss of population due to people moving out of the mountains to attain work and survive (United States Census Bureau, 2015). Through a loss of numbers in terms of native born speakers and generational changes, the numbers of speakers is diminishing. This can be

compared to the Cromarty dialect in northern Scotland. The last speaker of this dialect was

Bobby Hogg, from a small remote fishing town. After Hogg’s death at age 92 in 2012, all that is left of the Cromarty culture and language is a few sound clips (Hamilton, 2012). Other languages have suffered the same fate. The dialect of Brule in Spanish is such an example. Could the

Appalachian dialect be headed for extinction as well?

I was born in rural Appalachia, and I speak the Appalachian dialect. Upon entering kindergarten I was told that my language was unacceptable, and I began training to code switch from school talk to home talk. As an adult I viewed the Appalachian dialect as socially unacceptable, which prompted me to neglect teaching my own child my native dialect. Thus, one more speaker is lost. Many languages around the world have suffered through language death. It is possible that the Appalachian English dialect is on that path to death. Among the causes that contribute to the demise is school social unacceptability. In 2013 I traveled to an Island between

Ireland and Scotland where a language known as Manx was spoken. This language once spoken by Vikings is dead. There is a recent resurgence to teach this language. Local schools were the first to initiate the resurgence through promoting the language as a positive attribute of their island. The social acceptance of the language as one of reverence was a complete change from the perception that caused the language to die out. I envied the cultural pride of those learning the dead dialect. I wish that Appalachian English could have the same pride exhibited by all.

This would stop the ridicule that some students feel from peer pressures to abandon their native

Appalachian tongue in favor of a more standardized form.

I visited the Isle of Man to study the Manx language and culture at the Manx Museum in

Douglas, Isle of Man in 2013. During my stay on the island, I learned of their language that had completely disappeared. The Manx language was seen as backwards and connected to poverty

(Whitehead, 2015). The native speakers dwindled. To define a dead language one must understand the terms to make a distinction between them. A living language is a language that children are acquiring as their native language (Montgomery-Anderson, 2008). An endangered/dying language is a language that children are no longer acquiring as their native language. An extinct or dead language no longer has any native speakers. Due to the Manx language status, the people were not teaching it to their children. In 2009, the Manx language was declared dead (Whitehead, 2015). Fortunately, the locals decided to embrace their culture, and resurrect the Manx language. Campaigns were put in place to raise awareness of the languages importance to the community, and its cultural pride. In September of 1992, the Manx government in conjunction with the Department of Education, as part of government policy, introduced the Manx language into schools (Isle of Man Government, 2015). Unfortunately, it is difficult to bring it back to its former glory. Nuances of the language are lost forever

(Montgomery-Anderson, 2008).

When a language dialect has fewer speakers in a school setting, the parents are more likely to be disconnected from the school. Parents are unaware of school events, because their children choose not to include the parents due to peer pressure (McCormick, 1992).

Statement of the Research Problem

Appalachian English speakers are decreasing. Students are singled out in public school and seen as uneducated. This leads to children losing their native dialect in favor of adopting a more standard form of English to gain societal acceptance. This generation of code switching speakers then chooses not to teach the less accepted dialect to their children in favor of promoting the more socially acceptable Standard form. This creates the path to dialect death or dedialectialization. What perceptions do public school teachers have of the Appalachian dialect.

Organizing Theoretical/Conceptual Framework

This topic lends itself to the Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT). This theory was developed by Howard Giles, a professor of Communication at the University of California,

Santa Barbara. This theory argues that when people interact they adjust their speech, vocal patterns, and gestures to accommodate others. Giles formed this theory based on two other existing theories, the speech accommodation theory and the social psychology and social identity theory. There are underlying assumptions of the theory. One is that speakers bring their past experiences into conversations. Another assumption is that people perceive and evaluate conversation. An additional assumption is that language and behaviors are indicators of social status and group belongings. The last assumption is that social appropriateness and norms guide the conversation process. Convergent and divergent are two strategies discussed in the theory.

Convergent is when a person changes their speech to match another in order to be socially accepted. Divergent is when one sets themselves apart in a separate group by not changing their speech pattern (Flemming, 2015). Practical research will be conducted through surveys, action

research, and a review of existing literature from a Linguistic viewpoint. The theory for the framework of this study is that teachers may have pervasive perceptions of students based on their dialectal differences. When child speakers of the dialect mature into adulthood and have interventions in schools, they alter their dialect or drop it altogether during school hours. As time passes these now adults see the social stigmas attached to their native tongue, and they stop using the vocabulary associated with the dialect to conform to mainstream acceptability.

Purpose of the Study

If someone finds a relic would they throw it away or treasure it? (A Mountain Legacy,

1996). The purpose of this study is to determine what preconceived perceptions teachers may have of students based on their dialect. Through using Appalachian English as a subject of study, we may understand some misconceptions about language and learn how humans draw conclusions based on vocal dialectical patterns. Standard English is the only English that is socially accepted in public schools. This is leading to language death of the Appalachian dialect.

When a language dies, the culture of the people dies with it. Vann, (2004) states: “To put linguistic patterns into perspective, you might note that today there are eighteen language families around the world that have at least five million speakers. All but four European languages belong to the Indo-European language family.” Additionally, the Indo-European language family can be divided into nine language branches. Within the Indo-European branch is

Celtic. Language branches can further be divided into groups. Celtic is divided into Goidelic

(Gaelic) and Brythonic. It is from this branch that a great portion, not the entirety, of the

Appalachian dialects vocabulary is derived. The Standard English dialect is adopted from the

West Saxon region of Southern England. The Appalachian dialect was carried by immigrants from the Scottish Lowlands and Northern England. Appalachian shows influences from Scottish,

Irish, Welsh, German, English, and French (Vann, 2004). Instead of Appalachian being viewed as an uneducated language, it should be termed archaic. Appalachian was once the main dialect of highly sophisticated historical figures (Chapman, 2009). Many of the expressions heard throughout Appalachia today can be found in centuries-old works by authors like Alfred,

Chaucer, Shakespeare, and the men who contributed to the King James Version of the Bible

(Dial, 1969). This is the reason the language needs to be respected and preserved as a welcomed and appreciated part of the English language. The purpose of the study is to determine what perceptions public school teachers have of the Appalachian dialect.

Significance/Rationale of the Study

This study will contribute to the current body of research through providing a forum to openly discuss pervasive perceptions, the Appalachian language dialect, the culture that is intertwined, and its failure to thrive under the social pressures of Standard English that is propagated in public schools. There is research on perceptions of people that are connected to their speech variations. However, there is not a vast array of research on the topic of the

Appalachian dialect dying or its connection to a teacher’s perception. This gives reason to research and document the information that is available on the topic. The study will also render some data from public schools leading to further investigation of the topic.

Research is needed because if action is not taken now while the language has many speakers, the possibility of its death is imminent. Perhaps it is possible to identify one contributing aspect to

stigmas connected to dialects. Changing the perceptions of the dialect could allow the language to flourish once again. According to linguists perhaps as many as fifty percent of the world’s languages will exist only in archives and on recordings by the end of this century. Nearly thirty language families have already disappeared since 1960. If the historical rate of loss is averaged, a language dies about every four months” (Thurman, 2015). One would like to think that the language will in fact live forever, but this is not the case. Appalachian English is highly susceptible to dialect death because it is an inferior dialect with fewer speakers than other dialects.

Specific Need for the Study

There is information available in regards to the social acceptance of black vernacular; however, researching on the same issue with other dialects proves to be a challenge as little information exists. Articles and information concerning the social acceptance of the Appalachian dialect is limited. This forms a basis for a need to study this area. Recently a spotlight has been shone on the Appalachian dialect’s unique differences in relation to Standard English and in an effort to reach students where they are in terms of needs. This indicates that there is a resurging interest in the topic (Drew, 2015).Through the renewed interest in the topic along with emerging data that can be shared and a better understanding of an important part of American culture and history can be preserved for future generations and put an end to the hillbilly stigma.

Research Questions/Hypotheses

Are public school teachers unwittingly contributing to the death of the Appalachian dialect? The data will show that teachers only use the Standard form of English in the classroom,

thus promoting the use of Standard English only. My research will find evidence to support that there are fewer and fewer fluid speakers every year due to social pressures to conform to social norms of speech. The prediction is that the overwhelming number of teachers will validate the use of Standard English in the classroom. Furthermore, they will be able to identify the

Appalachian dialect in both verbal and written form, correct it to Standard form, and explain the bias toward its use being one of uneducated in the societal context. Different attitudes toward stigmas of dialects may be found. Questions to consider and answer through surveys and focus groups to support the main topic are…

What are teachers’ pervasive perceptions of Appalachian language speakers?

Will teachers view Appalachian speakers as having an educational deficit?

The Researcher

I was born and raised on a salt of the earth farm in Appalachia, speaking the Appalachian dialect. Neither of my parents progressed past sixth grade in school due to the need to work on the farm. My two older siblings were, at the time, failing in school. Upon entering kindergarten, I was labeled as a potential risk for drop out. My kindergarten teacher taught me that there are many ways to converse. One way was Standard English and another way was Appalachian

English. My understanding of the word poke was in reference to a brown paper bag. I learned that a poke was also when one sticks ones finger in another’s side. Additionally, I learned that it is not necessary to place an a- before verbs. An example is a-fixin, as in I am a-fixin to go to the garden. This newfound knowledge allowed me to acquire a new skill of code switching. At home

I spoke the pure Appalachian dialect, but while at school, I spoke only Standard English.

Eventually, as I perfected my abilities, language became something that I excelled at. School was not as difficult for me as it was for my siblings. Both siblings dropped out of school the day they turned sixteen. For various reasons, I broke through the barrier that blocked my siblings from reaching their potential. I gained an educational foothold, and I just kept climbing. At age forty- something, I am still climbing, but I now realize that I lost a priceless, irreplaceable part of myself. I was forced into the task of becoming two different people every day. Teaching me to lead a double life worked, but it was very challenging for me. I wonder about that first day of school. What were the teacher’s perceptions of me? A poor, dirty, barefoot child from

Appalachian surely made an impact on them and, fostered preconceived notions of my capabilities. It was not until high school that I discovered that I was labeled as a “drop out risk.”

I saw those words written on my permanent file as the counselor and I discussed my potential for college. I assumed that everyone had individual appointments to discuss their futures. I was wrong, and I realized in that moment that I was different. I was deeply offended by the label. I never gave the school staff personal reasons to place me in that program as my grades were perfect and my efforts were high. I had battled the stigma of being from an uneducated family. I was forced to prove over and over that I was not a replica of my family’s bad choices. Nor was I an uneducated hick from the Appalachian farm. For a short period of time, I gave up on education as the key to success. I saw it as a false front for labeling people and categorizing them. I learned to suppress being Appalachian for the majority of my days, and as a result I began to lose a piece of who I truly was. Throughout my years as an adult, I have come to appreciate the many things that Appalachia taught me. I learned that being Appalachian is not a

bad thing. In fact being from such a deep culture shaped me into the person that I am. My high ethics and hardworking characteristics were necessary to survive, and have served me bountifully thus far. The language is as rich and colorful as the people that speak it. I finally found the desire to go in search of my Appalachian roots.

In the Linguistics program at the University of Tennessee, I learned about language death. This sparked the question of its relation to the Appalachian dialect. I dove into finding out more about my relation to Scotland and Ireland and the language patterns that I first saw as nasty and negative now seemed mystical and grand. I saw the importance of my historical language.

Then I began to think that I did not teach Appalachian words or speech patterns to my daughter. I taught her only the Standard English form. This is propagating language death. My daughter is one less speaker. This prompted the thought that I know that I cannot be the only child that was taught to code switch. How many others were taught that their language and culture were sub- par, creating a path to language death for a colorful intriguing dialect? As the speakers age, the language changes and speakers are lost. Perhaps someday my native dialect will cease to exist except in textbooks as mountain speech. I think this would be a very sad way to remember the people of Appalachia that were instrumental in paving a way for many great things to happen.

Preservation of language interests me; therefore I would like to start with the one that I am closely connected to.

Definition of Terms

Perceptions. The dictionary defines perception as “the way you think about or understand someone or something” (Merriam-Webster, 2015). In this paper, the term perception is used to mean the way a person thinks about other people and those persons’ dialects.

Appalachian. The dictionary defines Appalachian as “a native or resident of the Appalachian area.”(Merriam-Webster, 2015). In this paper, the term Appalachian is used to mean a native of the Appalachian area as well as the dialect spoken within the region.

Isolation. The dictionary defines isolation as “the state of being in a place or situation that is separate from others: the condition of being isolated and the act of separating something from other things: the act of isolating something” (Merriam-Webster, 2015). In this paper the term isolation is used to mean being separated from others

Dedialectalization. The term dedialectalization is being used to mean the process by which a dialect is lost.

Dialect. The dictionary defines dialect as “A form of language that is spoken in a particular area and uses some of its own words, grammar, and pronunciations” Merriam-Webster, 2015). In this paper it is being used to mean one or more forms of a language that are native and spoken in the

Appalachian area.

Summary

In summary, the Appalachian language and culture is a valuable part of American history. This history needs to be protected for future generations. A part of that culture is shared through its unique and colorful language. It is a language that is silently slipping away due to

social unacceptance. Speakers are opting to learn the Standard form and pass that form on to their offspring. Dedialectalization is a problem with a solution. With awareness of the eminent future of the language, everyone can gain an appreciation for the values that the language brings to us. We can work to change the perceptions that society has of the speakers of Appalachian

English.

Review of the Literature

Introduction

Appalachia is a part of each and every person’s soul that lives there. Appalachia is rich in culture and language. Appalachia is an encyclopedia to the past. It is a gateway view into what many only get to read about in history books. Growing up on a farm, in the holler, in a four room house, with only cold running water in the kitchen was typical of the families in the area.

The only bathroom was an outhouse positioned far from the house. A wood stove provided heat, cooking capabilities, and communal gathering spot. Baths in a small tub and sharing a bedroom with many close relatives and cousins was normal. Learning to appreciate the values that the land provided and learning work ethic at the back of a hoe was commonplace for children. This is how one can see, taste, feel, hear and remember Appalachia. When someone has been removed from their homeland for a while, it is common to note that hearing others speak Appalachian warms their soul. Often language deficits are not discovered until a child begins school. This could be due to the lack of funds to get assistance. Language differences observed by age three affects the child’s literacy and overall success rate in school (Johnson, 2009). There are definite disparities in the number of words spoken by professional, working class, and children in poverty. Upon entering school is when a child might learn humiliation and shame connected with being from Appalachia. One example is when a child showed up to school barefoot, in boy’s clothes many sizes too big, and unable to utter a single word. This child was selectively mute, ravaged by poverty, and deficient in language. The child learned to speak rather quickly in school. This is when the teacher heard the child’s ghastly twang and sought to help fix it quick

before this child suffered the same fate of academic failure as her two older siblings. Children can learn to code switch between Mountain Speech and Standard English when taught at an early age. It is important that teachers use their superpowers to teach these children to be proud of being Appalachian.

Many believe that the language spoken in Appalachia is due to a lack of education

(Wolfram, 2000). This is an untrue misinterpretation of a wonderful language and culture of a people that were able to maintain their dialect and pass their culture to their youth. The language is a dialect that was isolated by the mountains rough terrain allowing it the ability to maintain the original English, Scots, Irish, Germanic blend. Language is more than just the words we say, it is a culture of a group of people expressed through a dialect of language. It is important to look at history to determine how a language was formed and to study the root language culture to see what aspects of culture and cultural views affect the language. Peoples’ intelligence, capability, and character are often judged on the basis of a sentence, a few phrases, or even a single word

(Wolfram, 2000). It is my thoughts that Appalachian language dialect is dying. Because it is culturally seen as inferior to Standard English, children are feeling the pressure to hide it as a part of their identity (Chapman, 2009). It is important to understand where the Appalachian dialect came from to perhaps find where the mindset of uneducated might have started by looking at history, culture, and linguistic identity of a language dialect group called Appalachian.

The History

Appalachia covers the region of North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia,

Virginia, and stretches through Pennsylvania. In Biggers book, The United States of Appalachia,

he discusses how the Southern mountaineers brought independence, culture, and enlightenment to America. Biggers (2006) explains some of the first’s accomplishments of the Appalachians in the New World. He further explains how at one point the author of Rip Van Winkle wrote a letter stating his belief that the United States needed to change its name to the United States of

Appalachia, because Appalachia was the great landmark in the New World. His claim is that we are all Appalachians to some degree (Biggers, 2006 ).

The Appalachian Dialect in Literature

One way to learn about language is to read a book authored by someone that is writing in that language. Verna Mae Slone, (1978) writes in the Appalachian dialect in her book, What My

Heart Wants to Tell. She authors the book as a letter to her grandchildren and their descendents in memory of her father. She wants to dispel myths and ensure that his memory will live forever.

Slone says that the outside world formed an idea of what Appalachian people are like through watching popular television shows like the Beverly Hillbillies. People formed images of “gun- totin’, backer-spitting, whiskey drinking, barefooted, foolish hillbillies” (Slone, 1978, pg xii).

She contends that this has hurt the youth of Appalachia. These shows have hurt their pride and dignity and disgraced Appalachia. What My Heart Wants to Tell is full of great true Appalachian language vocabulary and speech patterns as Slone writes as she speaks in the text. The author describes a place that is full of culture and the hardships that the people endured and how hardworking, honest, and God fearing the people of the region are. Slone goes further to discuss the social rules. One such example is that anyone of the community can walk by and eat from another person’s garden. This type of sharing was not viewed as stealing. It was viewed as

helping thy neighbor. Wolfram, (1986) confirms that non-standard variations of English are in fact rule-governed and systematic. They are complex variations that cannot be reduced to simplistic explanations. Speakers of these variations show complex cognitive abilities, thus dispelling the widespread notion that these speakers are simply uneducated.

The Geographical Area

Hicks, (1976) discusses Laurel Valley by taking a picture walk through time back to the

Appalachian Valley and explains some of the social customs, rules, and traditions of the

Appalachian people. Some that are included are family, household, names, and male versus female roles (Hicks, 1976). Teachers play a huge role in helping students master Standard

English to be successful in school.

Appalachia stretches from New England to the Deep South (Bergeron, 1999). The Unake

Mountains (Great Smoky Mountains are included in these) are 10-15 miles wide. The Great

Valley lies just west of these mountains and is 60 miles across at its widest point. The first

Tennesseans were over 12,000 years ago. They were nomadic hunters. Jumping forward in time to 1540 in the spring, the first white man known as Hernando de Soto arrived in Appalachia searching for gold. 106 years later, on July 15, 1673, James Needham and Gabriel Arthur entered the Great Valley of East Tennessee and arrived in Cherokee. The Cherokee were 30,000 strong and lived in 50-80 towns in the Appalachia mountain chains. Needham left but Arthur stayed and learned the Cherokee language. Bergeron covers the Indian treaties, politics, and war. The book also addresses societies, economy, civil rights, and the Depression.

The Culture

Culture is a mother’s gift to her child and the world (Vann, 2004). Southern culture is tied to the British Highlands. Northumbrian is the basis of the Southern Midland speech known as

Appalachian. The establishment of mountain resorts and second residences of non-residents is causing change in the mountain communities. A study was conducted on surnames in Sandy Gap

North Carolina and it was found that 77% of the names were of Celtic decent. Ulster Protestants were forced by land clearances to leave Scotland and take refuge in Ireland. After which, the

Potato Famine further displaced them and forced them to seek new land in the New World in order to survive. These Scots-Irish, upon arrival, had no money to stick around for assimilation to occur. They headed with what they had to the frontier taking all of their culture and language with them fully intact. Most of these spoke Gaelic. The Germanic peoples made up the second largest frontier group of settlers and interacted with Scotts-Irish frequently as neighbors.

Language is one of the connections that linked people. Lowland Scots dialect (Gaelic) had developed from Northumbrian English after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Scotland went through change. The highland Scots were considered the least literate of the Scottish population as they sought little contact with the Anglicized world. The lowland Scots schools were sponsored by churches. In order to read the New King James version of the Bible, many languages in Great Britain were Anglicized. Low Scots spoke English. The highlanders on the other hand did not support the language change and preserved their Celtic dialect. The infamous feud of Hatfield’s and McCoy’s is an example of the retention of the strong clan system that

remained in the culture when they came to the New World. Social Isolation preserved the 17th century language.

Many believe that the language spoken in Appalachia is due to a lack of education. This is an untrue misinterpretation of a wonderful language and culture of a people that were able to maintain their dialect and pass their culture to their youth. The language is a dialect that was isolated by the mountains rough terrain allowing it the ability to maintain the original English,

Scots, Irish, Germanic blend. Language is more than just the words we say, it is a culture of a group of people expressed through a dialect of language. Peoples’ intelligence, capability, and character are often judged on the basis of a sentence, a few phrases, or even a single word

(Wolfram, 2000). It is my thoughts that Appalachian language dialect is dying. Because it is culturally seen as inferior to Standard English, children are feeling the pressure to hide it as a part of their identity (Chapman, 2009). It is important to understand where the Appalachian dialect came from to perhaps find where the mindset of uneducated might have started by looking at history and linguistic identity of a language dialect group called Appalachian.

Often teachers have to follow institutional language teaching policies while at the same time meeting the standardized English acquisition needs of their pupils (Wiley & Lukes, 1996)

(Compton, 2015). The very thing that teachers view as incorrect speech is in fact the grammatical structure of their home language. This misconception leads to stigmatization of the dialect (Christian, 1987) Furthermore when students realize the teacher perceptions of their capabilities, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, in which the student does worse due to lower expectations (Christian, 1987; Compton, 2015). Teachers are not directly responsible for the

stigmatization of non-standard dialectal features (Clark & Hayward, 2013). Negative perceptions are supported by a culture of product oriented pedagogy and quantitative assessment that regards everything but Standardized English as incorrect. However, teachers’ perceptions are a key factor in how they choose to approach students on a daily basis to intervene and provide support in a student’s lexical transition into Standard English.

The Language

There are 18 language families around the world with five million speakers. A small segment of the Indo-European language family will be discussed. There are nine language branches in the Indo-European family. Celtic and Germanic are two of these. These branches can further be divided into groups. Germanic is broken down into the North Germanic group and the West Germanic group. Celtic is composed of two groups called Goidelic (Gaelic) and

Brythonic. These groups are further split into specific languages. The Celtic languages are Irish,

Scots, and Manx Gaelic in the Goidelic group and Breton, Welsh, and Cornish in the Brythonic group. These languages are then broken down into dialects. Dialects are “variations of a language that contain different vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation than the parent language.” (Vann, 2004). The term accent refers to the way words sound when pronounced by the people with different dialects. Vann states that it best by saying “After centuries of time and thousands of miles of diffusion, the natural beauty of their ancient words and sentences piece together like a grand-mother’s quilt, reminding us that life and it’s circumstances have always been, and will forever will be, here” (Vann, 2004). I would like to think that the language will in

fact live forever. Appalachian was once the main dialect of highly sophisticated historical figures

(Chapman, 2009).

From a linguistic point of view, no language or dialect is inherently inferior or superior to another in its potential to communicate effectively. All languages and dialects are rich and expressive in their own ways. In addition, all languages have a set grammatical structure and

Appalachian is no different. Ranking languages is a way of putting them into a sort of social class system. In this system, Appalachian has suffered a social downgrading (Stewart, 1967).

Originally in education, the issue of students speaking in a non-standard dialect was approached with a deficit model in which the hypothesis argues that lower class children learn restricted codes while middle class children learn both restricted and elaborate codes (Bernstine 1971;

Compton, 2015).

The Teachers Role

One example of a teacher that experienced the Appalachian culture from both a student and a teacher perspective is Stuart. Stuart, (1949) stopped school at the age of nine to work in the fields. He later became a teacher at a school about 35 minutes from where he was raised in

Lonesome Valley, Greenwood County. He remarks on the first day of school as seeing many students show up barefoot. He reminisced as the students played games during recess. These were the games that he remembered playing in school. Stuart was a teacher in a one room school.

Stuart, (1949) says that a teacher is immortal. By this he meant that the teacher lives on through the students. He was supposed to see 104 students at the school. Only 35 of the 104 on the census attended school. They were working the farms to help their families earn a living. Some

of those would not be able to attend when the crops were ready for harvest. He talks about the social people that he lived with and taught (Stuart, 1949).

The Teachers Role as Leaders in Battling Language Discrimination

Many Americans know little about their speech and its background (Montgomery, 2006).

All students enter school with an accent of some kind. From Kentucky to Detroit, all students face the same ridicule over their variation of the English language (Wolfram, 2000). Teachers play a key role in helping students learn about their dialect and in turn create a more well- rounded individual with an appreciation of the historical values of not only their language’s dialect, but others dialects as well. Understanding our own dialect and its history can bring appreciation and help in understanding ourselves (Montgomery, 2006). Dialect discrimination is widely accepted and tolerated (Wolfram, 2000). This discrimination only serves to harm the youth and make them ashamed of their cultural identity (Chapman, 2009). One’s intellectual ability is judged based on their use of language. As America becomes a more globally aware place, teachers need to be more flexible and help students become more skilled at communication and more tolerant of other dialects (Ingram, 2009). Standard English is noted by

Ingram (2009) as the accepted manner in which native speakers of a language produce a specific sound or combination of sounds which find some degree of acceptance and favor over space and social distinction.

A study done at the University of Kentucky showed that the perceptions of Appalachian

English can be positively changed when literature from the Appalachian region was incorporated

into the curriculum (Compton, 2015). Pre and post tests confirm the students thoughts had changed.

Languages that Die Include Dialects that Die

According to Linguists, by the end of this century perhaps as many as fifty per cent of the world’s languages will exist only in archives and on recordings. Thurman, (2015) mentions that according to the calculations of the Catalogue of Endangered Languages (ELCat)—a joint effort of linguists at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, and at the University of Eastern Michigan— nearly thirty language families have disappeared since 1960. An average of the historical language loss shows a rate of one language death per every four months (Thurman, 2015).

English is a predominant language and is not in fear of dying. However, a part of the English language called the Appalachian dialect could very well disappear, because it is viewed as less spoken and connected with poverty.

Summary

In Conclusion, it is very hard to change the view of the world. The idea of ‘uneducated’ dates back to Scotland and the divide in the high and Lowland Scots. Those socio-cultural ideas traveled into Appalachia with its people and spread across the land just as the people did. The idea of uneducated was then added to by the misrepresentation of dumb hillbillies in television.

Language is tied to the people. Currently people do not truly appreciate the Appalachian language for its culture and history carrying properties. They will however start to appreciate it when the language is in severe danger of dying in the generations to come. This will be the reality if we don’t change the popular perception of the Appalachian language dialect. A great

part of the American History of English could be in danger of dying out. Quick action could save the Appalachian dialect for future generations to know and appreciate. One factor, perception, could be changed. Teachers are on the forefront of language teaching and therefore play a pivotal role in the preservation of the language. In order to change perceptions, first one must find out what those perceptions are. This paper seeks to do just that.

Methodology

Method/Description of Qualitative Research

The study conducted will be a qualitative study to understand and interpret responses to open ended questions in small focus groups of four to six volunteer teachers. The purpose is to collect open ended responses of participants to identify features, patterns, or themes about the topic. Individual perceptions will be explored at depth through one on one interviews. In addition, questionnaires will be distributed and recollected.

Research Design/Description of Specific Research Approach

To assess if teachers have preconceived perceptions of Appalachian speakers and just what those perceptions are this study will be an empirical study done by collecting data through focus groups, individual interviews and a questionnaire (Eliot & Associates, 2005). This design will allow changes to the questions for the interviews, questionnaire, and focus group questions to meet the evolving needs of the study if that is found to be necessary. The focus group will consist of six to ten homogeneous strangers and a moderator. It will last thirty to forty-five minutes. This focus group will be prompted by predetermined questions numbering fewer than ten. A recorded sound bite of various dialects will be played. The focus group will then be asked to answer a questionnaire about the educational level of the persons on the sound bite and determine if there are any perceptions of educational or social deficits. Participants will then be asked to discuss their thoughts on educational level and deficits of the person on the recording with the whole group. They will be prompted to further explain their reasoning for their answer.

The study will also look at existing data to make comparisons. In addition, an excerpt from

Appalachian speech will be taken.

Participants and Setting for the Study

1. The study will be conducted in schools within the general region of rural Appalachia.

2. The role of the researcher is to find administrators of schools that will allow a survey

to be completed by the teachers.

3. The process by which sample and sample size will be collected is as follows. A cross

section of teachers in different grade levels will be selected to create a group of six to

ten participants in a focus group (Eliot and Associates, 2005). This group will

include teachers in art, music, PE, and other areas as well. It will be an open

discussion with a set guideline of questions relating to the main topic. The focus

group will allow me to look deeper into the thoughts of the participants. It will allow

me to collect a non-bias sampling of responses to analyze.

Data Collection Procedures

A letter will be sent to teachers at schools located in the Appalachian region requesting volunteers for interviews and focus groups (see Appendix B). Interviews will be conducted after school hours. Interviews will be recorded and transcribed. All participants will remain anonymous and pseudonyms will be provided for data reporting.

 Individual Interviews: Participants will be chosen for an individual interview if

they feel that it would be difficult to share their true perceptions in a group

setting. Teachers being interviewed will then be asked to review the transcript that

has been written and validate it. (see Appendix E)

 Focus Groups: Participants will be chosen that will have no trouble sharing their

true perceptions in a small group. The focus group sessions will be recorded so

that a review of material can be conducted for accuracy (Survey Monkey, 2015).

(see Appendix D)

 Questionnaire: Data will be collected by visiting schools and submitting a

questionnaire to the teachers. (see Appendix F)

Sample:

The sample will be from teachers in rural public schools located in the vicinity of the

Appalachian region.

Instrumentation (Surveys, questionnaires, etc.):

One instrument will be a brief questionnaire produced to pass out to school teachers to answer concerning their perceptions of educational deficits of various dialectal groups. The second instrument will be questions to be answered in a small focus group setting. After hearing a Standard English speaker, a native Appalachian speaker, and a black vernacular, news anchor or an inner city dialect (to be decided upon), the teacher will be asked to assess if that student is likely to face any academic deficits or challenges in advancing their academic careers. The third instrument will be an individual interview with open ended questions to allow individuals a chance to answer more in depth their perceptions of dialect.

Pilot Study

First a pilot study will be conducted. The pilot study will consist of a survey to be administered to the faculty of a rural school located in the Appalachian dialect zone (Delaney,

2000). Then a small group will be selected to do a focus study on the topic, and the participants will be asked to suggest improvements of the process. Necessary adjustments will then be made at this point to the questions. Then a selection of schools will occur and a questionnaire will be sent to teachers. Children will not be included in the study to avoid any ethical issues that may label a child for ridicule.

Proposed Data Analysis

Data will be analyzed by audio recording the focus group and interviews. Questionnaires will be collected from the teachers. The data will then be collected and sorted to allow the researcher to analyze and categorize the responses in order to find recurring themes. Then, a focus group review will occur to record responses to the sound bite. The questionnaire related to the sound bite will be collected and the data will be logged to see what correlations might be found in their answers.

Trustworthiness/ Credibility

The triangulation strategy will be utilized to analyze three areas of data (Bryman,

2015).Triangulation is the method of using three approaches in researching a question to enhance confidence and findings. These are individual interviews, focus groups and a questionnaire (Eliot

& Associates, 2005). Confidence will be shown in my study conclusions via cooboration. The instrument, interview questions, will be validated by allowing the participant and researcher to

agree on the responses provided and their accuracy. Participants in the focus groups will then review their transcripts and validate that they are correct.

Transferability

Transferability means that other researchers can apply my results to their own. This will be ensured by transcribing interviews for further review and making data readable. In addition this can be achieved by making sure that the topic and data are valuable additions to the greater body of educational works. Sufficiently thick descriptions of the findings and the process will be written. Adhering to this guideline will allow others to use my works to further their research questions thereby broadening the field into further exploration.

Dependability

All transcriptions will be coded to analyze and find recurring themes and similarities in the data. In the process of coding, the researcher categorizes data and searches for commonalities that provide research answers to the specific research question (Creswell, 2009). Then the data and the transcriptions will be read and organized. Additionally, notations will be made in the margins as the interviews and focus groups proceed. After all transcriptions are complete and all notes are noted. The topics that emerge will be listed as commonalities. These will then become categories. This method will then be repeated to see if the same commonalities emerge

(Creswell, 2009). The last step will be to organize the data in a way that will allow me to interpret the meaning of it.

Confirmability

The Data will be confirmed through repeating the data analysis twice to ensure its correctness. The transcripts are confirmed through the validation of the transcripts by the interviewee after the completion of the transcripts. Additionally, the raw data will be kept for five years in a secure location for access.

Limitations and Delimitations

A delimitation variable in the proposed study is the number of participants in the study. A second delimitation is the number of focus groups and the number of participants in those focus groups. A third delimitation is the number of schools that will be surveyed and the area in which those schools are located.

Two non-controllable factors, limitations, are the teachers’ attitudes toward Appalachian speakers and the teacher’s exposure to pure native Appalachian dialect.

Ethical Considerations

Measures will be taken to ensure that each person’s identity is confidential by only asking for data such as female or male and age on the questionnaire. Numbers will be assigned to participants in the focus groups to be used instead of names. In terms of consent, each person will be asked to sign a release of liability form to participate in the focus group portion of the study (Form Swift, 2014). The survey will be anonymous so a liability form is not needed. A cover sheet stating that no harm will come to the participants will be included. A statement will be typed at the end of the survey for teachers read and check a box if they understand and give their consent for the answers to be used in the study. No harm will come to the subjects as they

are only expressing their opinions on a topic, and they will have the freedom to choose whether or not to participate in the study.

In conclusion, a qualitative approach will be used to assess teacher’s perceptions about the Appalachian dialect through individual interviews, small focus groups, and questionnaires.

This method will allow me to validate and analyze results to find recurring themes in responses assisting me in gaining valuable data about perceptions teachers may possess.

CHAPTER 2: MANUSCRIPT ONE

Bridging the Cultural Gap in Education through Appalachian Music and Dance

Culture is very important. Through culture, children learn what behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable within their societal boundaries (Tremblay, 2012). Students arrive at school from various cultural backgrounds, and teachers should be prepared to embrace their differences in order to enhance their learning experience. A teacher’s knowledge and positive approach to diverse cultures within the classroom will profoundly affect how these young minds view themselves and their peers. The teacher’s acceptance of the differences in language and traditions will be reflected in the students. One of the most effective routes to bridging the cultural gap is through music and dance, the central components of any culture. Unfortunately, this valuable teaching tool is underestimated in our public schools. (Tremblay, 2012). Only 43 percent of all public elementary schools and only 14 percent of middle schools offer dance instruction (Crader,

2016). Due to this deficiency, it important that teachers realize the importance of their roles in breeding acceptance of other cultures through the understanding and learning of dance and music. For example, including dance instruction, such as Appalachian clogging, and instilling an appreciation for Appalachian music, such as ballads, can decrease the cultural gap while improving literacy.

The Importance of Music Education

An education in music prepares students to learn, facilitates academic achievement, and develops the creative capacity for lifelong success (Arts Education Partnership, 2011). Music education provides an opportunity for students to learn to play an instrument, thus enhancing their fine motor skills. This aids in developing those small, acute muscle movements that are used to write and use a computer. Also, learning music prepares the brain for achievement.

Complex math processes are more obtainable to students because the same parts of the brain are being exercised for both music and mathematical activities. Music fosters superior working memory. Working memory is the ability to hold, control, and manipulate information to complete higher order tasks, such as reasoning and problem solving. In addition, music cultivates better thinking skills. This is done by increasing thinking skills, abstract reasoning. This allows students to apply knowledge and visualize solutions. Music education facilitates student academic achievement (Arts Education Partnership, 2011). First, it increases recall and retention of verbal information by developing the region of the brain responsible for verbal memory.

Second, it advances math achievement. Students who study music or play an instrument outscore their non-musical peers on math assessments. Third, it boosts reading and English Language Arts skills. Writing, using information resources, reading and responding, and proofreading skills are areas on testing that show musical students score higher than non-musical peers. Fourth, music studies increases the average SAT scores for college entrance. Music education develops the creative capacity for lifelong learning (Arts Education Partnership, 2011). It sharpens students’

attentiveness, strengthens perseverance, equips students to be creative, and supports better study habits and self-esteem.

Appalachian Folk Music and Dance

Growing up in Appalachia with a banjo on one knee, buck taps on ones feet, and an ear for a mothers crooning of ballads is underappreciated during childhood. It is only when one looks back in adulthood that the gift of a rich culture is truly appreciated. A part of that culture is song and dance. Song and dance allows societies to creatively express themselves while preserving traditions, and pass down valuable information of the past to their lineage. Songs, in this case ballads, are a way to orally pass down traditions in story form. Dance allows for free expression and combined acceptance and understanding. Communities borrow and share and learn things like dance from one another. This bridges a gap to understanding and acceptance of a culture of people unlike one’s own. This gap bridging began in Appalachia in the 18th century, blending the old familiar with the new influences that were encountered in the New World.

The Appalachian Mountains extend 1,500 miles from Maine to Georgia (“Appalachian

Folk Music”, 2016). Immigrants from England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland arrived in

Appalachia in the 18th century, bringing with them the music of their homelands. This came in the form of English ballads, an oral story that was passed down through song, Irish and Scottish reels accompanied by traditional fiddle music, hymns, and African American blues.

Appalachian Music Time Periods

Music is how people express themselves through language. It is a way to tell a story and preserve history. Music played an important role as a cultural ambassador, passing cultural information down to one’s kin. It also served as the chief regional export by sharing the culture with others via radio, recordings, and concerts by touring the Appalachians (Olson, 2016). Two more contemporary genres frequently attributed to Appalachia, are bluegrass and country.

Although traditional ballads and string band music are still performed.

Appalachian music is classified into two time periods, traditional and “old time” from

1900-1930 (McClatchy, 2016). Traditional music includes ballads and dance tunes brought over by Anglo-Celtic immigrants. These ballads were sung unaccompanied and usually by women.

Women were charged with the monotonous and labor-intensive task of managing the entire home; therefore they often lived out their fantasies through these ballads (McClatchy, 2016).

Ballads were usually written to tell about current events, but some recounted historical events and myths.

One area of the country where ballads are still sung and appreciated is in Western North

Carolina (Fussell, 2016). Folk traditions are preserved by mothers singing the ballads to their children (“Appalachian Folk Music”, 2016). One personal account is of a mother singing ballads to a child. The child would cry because of the tone in the mother’s voice, and the meaning behind the lyrics. One ballad in particular tells the story of a drunken man who drives home under the influence and runs off the road, killing his own child. He prayed for God’s forgiveness

as he held his dying child in his arms as she faded away. These ballads are filled with emotion and meaning, and they teach lessons and pass along cultural information to the next generation.

The second time period for music was ‘Old time’ music (Holt, 2016). It is a blend of the traditional, parlor, and vaudeville, African American tunes, and minstrel show tunes (McClatchy,

2016). These minstrel show tunes were the first blending of black and white musical ideas (Holt,

2016). This very important part of music history gets ignored all too often due to its racial themes. Blues, Jazz, and Rock and Roll have all grown from this unique combination of Afro and Anglo American music. These two time periods, traditional and old time music, yielded many timeless cultural collections of music styles.

Appalachian Music History and Styles

The first recording of Appalachian regional music was in 1923 by OKeh Records. Ralph

Peer, a talent scout, held auditions in Atlanta Georgia. In 1925 he scouted a group that called themselves “a bunch of hillbillies’. Peer labeled the band and the term hillbillies to their label.

The success of the band led to the coined term “Hillbilly Music” being applied to Appalachian string band music. Peer ventured on a trip through major Southern cities to collect and scout talent. This yielded recording of blues, ragtime, gospel, ballads, topical songs, and string bands

(Edwards, Ashbury, & Cox, 2006). If anyone would like to experience first-hand the

Appalachian music styles, then the Blue Ridge Music trails of North Carolina will guide you on a trip through history. One can read the history behind the musicians and hear the music of

Appalachia played live (Fussell, 2016). A few of the Appalachian music styles that one might encounter are the blues, protest songs, hillbilly music, and bluegrass.

One style of Appalachian music is the blues. African American blues spread throughout the region in the 20th century (Edwards et al., 2006). This brought harmonic blues notes and sliding tones, and verbal dexterity to Appalachian music. An early form of blues like music was called a call-and-response shout. This style was without harmony and without accompaniment. It was derived from the shout and hollers used in the slave fields. It has evolved into interplay of voice and guitar. Another style was protest songs. In the late 19th century coal mining and its associated labor grievances led to protest songs. There are rich traditions of protest and labor songs in the central and southern Appalachian coalfields (Abramson & Haskell, 2006). From the very beginning of the industrialization period in the coal filled mountains of Eastern Kentucky,

West Virginia, Southwestern Virginia, and Eastern Tennessee, mountain people have used songs to draw attention to and instigate reaction against poor, unsafe, and unfair working conditions and labor practices in the expanding coal mines. These songs played an important role in the struggle to unionize coalfields and tell the miner’s story to the rest of the nation in the 1920’s and

1930’s. They would speak to the continued poverty and forced migration from the mountains of central Appalachia in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Finally, protest songs would lend their power to the struggles for Black Lung compensation in the 1960’s, and the fight against the social and environmental destruction of surface mining in the 1970’s. Today songs of injustice and protest continue to speak to the conditions and struggles of the mountain populations throughout the coalfield region.Yet another style of music born in the Appalachian region is Bluegrass.

Bluegrass, a living tradition, was developed in the 1940’s from old time and country music, when musicians took traditional old-time string band music and jazzed it up with fiery solos, rapid tempos, high harmony signing, and new playing techniques (Chandler, 2011). It is rooted in the Blue Ridge Mountains and in the foothills of Western North Carolina. Standard instrumentation for a bluegrass band includes a five-string resonator banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and stand up bass. The dobro, a resonator guitar played with a slide, is sometimes included. The music includes many styles from "traditional" (early bluegrass from the 1940s and

1950s) to "progressive" (more recent bluegrass which incorporates elements of rock and jazz). It includes a strong tradition of family bands, in which parents hand the music down to their children, and siblings play side by side. Bluegrass is a style of music that continues to expand through the writing of new songs and instrumentals.

Appalachian Instruments

Instruments typically used in Appalachian music are the banjo, American fiddle, fretted dulcimer, and the guitar. The banjo is the most iconic Appalachian instrument. This instrument’s origins are in Africa where it was made from gourds and goatskin (Stone, 2008). It was then brought to the Appalachian region by African American slaves in the 18th century. “With the advent of metal, the instrument went through the Industrial Revolution”(Stone, 2008) and became the instrument you see today. It was made popular through the controversial blackface minstrelsy by white performers.

Other instruments played in Appalachia are the guitar, mandolin, and autoharp. These instruments became popular in the 20th century (Conway, 2011). Another instrument is the dulcimer (Long, 2016). The dulcimer is also known as “the Appalachian dulcimer, lap dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, Kentucky dulcimer” (Long, 2016). The dulcimer's is a “narrow fret board attached to a larger sound box underneath with many localized variants in design and construction” (Long, 2016). This instrument came to Appalachia by way of Southwest

Pennsylvania and Northwest Virginia in the 19th century. In the early 20th century, settlement schools in Kentucky taught the fretted dulcimer, thereby spreading its popularity. “Easily constructed by hand, dulcimers appear to have been made by isolated individuals, although several pockets of family tradition arose, notably the Hicks of North Carolina, and the Melton’s of Galax, Virginia. These two makers are known to have marketed their dulcimers and they are probably largely responsible for the instrument's dissemination within Appalachia”(Long, 2016).

Dance Philosophy

One theory is that dance is basic to learning (NDEO, 2016). Children learn through experiencing. One style of learning that benefits from this is the kinesthetic learner. John Piaget,

(1896-1980), a cognitive theorist brought kinesthetic learning to the forefront. This theory proposes that we learn by doing and experiencing. Dance gives the learner a chance to learn through experience and by doing an activity.

Importance of Dance Education

Dance is a natural method for learning and a basic form of cultural expression (NDEO,

2016). It also helps children mature physically, emotionally, socially, and cognitively. Dance plays an important role in increasing mental ability and high grades (Crader, 2016). It is widely accepted that dance improves physical fitness, but only in recent years has the mental fitness attributes been recognized (NDEO, 2016). In addition, improves physical development through range of motion, coordination, strength, and endurance. Children are naturally active, but dance offers them a chance to creatively expand their skill set. Dance promotes psychological health and maturity by allowing the child to express their emotions. Furthermore, it promotes social awareness through the chance to meet others, interact with them socially, and cooperate with them. Dance promotes cognitive development through cognitive generalization, where one learned skill in one area expands to skills in many other areas (Crader, 2016). Additionally, it stimulates mental alertness and promotes learning important skills like how to pick up on new ideas quickly, to pay attention to detail, and how to focus on a task at hand. In addition, dance helps children develop literacy (NDEO, 2016). To the young child, language and movement are intertwined. Movement expression does not disappear when language is acquired. Being literate means taking movement and transitioning the meaning of movement expression and communication into words. Teaching cultural dances that will link to the child’s heritage will only deepen the learning and make it meaningful.

Appalachian Folk Dance

Songs in Appalachia were accompanied by dances such as reels, waltzes, and other old- world dances (Olson, 2016). Other styles of dance that were very popular in Appalachia were clogging, flat footing, and square dancing. Clogging was also called jigging, buck dancing, flat footing, and back stepping (Driggs, 2016). Many articles lump all Appalachian dances into one dance, when actually they are separate styles.

Buck dancing

One influence on dance was African American buck dancing. Buck dancing is a folk dance which originated from African Americans during the era of slavery. The original buck dance or “buck and wing” referred to a specific step performed by just one dancer (Baker, 2006).

In this dance the arms hang loosely at the dancers sides. Unlike clogging, in buck stepping the feet stay close to the ground (Tabler, 2012). Buck dancing has bent leg thrusts and the weight is held on the ball of the foot (Pershing, 2016). Buck dancing was done by minstrel and vaudeville performers in the 19th century portraying African-American males called ‘bucks’ (Watson,

2016). This term ‘bucks’ came from the West Indies where Africans used the word ‘po’ buckorau (buckaneer). Ship captains would have the slaves dance to keep up morale and exercise them. It came to be known as dancing the slaves. “Buck and wing”. The wing is shaking the foot in the air. Buck dancing is done in a small area of space. The Indians had a dance called buck dancing where they would dress in a buck skin (deerskin) and do a ceremonial dance.

Flat Footing

A second style of Appalachian dance is flat footing. In flat footing, the feet are kept close to the floor. Noise is kept to a minimum. This style is a how low can you go style. It eliminates the long claps of clogging and the bent knee thrust of buck dancing. The lighter one is on their feet, the better. The arms are raised to the waist and they bob up and down like a marionette being mastered by a puppeteer. It is a relaxed body posture (Henion, 2011). One example of a flat footer was Robert Dotson. Dotson was the best flat footer living unbeaten until his death at the age of 91 in Sugar Grove, North Carolina. Twenty five years before his death a group came to his home from New York and stayed to learn flat footing from the best. This group became

Footworks, a nationally recognized percussive dance company.

Clogging

A third style of Appalachian dance is clogging. Clogging is an expressive style of

American dance with origins in the folk dances of the British Isles, Africa, and pre-Columbian

America. Settlers in the American South took elements of these styles to form a unique

American dance style, Appalachian clog dancing (Tabler, 2012). Clogging is a folk dance in which the dancer’s footwear is used by percussively striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor and each other to create audible rhythms (McClancey, 2016) Clogging is a dance done in time with the music, usually to the downbeat, with the heel keeping rhythm. Clogging has become the melting pot of dance being influenced by cultures ranging from Cherokee Indians to

African American slaves (Driggs, 2016).

The clog was brought by eighteenth century Scottish and Irish settlers. The characteristic of the clog is a very erect upper body. One influence on clogging was gifted by the Native

Americans. This is the toe heel, toe-heel movement. In clogging the basic step is a double toe shuffle. The leg is generally a little over six inches off the ground when clogging (Tabler, 2012).

Clogging was the first form of street dance (McClancey, 2016). As Americans became more mobile with roads and highways, there were more opportunities for dancers to travel from area to area. Clogging grew in popularity (Driggs, 2016). The grandfather of clogging is Bill

Nichols of Fontana Resort in Western North Carolina mountains. By the 1970’s line dancing had evolved (Driggs, 2016).

Team clogging began in the 1920’s in Western North Carolina. The Smoky Mountain

Dancers first performed in Ashville, North Carolina at the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival in

1927. By 1938 it became a competition. The well known Soco Gap Dancers from Maggie Valley performed at the White House. The Queen of England at the time, Queen Elizabeth, was in the audience and remarked on the similarities to dancing in England (McClancey, 2016 ). It originated in the fifteenth century, in Whales and England, with wooden clogs that were in later years replaced with a leather topped shoe and a one piece wooden bottom. By the sixteenth century, a leather shoe with separate wooden pieces called ‘flats’ had evolved. This is where the terms heel and toe and flat footing were derived (McClancey, 2016). These dances are not taught in public schools, however teachers can teach about them. The first time clogging was taught in

school was in the 1930’s at Cheyenne Mountain School (Driggs, 2016). This leads to the question. What can a teacher do?

Teachers Role

Educators need to be trained in how to understand and bridge the cultural orientations of their students (Tremblay, 2012). The teacher is the guide to learning how to coexist peacefully with community members who are different in culture, age, abilities, and spoken language

(Morris & Mims, 2012). Schools have many students from different cultural heritages trying to learn how to work and learn together, while still maintaining their heritage. Morris and Mims postulate four steps to making a classroom culturally sensitive. The first step is to make the classroom climate culturally sensitive. This can be achieved by integrating multiculturalism into the curriculum across all subject areas. Another way is to look for teachable moments to add culture references throughout the daily routine. In addition, classrooms should display visuals of a variety of people and places. One good way to start this process is through a multicultural learning center with books and artifacts from other places. This can be extended to have students bring items related to their heritage to share in the center. The second step is to include the students by choosing high interest topics to engage them. The teacher must be sensitive to the cultural differences and set a good model for the students to turn these experiences into positive learning opportunities for others. Step three is to make a place for English Speakers of Other

Languages. Demonstrate the proper way to welcome these limited speakers into the classroom to help them grow linguistically and socially. Step four is to create a culturally correct literature list.

Teachers should choose books that focus on differences and similarities to be used and included in all areas across the curriculum. Teachers need to keep in mind that every child is special and unique in some way. It is these unique differences that can help bridge the gap to better understanding others heritages.

Conclusion

Bridging the gap in cultural education is a journey into the past that will help to build a bridge that will connect with the future. Teaching dance through clogging, or learning about the history of dance could spark a child’s interest by simply validating their life experience. Playing folk music in the classroom and learning about traditional Appalachian instruments can model for students how to be culturally aware. This in turn will help students learn how to accept others. Students from Appalachian can find a connection in what the teacher is teaching and find value in his or her experiences thus validating who they are as a valued community member.

When a teacher shows students that he or she values a heritage, the student in turn imitates that model, and learns to appreciate that heritage as well.

References

Abramson, R & Haskell J. (2006) ed. Encyclopedia of Appalachia. Knoxville: University of

Tennessee Press 864-865 Folklore and Social Protest, 886 Occupational Folklore, 136-

137 Coal Mining and Protest Music. ASU Spec App Coll F106.E53 2006.

http://collections.library.appstate.edu/research-aids/protest-songs-appalachian-coalfields

Appalachian folk music. (2016). Folk and traditional styles. McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.

publisher: MacMillian/McGraw-Hill. Retrieved from

spotlightonmusic.macmillianmh.com/music/teachers/articles/folk-and-traditional-

styles/Appalachian-folk-music

Arts Education Partnership. (2011). Music matters. How music education helps students learn,

achieve, and succeed. Washington, D.C. ERIC 541070

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED541070.pdf

Baker, B. (2006). Buck dancing. North Carolina Encyclopedia. http://ncpedia.org/buck-dancing

Blues. (2013). New World Encyclopedia, Retrieved from

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Blues&oldid=966965

Chandler, A. (2011). Bluegrass. Blue Ridge national heritage area. JB Media Group. Asheville,

NC. http://www.blueridgeheritage.com/heritage/music/bluegrass

Conway, C. (2011). Banjo. Appalachian State University.

http://www.encyclopediaofappalachia.com/entry.php?rec=32

Crader, K. (2016). How learning dance in school can produce smarter kids. Reno, VA

www.frdance.net/pages/z_pdf/positive-influence.pdf

Driggs, J. A brief history of clog dancing. Double toe times magazine. Retrieved from

www.doubletoe.com/history.htm

Edwards, G., Ashbury, J., Cox, R. (2006). A handbook to Appalachia: An Introduction to the

region. Knoxville, TN, University of Tennessee Press pp. 167-168.

Fussell, Fred. (2016). A rich history: The music of Appalachia: the story of Appalachian music.

Element Advertising. Retrieved from www.blueridgemusicnc.com/about/appalachian-

music

Henion, L (2011). Mountain dancer: Flat footing in Appalachia. Our State Magazine: Creating

North Carolina. Retrieved from https:www.ourstate.com/Robert-

dotson/MountainDancer:FlatfootinginAppalachia

Holt, D. (2016). Roots of mountain music. Retrieved from

https://www.davidholt.com/music/roots-of-mountain-music/

Long, L, (2016) A history of the mountain dulcimer. Retrieved from

http://www.bearmeadow.com/smi/histof.htm

McClatchy, D. (2016) Appalachian traditional music a short history. Grounds Books and Music.

Retrieved from Nativeground.com/Appalachian-tradition-music-a-short-history-by-

debbie-mcclatchy/

Morris, R & Mims,N. (2012). Making classrooms culturally sensitive. Department of

Educational Leadership and Professional Studies State University of West. Education and

Culture Fall 1999 (XVI,1).

http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1436&context=eandc

NDEO, (2016). Philosophy underlying early childhood standards. National Education Dance

Organization. Silver Spring, MD. Retrieved from

http://www.ndeo.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=893257&module_id=55419

Olson, T. (2016). Music was the region’s most effective cultural ambassador, mixing various

ethnic and popular music styles to create unique sounds. Encyclopedia of Appalachia

University of Tennessee Press. Retrieved from

Encyclopediaofappalachia.com/category.php?rec=53

Pershing, R. (2016).Cane Creek Cloggers. Back in time history of clogging. Retrieved from

http://www.canecreekcloggers.com/

Stone, J. (2008). Bringing the banjo from ‘Africa to Appalachia’ . Retrieved from

NPRhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95607716

Tabler, D. (2012). April 20. Appalachian clog dancing. Appalachian history. Retrieved from

www.appalachianhistory.net/2012/04/appalachian-clog-dancing.html

Thompson, M. (2013). Five reasons why people code-switch. National Public Radio. Retrieved

from http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/04/13/177126294/five-reasons-why-

people-code-switch

Tremblay RE, topic ed. Culture: How does culture shape child development. Updated: October

2012. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development [online]. CEECD, SKC-

ECD. URL: www.child-encyclopedia.com/culture Accessed [2/12/16].

Watson, S. (2016). Sonny Watson’s street swing. Retrieved from

www.streetswing.com/histmain/23buckw1.htm

Journal Guidelines for Chapter 2

Appalachian Journal, Appalachian State University

We accept manuscripts from a variety of disciplines, as long as the work focuses on the

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CHAPTER 3: MANUSCRIPT TWO

Bridging the Cultural Gap in Education through Appalachian Oral Story Telling

The word Appalachia means “endless mountain range” in Cherokee. The Indians thought that the Appalachian Mountains went on forever and never ended (Appalachian Culture,

2016).The discovery of the Cumberland Gap led to settling in the Appalachian Mountains

(Smith, 2007). Many of the settlers were illiterate. They relied on oral tradition to pass their stories on to the next generation. Appalachia has its own culture that is authenticated through its arts and crafts, music, foods, customs, traditions, and language (Appalachian Culture, 2016). An inherent part of that culture is storytelling. “Appalachians don’t communicate in dialogue; they communicate in stories, Carden, commented” (Moore, 2011). Storytelling is a great way to bridge the cultural divide between teacher and student (Craig, Hull, Haggart, Crowder, 2001).

“Students learn discourse rules at home. A family’s discourse style defines its vision of the world, and gives children the template for understanding the world around them.” (Craig, 2001).

Therefore, Appalachian speaking students will come to school with a different style of storytelling and interpretation skills. The goal for teachers is to bridge the gap and make learning meaningful to all students in the classroom.

Storytelling

One of the distinguishing features of southern culture is an oratorical aesthetic. This need to be verbally artistic is rooted in two influential Old World source areas for the South’s population: Ireland and Africa. In these areas of the world a community storyteller was well

respected (Burrison, 2013). Storytelling is an art form that uses literary conventions like point of view, plot, style, characterization, setting, and theme (Phillips, 2016). Oral storytelling is an ancient art form, used to communicate news, teach moral principles and tribal law, and explain the origins of life, the universe and all that lies therein (Society for Storytelling, 2010).

Storytelling is also a great source of entertainment. Until the 20th century, these storytellers took the place of novels and history books (Burrison, 2005).

Types of Storytelling

Folklorists divide folk narratives into two main categories, folktales and myths and legends (Burrison, 2013). The first, folktales, are orally transmitted from one generation to the next. It is understood that these are fictitious and used for entertainment value. Some examples are animal tales, old master and john tales, jack tales, jests, and tall tales.

The first type of tale is animal tales. Animal tales are stories with animals that have human characteristics. Usually the author is unknown and there are many versions of the same tale (What are myths, legends, 2006). One example of an animal tale is Brer Rabbit. This is an

African American folktale that evolved among slaves in the 18th and 19th centuries (Cunningham,

2014).

A second form of tale is the Old Master Tales. Also called Master and John stories, they are stories done in a humorous tone (Burrison, 2013). They grant the insiders perspective on slavery and offer the slave a chance to have the upper hand on the master. The principal

character, the master, is usually stupid and the secondary character, the slave, rises up to overcome the powerful opponent. These tales show how a slave viewed their world (Oster,

1968). This is one of the least discussed and yet most significant forms of storytelling. They are humorous stories involving the relationship between a slave, called John and Old Marster, the master. These stories are frequently about the need to beat a sense of inferiority.

A third type of tale is a Jack Tale. These are an English language fairytale about Jack and his experiences of mountain life (Burrison, 2013). “As far back as English- language folktales can be traced, there are stories about Jack.”(Lindahl, 1994). Although the oral tradition of Jack tales faded when written versions began, they remained in tradition. The earliest written versions were written in rhyme. These works written in prose were known as chapbooks. For six centuries

Jack tales were told among men only due to the off-color nature of the tales. Women and children were not allowed to partake in this tradition. It is only in recent history that Jack Tales are marketed to children. Some of the true meaning of the tales has been changed or lost in the translation. One example of this is “Jack and the Beanstalk”. This story underwent many secondary character changes throughout the centuries. This Jack first appeared in an English

Renaissance drama in the 18th century. It was then associated with “Jack and the Giants” in

Thomas Nashe’s Haue with You to Saffron-Waldon (1596). Then it appeared in Shakespeare’s

King Lear (ca.1605). In the 19th century Jack and the Beanstalk was read throughout Britain.

Bits of history were told and connected to these oral stories that came to be written in later years.

“Jack the Giant Killer” in the 19th century contains the earliest surviving biography of King

Arthur, of British legend.” Jack’s ordinary character became a popular hero that many people

across social classes could relate to. As a result, Jack became a common name to use for male characters in stories. Jack and Jill, Jack Sprat, and Jack Horner are a few examples. These forms of Jack Tales spread beyond Britain’s borders into Ireland and Scotland where they called him

Jock or Jake. These oral tales were then brought, through migration, to the United States.

A fourth type of tale is Jests. Jests are tales that serve to provoke laughter. They are the most prevalent type of folktale in Western society today. They are tall tales often inspired by current events (Burrison 2013). Finally, there are tall tales. Tall tales are humorous and rely on absurd exaggeration, but are told with a straight face. Many are from the challenges of the

American frontier (Burrison, 2013).

The second main category that folklorists divide stories into is myths and legends. Myths and legends are belief tales, regarded as true accounts of the past. They serve to support the belief system and they have historical value. Myths are defined as sacred stories supporting a religion. They explain the origin of things (Burrison, 2013). Myths have deep symbolic meaning and are used to explain universal and local beginnings. They contain a spiritual aspect. They have survived because of the power of the meaning that they hold (What are myths, legends,

2006). Legends on the other hand, are true stories that have been passed down through generations (Burrison, 2013). They have important meaning or symbolism for the culture that it originates from (What are myths, legends, 2006). Legends are usually based on historic facts.

They include an element of truth and yet hold mythical qualities. Legends have a heroic character. They also contain a component tied to spiritual beliefs of the originating culture.

Benefits of Storytelling

There are many benefits to learning and using storytelling in the classroom. First, it encourages many interpretations of the core story the teacher is telling (Craig et al., 2001).

Second, it promotes reading comprehension. When combined with questioning and retelling, literal, inferential and critical comprehension can be developed (Mallan, 1991 (as cited in

Phillips, 1999). This is aided by the thought that storytelling also helps students connect to prior knowledge (Craig, et al., 2001).

Reading Aloud vs. Storytelling

Children acquire and build language through active listening and participation; therefore the literacy experiences need to be meaningful and interactive (Isbell, 2002). Adults support by scaffolding the language learning process through providing a model. Repetitive phrases, unique words, and enticing descriptions enhance the chances that the listener will participate. Sound effects and repetitive phrases that children can mimic throughout the story actively draws them into it. Listening to stories draws attention to the sound of language and helps children understand how language works. In addition, it helps them understand the sequence of events.

Read aloud and oral storytelling are two types of stories. Both read aloud and storytelling are great ways to share literacy with children (Isbell, 2002). Reading aloud is often used in the classroom as a means to share literature. The children sit quietly and listen to a story that the teacher reads aloud from a text. The eyes of the storyteller and the listeners’ are focused on the

text. Storytelling is different. This style requires the participation of the audience. It is a give and take communicative experience for both the reader and the child. Eye contact is made between the storyteller and the listeners. This can allow the teller to adapt the story to the listeners’ needs through a more informal communication exchange. In addition, storytelling gives students a chance to see the give and take of communication, while building a relationship with the audience. The listener can connect with the storyteller and understand the story through words, vocal intonation, gestures, facial expressions, and body movements (Mallan, 1997).

Oral Storytelling Through Songs and Ballads

Ballads and songs are two examples of oral traditions. Ballads, traditional narrative folksongs that tell stories, have a longstanding tradition in Appalachia (Library of Congress,

2016). Ballads were sung to their children by the mothers (McClatchy, 2016).They came to

America with the European settlers (Library of Congress, 2016). Ballads were a way to spread news, gossip, and make political commentary. The second tradition is songs. The oldest narrative songs were called epics. These were poems about historical events and legends. Epics were often too long to recall so they were chanted instead of sung. They had no instrumental accompaniment. It could often take two days to present epics in their totality. Appalachian ballads were sung without instrumentation and serve to tell a story as well (Smith, 2007). “Folk songs, ballads, and hymns are plentiful in Appalachian children’s literature. This shows their importance to the culture. Appalachian history and culture can be learned from these” (Smith,

2007).

Storytelling in the Classroom

Students bring a certain discourse style from home into the classroom(Craig, et al., 2001).

The school discourse style used in most classrooms is “characterized by stories organized around specific events, with great detail given into the steps leading up to an experience, and what occurs afterwards.” Place and time and understanding how one thing leads to another are important key elements. Latin and African American family storytelling has a more fluid sense of time and space. It is more about relationships than retelling exact events and humor is valued.

One story that exhibits this in literature is “Cinderella”. The story “Cinderella” is told in many countries in culturally specific ways. Here is a sampling of the difference in the way that the same story can be interpreted and told in a cultural way. In the first English version published by Perrault in 1925, the story of Cinderella was called “The Little Glass Slipper”. The story is told in part like this.

“Once there was a gentleman who married, for his second wife, the proudest and most

haughty woman that was ever seen. She had, by a former husband, two daughters of her

own, who were, indeed, exactly like her in all things. He had likewise, by another wife, a

young daughter, but of unparalleled goodness and sweetness of temper, which she took

from her mother, who was the best creature in the world.

No sooner were the ceremonies of the wedding over but the stepmother began to

show herself in her true colors. She could not bear the good qualities of this pretty girl,

and the less because they made her own daughters appear the more odious. She employed her in the meanest work of the house. She scoured the dishes, tables, etc., and cleaned madam's chamber, and those of misses, her daughters. She slept in a sorry garret, on a wretched straw bed, while her sisters slept in fine rooms, with floors all inlaid, on beds of the very newest fashion, and where they had looking glasses so large that they could see themselves at their full length from head to foot.

The poor girl bore it all patiently, and dared not tell her father, who would have scolded her; for his wife governed him entirely. When she had done her work, she used to go to the chimney corner, and sit down there in the cinders and ashes, which caused her to be called Cinderwench. Only the younger sister, who was not so rude and uncivil as the older one, called her Cinderella. However, Cinderella, notwithstanding her coarse apparel, was a hundred times more beautiful than her sisters, although they were always dressed very richly.

It happened that the king's son gave a ball, and invited all persons of fashion to it.

Our young misses were also invited, for they cut a very grand figure among those of quality. They were mightily delighted at this invitation, and wonderfully busy in selecting the gowns, petticoats, and hair dressing that would best become them. This was a new difficulty for Cinderella; for it was she who ironed her sister's linen and pleated their ruffles. They talked all day long of nothing but how they should be dressed.”

Schroeder’s (1997) Appalachian version called “Smoky Mountain Rose” is told in part like this.

“Now lis’en. Smack in the heart o’ the Smoky Mountains, there was this old

trapper livin’ in a log cabin with his daughter. One night, while Rose was fryin’a mess o’

fish, the trapper, he starts lookin’dejected-like. “I recon it’s hard on ye, not havin’ a ma,”

he said. “Tell me, Rose, would ye lak me to git hitched again? There’s a widow woman

with two daughters down the road a piece. Way I see it, we’d all fit together neater’ n a

jigsaw.” “I don’t mind,” said Rose, settin’ a plate o’corn bread on the table. “You go a-

courtin’, Pa, if you think it’s best.” So before the huckleberries were fit for pickin’, the

trapper got himself hitched for the second time. That’s when trouble really started a-

brewin’. Ye see, Gertie, the new wife, she was just about the crossest, fearsomest woman

that side o’ Tarbelly Creek. And her two daughters-why, they were so mean they’d steal

flies from a blind spider. And vain? Them girls could waste a whole day admirin’

themselves in the mirror.”

The two stories are different in style. There are more versions of Cinderella that exist in other cultures as well. Each places importance on different aspects of the story to emphasize the particular culture values.

Teachers Role in Storytelling

Teachers are powerful oral language models who can influence children’s attitudes toward oral language, reading, and literature (Morrow, 2001(as cited in Isbell, 2002). First, recognize the linguistic diversity that exists in the classroom that you serve (Craig, et al., 2001).

Classrooms are culturally and linguistically diverse in today’s world; this necessitates that the teacher understand that there is more than one way to tell a story (Craig, et al., 2001).

Teachers can enhance their abilities by stepping out of the teaching role to take on a student role again. Learn from those great storytellers who are in the local area. Travel to North

Carolina where storytelling is alive and thriving (Moore, 2011). Here you will hear great story tellers like Gary Carden who holds storytelling programs called “The Liars Bench” at Western

Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center in Cullowhee. Visit the Qualla Boundary of the

Western Band of Cherokee Indians and hear the myths and legends of the Cherokee. Travel to

Knoxville Tennessee to the African American Church of God, to hear “James Sparky” Rucker play ballads and narrate their history. These well known storytellers can give a teacher a first- hand look at how to become a great storyteller. In addition, collect some of the legends, myths, and tales to share in class. One place to find some of these is in “The Heartland Series” by Bill

Landry. Landry’s (2011) book Appalachian Tales & Heartland Adventures puts some of the tales, legends, and myths into written form. Pictures are included. This can be helpful in sharing the stories within the classroom.

Conclusion

Literacy is an important aspect of the learning process. Children are lively participants in learning, and it is the teacher’s and community’s responsibility to rise up to wrap our educational gloves around the child and deliver to them a form of learning that is comprehensible and meaningful to both the child and the future of the community at large. A good way to do this is through storytelling via read aloud or oral. Being a lively teacher and including jests, Jack tales, myths, and legends can further enhance that process. Literacy has two forms of storytelling, and when educators educate themselves on the types of stories out there and how to deliver them, the child benefits, and ultimately, the community benefits. Teachers can include stories told from different perspectives to enhance learning. Including songs and ballads as examples of texts is another good addition to the classroom curriculum. Teachers are charged with building the gap of culture to the land of knowing called education. In addition teachers are charged with showing students the best path to take to get to the bridge and the best way to cross the bridge. This is a big task, but it is not impossible for teachers to be culturally aware and literacy minded in providing a child an education.

References

Appalachian Culture. (2016) Appalachian Regional Ministry. North American Mission

Board,SBC Retrieved from http://www.namb.net/ARM/Appalachian-Culture/

Burrison, J. (2005). Storytelling traditions. New Georgia Encyclopedia

www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/storytelling-traditions

Craig, S., Hull, K., Haggart, A., & Crowder, E. (2001). Storytelling: addressing the needs of

diverse learners. Teaching Exceptional Children, (33, 5) 46-51 Council for Educating

Children Retrieved from

http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/sites/pathstoliteracy.perkinsdev1.org/files/uploaded-

files/Storytelling-Addressing-the-Literacy-Needs-of-Diverse-Learners.pdf

Cunningham, D. (2014). African American folktale. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. Retrieved

from http://www.britannica.com/art/African-American-folktale

Isbell, R. (2002). Telling and retelling stories: Learning and Literacy. Young Children, March

Retrieved from

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Landry, B. (2011). Appalachian tales and heartland adventures. Celtic Cat Publishing: Knoxville,

Library of Congress. (2016). The Library of Congress celebrates the songs of America:

traditional ballads Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/collections/songs-of-

america/articles-and-essays/musical-styles/traditional-and-ethnic/traditional-ballads/

Lindahl, C. (1994) Introduction to Jack Tales. Retrieved from

http://www.folkstreams.net/context,258

Mallan, K. (1991) Children as storytellers. Newtown, Sydney: PETA. Retrieved from

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED444147.pdf

McClatchy, D. (2016) Appalachian traditional music a short history. Native Grounds Books and

Music. Retrieved from Nativeground.com/Appalachian-tradition-music-a-short-history-

by-debbie-mcclatchy/

Moore, M. (2011). Storytelling moves to center stage. Appalachian voices protecting the Central

and Southern mountain region. Dec 21st Issue 6. Retrieved from http:

appvoices.org/2011/12/21/talking-tradition/

Morrow, L. (2001). Literacy development in the early years: Helping children read and write.4th

ed. Boston:Allyn & Bacon.

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Schroeder, A. (1997). Smoky mountain rose: an Appalachian Cinderella. Penguin Group: New

York, NY

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legends-and-folktales.html

Article Submission Guidelines for CHAPTER 3

Journal name: Storytelling, Self, Society : An Interdisciplinary Journal of Storytelling Studies

Instructions for Authors

Aims and Scope: Storytelling, Self, Society is an interdisciplinary journal that invites scholarship addressing any topic related to Storytelling–from its role as performing art to contemporary applications in a variety of professional fields. We welcome manuscripts from scholars in humanities and social science disciplines, including psychology, library science, literary studies, folklore, anthropology, sociology, communication, rhetoric, performance studies, theatre, history, feminist and queer studies, and ethnography, as well as from storytelling artists and practitioners, including those applying storytelling in the fields of education, health care, social work, business, law, peace-building and environmental education. Our purpose is to gather the building blocks of new disciplinary roles, structures, and methodologies for Storytelling in the

21st century. We seek articles that reflect the highest standards of the various disciplines on which we draw, and to which we intend to contribute. In addition to standard monographs,

Storytelling, Self, Society seeks to extend the critical vocabulary of contemporary storytelling, and so solicits reviews of storytelling performances and individual texts, as well as essays that review several performances and texts. We also recognize that storytelling is a longstanding discipline in itself; thus we welcome personal ethnography and reflection, as well as stories that have evolved from the oral tradition and reflect upon the endurance and evolution of oral traditions in the present day. We recognize the profound and often contested influences of

storytelling and cultural narratives on the health of the individual, the community, and the planet.

We seek ways to evaluate, measure, and focus those influences to impact our scholarship, our disciplines, our society, and ourselves. In keeping with an interdisciplinary journal, monographs and review essays in Storytelling, Self, Society are written in prose that is appropriate for a wide range of scholars and educated readers rather than the specialized jargon of a specific discipline.

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CHAPTER 4: MANUSCRIPT THREE

Bridging the Educational Gap through Dialect Diversity Appreciation:

Appalachian a Case Study

Not everyone speaks English in exactly the same manner. The English language has many dialects, and these vary depending upon the parent language as well as the society in which one grew up (Wilson, 2013). There are more than three hundred million people in our nation with a variety of dialects spoken. Robert Delaney composed a map to show the twenty four regions of American English (see Appendix K). The term accent is often confused with dialect.

An accent is the way words are pronounced, while dialect has its own grammar, vocabulary, syntax, and common expressions (Delaney, 2010). People tend to judge of others’ social status, educational levels, and deficits based on the dialect that they speak. This formed the premise of the subsequent devised study discussed in this paper.

Looking Through My Personal Lens

Personal account: I am an Appalachian speaker by birth. I learned Standard dialect in elementary school. My first trip on an airplane was to New York City, New York. I quickly learned just how unacceptable an accent can be. While waiting in the hotel, I became thirsty and wanted to get a carbonated drink. I asked the elevator attendant, “Sir! where round here can a gal get a coke from?” He laughed so hard that he doubled over, and I almost cried out loud from the embarrassment. I had forgotten to use my Standard English. I immediately fled the scene and ran

out onto the sidewalk. I located a small store across the street, but I was frozen with fear as cars flew past at alarming speeds. Ten minutes later, I finally returned to the hotel defeated by my inability to even cross the street to purchase a soft drink. My humiliation deepened when I realized people were watching me and laughing loudly. The elevator attendant said “Please speak. Let them hear you! You are definitely not from here!” I held onto my tears as I spoke to them very politely. I reentered my room and wept. I felt ashamed of my mouth and my inability to command control of that darn accent and dialect. I had been bitten by the dialect bug yet again. I unwittingly revealed my social status as well as the region where I lived. I vowed to gain command of changing my dialect to suit my needs.

Linguistic Premises

There are four underlying linguistic premises (Rickford, 2002). The first is that linguistics is descriptive not prescriptive. The objective is to describe the systematic nature of language.

Studies about people’s attitudes about language can help us understand the social distribution of dialects and the direction of language change. This information can be helpful in formulating school policies on language use. The second premise is that every naturally used language variety has an underlying system. Non-linguists think that low-standard variety speakers are lazy or careless; however, that is a false assumption. Dialects have regular rules and have lexical, phonological and grammatical restrictions. The third premise is that primary attention is given to speech rather than writing. “Written language omits valuable information about pronunciation or

sound systems of language. The fourth premise is that language varies from speaker to speaker and this is normal.

Social Class and Linguistic Prestige

According to linguists, all languages are complex in their own right and have equal merit

(Drew, 2015). However, non-linguists see it from a different perspective, pitting one language dialect over others. In sociolinguistics ‘prestige’ is “the degree of esteem and social value attached by members of a speech community to certain languages, dialects, or features of a language variety”(Nordquist ,2015). There are two types of prestige, overt and covert (Coffey,

2011). Overt prestige is acquired by those who have a command of a standard dialect to gain social status. On the other hand, covert is acquired by those desiring to belong and be considered a member of a certain community.

Weak Ties Theory

Milroy and Milroy (1985) conducted a study in Belfast that lends support to my study by showing the connective relationship between language and social status as well as peoples’ ability to change their language in different social class situations. People create communities to provide them with a meaningful way to solve problems (Milroy, L & Milroy, J, 1992). People create ties among community members. Milroy proposes, through the weak tie theory, that language change is propagated by the people who are second order members of social networks

(Milroy, L & Milroy, J, 1985). These members are weak links, individuals who are not closely

tied to a group (move frequently or live in isolated areas). Those that are weakly connected are more likely to be influenced by outside sources and have less social pressure to conform to the group’s linguistic practices. The language change happens faster in larger communities rather than smaller ones. A weakening tie to community leads to language change (Cheshire, 1991).

Change is only impeded in communities that have solidarity. It has been noted that there is sex differentiation in language change. Women, when measured on a social class continuum, are found to move upward in class. The underlying reason is that women have less access to power and influence than men. People use variation in language for social purposes. Milroy’s work shows how language change is made easier with weak ties. Within these created communities there are dialects.

Regional, Social, and Local Dialects

There are regional dialects, local dialects, and even social dialects (Delaney, 2010).

Regional dialects are defined by a particular region, such as Appalachian. A local dialect is a subset of the regional dialect. An example of this is Mountain talk. For example, the word

Appalachia (Lilly& Roxy, 2015). There are six different ways that this one word is pronounced within the Appalachian region. The way a person pronounces it will show which part they are from. My study supports this through showing that people can correctly identify dialect most of the time when verbally spoken (see Table 2). The social dialect reveals our educational status or class status (Delaney, 2010). These are termed sociolects and can indicate cultural attitudes and status preferences within the community in which one lives. Speaking the wrong dialect in a

particular social setting could be an awkward position to put one’s self into. For example, using a standard highly educated dialect within the Appalachian social group would label one as an outsider right away. This could cause the inner group to mistrust the outsider’s contributions to the conversation.

The Study

My objective in completing this study was to see the perspectives of teachers in a speech community, not to pass judgment on teaching abilities. For this study an elementary school in a district located close to the Appalachian Mountains, within the designated Appalachian region was chosen. I chose not to select the regions surrounding this county because one area was the area in which I was raised and the other region is the one in which I work as a teacher. These facts could bias teachers and taint their true opinions when answering questions. I chose a county to which I have no ties. I selected three dialects from the area, Black Vernacular, Appalachian

English, and Standardized English. These were chosen due to local familiarity; this would give the participants success in choosing at least one out of the three dialect samples correctly. These were pre-existing recorded clips of Appalachian English and Black Vernacular, provided courtesy of Neal Hutcheson with The Language and Life Project at North Carolina State

University (Hutcheson, 2016). In addition, a third Standardized sample was recorded. Adult dialects were used in the study for depth and clarity of dialect.

With the Superintendent and principals permission (see Appendix A), teachers were asked via letter and verbal confirmation to volunteer to participate in the study (see Appendix B).

Three types of participant scenarios were conducted, Focus groups, interviews, and an online questionnaire.

On March 4, 2016 the focus group participants signed informed consent forms before the focus group session began (see Appendix C). Two focus groups, consisting of four people in each were conducted. In these focus groups, questions were asked after they heard the recording of a dialect sample (See Appendix D). Three dialect samples were used, Appalachian English,

Black Vernacular, and Standard English. After each recording was played time was allowed to discuss questions given to each group. Participants were asked to rate the dialect sample. Each dialect sample was rated individually and not in comparison to the other two dialect samples.

They were rated on a five point scale with five being ‘very’ and 1 being ‘not at all’. They were allowed to write their answers down first, then discuss whole group. Both focus groups were recorded for ease of transcription. After the focus groups were conducted, each group’s answers and discussions were transcribed. Then each person and the principal signed the transcription stating that these were their discussions and comments. Numbers were assigned on the information sheets to protect the identity of each participant.

On March 16, 2016 again participants were selected by the principal based on availability and willingness to volunteer. These participants signed the informed consent forms, and interviews were conducted one-on-one and were recorded for accuracy. Three recordings of dialect samples were played one at a time, and interview questions were answered after each dialect sample (Appendix E). After each recording was played a question was asked and

participants responded. Each participant was asked to rate the dialect sample. The dialect sample was rated individually and not in comparison to the other two dialect samples. They were rated on a five point scale with five being ‘very’ and 1 being ‘not at all’. The answers were then typed and returned to the participants, and the principal to sign and date stating that these were their answers.

For the questionnaire, initially a paper questionnaire was created. Then a computer based questionnaire was subsequently created for ease of access (Kwik Surveys, 2016). Although ninety-eight participants were emailed the online based questionnaire (see Appendix F), only three participants responded. The online version originally contained the dialect samples in a

You Tube video format; however, the school district does not allow you tube videos and they are blocked by the school system internet firewall. The system technologists were unable to pass the video through the firewall. Ultimately, I had to reconfigure the survey to reflect the dialects in written form without an audio component. This was then emailed directly to potential participant’s school email accounts. Principals were contacted to spread the word of the email and the survey. Results were slim. Three completed surveys were the result. These were then added to the total results for the study.

Results of the Study

Sixteen participants agreed to take part in this study. All are state certified, board approved, public school teachers from a variety of grade levels and disciplines. Only one participant in my study initially predicted that dialect could show educational deficits, yet after

hearing the speaker, all made educational assumptions based on the dialect that the person was speaking. Only one participant said that they were unable to determine educational level based on the dialect spoken, and that was only for the African American dialect sample.

The comments for deficits for the African American male dialect sample were as follows…

 no college experience

 verb usage deficit

 has street sense

 grammar/language deficit

 ELA writing deficit

 social deficit

The comments for the Appalachian dialect sample were as follows…

 not a lot of education

 has work sense

 more common knowledge than formal education

 has sense in his work

 well educated with common sense

 has survival sense

 lower education based on age

 less educated

 vocabulary deficit

 technology

 used slang words

 dropping of final consonant

 old language used is deficit

 elementary educated

 language and grammar

 unable to understand directions and procedures

The comments for the Standard spoken female dialect were as follows…

 confidence

 language expression

 social, and boring

Participants did not want to comment on the African American sample; however, everyone had a comment on the educational level of the Appalachian speaker without hesitation.

More people saw the Standard sample as having no deficits at all. When asked how friendly the speakers were the Mountain Talk sample was rated the highest on the five point scale (Figure 3 below). Standard English was rated as being the most unfriendly (see Table 1 below). One participant commented that the speaker was boring. When asked how polite the speaker was,

Standard English was the selected answer for the politest and Black Vernacular was selected as the least polite (see Figure 3 below). Participants were asked how correct the speaker’s language is. The Standard English sample was selected as having the most correct language and Mountain

Talk scored the least. Participants were asked how wealthy the speaker is based on dialect.

Standard English was selected as being the wealthiest and Mountain talk was selected as being the poorest of the three samples. When asked how educated, Standard English again scored as having the most education. Mountain English scored as having the least education among the dialect samples.

When asked in focus groups and interviews, if the teachers discuss language and how it affects students’ abilities in their Professional Learning Communities, nine replied no and four replied yes. When asked if there should be initiatives or programs in place at schools designed to address dialect language deficits, seven replied no and six replied yes. When asked for ideas to include for programs respondents said

 peer conversation

 parent teacher discussions

 speech/language

 work with a student in the classroom

 mentors

 training children young

 allow them to record speech and play it back to student and allow them to hear

their speech pattern

When asked in interviews for teachers to describe their experiences with dialect and tell if they assessed the person educationally by dialect alone, all respondents replied yes. When asked if they have provided intervention for students with language dialect differences, four responded no and only one responded yes. All respondents replied no to having available teaching strategies, such as a buddy system, mentors, tutors, and code switching, to help students transition. Additionally, I noted that no respondents knew what code-switching is.

Figure 3

Answer How Friendly points 5.00

3.88 4.00 4.00 3.69

3.00

2.00 Min. Avg. Max. 1.00

0.00 African American Mountain Talk Standard English Question sample

Answer How Polite points 5.00 3.94 4.06 4.00 3.63

3.00

2.00 Min. Avg. Max. 1.00

0.00 African American Mountain Talk Standard English Question sample Answer Correct Language points

5.00 4.44

4.00

3.00 2.50 2.44

2.00 Min. Avg. Max. 1.00

0.00 African American Mountain Talk Standard English Question sample

Answer How Wealthy points 5.00

4.00 3.63

2.94 2.81 3.00

2.00 Min. Avg. Max. 1.00

0.00 African American Mountain Talk Standard English Question sample Answer How Educated points 5.00 4.12 4.00 2.94 3.00 2.56

2.00 Min. Avg. Max. 1.00

0.00 African American Mountain Talk Standard English Question sample

Table 1 Summary of Dialect Samples How African friendly American 3.00 3.88 5.00 2.00 Mountain Mountain

Talk 3.00 4.00 5.00 2.00 → Talk Standard

English 3.00 3.69 5.00 2.00 African How polite American 3.00 3.63 5.00 2.00 Mountain Standard

Talk 2.00 3.94 5.00 3.00 → English Standard

English 3.00 4.06 5.00 2.00 correct African language American 2.00 2.50 4.00 2.00 Mountain Standard

Talk 2.00 2.44 3.00 1.00 → English Standard

English 3.00 4.44 5.00 2.00 how African wealthy American 2.00 2.94 4.00 2.00 Mountain Standard

Talk 2.00 2.81 4.00 2.00 → English Standard

English 3.00 3.63 4.00 1.00 how African educated American 2.00 2.94 4.00 2.00 Mountain Standard

Talk 2.00 2.56 4.00 2.00 → English Standard

English 3.00 4.13 5.00 2.00

Table 2 Sample 1: African American English/Black Vernacular

question: African P-1 P-2 P-3 P-4 P-5 P-6 P-7 P-8 P-9 P-10 P-11 P-12 P-13 P-14 P-15 P-16 American sample not dialect shows a not no no no no no no no no necessari no yes no N/A N/A N/A deficit always ly gender male male male male male male male male male male male male male male male male age 20-30 20-25 20-30 mid 20's 20-30 35 20-30 22 20's 30 30 30 30 20-30 13-19 20-30 city- South where the North- south- urban/ Compton/ urban/ northern Northern north Harlem Carolina inner city city no answer urban city city speaker lives city inner city inner city inner city Chicago states US Georgia

doesn’t verb what educational no college unable to sound language/ language none X none none usage grammar none ELA writingnot sure no no deficits experience tell college grammar usage "gonna" educated

knew time street verbal unable to any deficit none to change X X grammar none no none social social N/A N/A N/A sense usage tell dialect

How friendly 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 4 4 4 3 3 4 How polite 3 3 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 correct language 2 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 4 2 2 2 2 3 2 how wealthy 3 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 how educated 2 3 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 4 3 3 2 2 3 3

Sample 2: Mountain Speech/Appalachia

question: Mountain P-1 P-2 P-3 P-4 P-5 P-6 P-7 P-8 P-9 P-10 P-11 P-12 P-13 P-14 P-15 P-16 Talk sample

dialect shows not no no no no no no no no not always no yes no N/A N/A N/A a deficit necessarily gender male male male male male male male male male male male male male not sure no answer not sure age 50-60 50's 50-60 60's 60 50-60 50-60 50 50 60 60 60 65 20-30 20-30 20-30 country where the country- southeast northern south south south south south country south deep south /mountains rural East TN south mountains city speaker lives south urban /city /Appalachian

more well educated unsure, unable to tell. what common sense in his with common assumed Would lean only high grammar/ limited elementary educational knowledge X X unsure vocabulary no no no work sense/ lower based toward less school language education education deficits than formal survival sense on age education education

vocabulary, not a lot of used slang dropping unable to education/ som/en- old speaking, skills any deficit none X technology words usually final unsure none no understand no N/A N/A has work something language usage, social used in South consonant directions sense &procedures How friendly 5 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 5 4 3 4 4 3 3 How polite 5 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 5 4 2 4 4 3 3 correct 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 language how wealthy 3 3 3 4 2 2 2 3 3 4 3 2 2 3 3 3 how 2 3 3 4 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 educated Sample 3: Standard English question: Standard P-1 P-2 P-3 P-4 P-5 P-6 P-7 P-8 P-9 P-10 P-11 P-12 P-13 P-14 P-15 P-16 English sample dialect shows not no no no no no no no no not always no yes no N/A N/A N/A a deficit necessarily gender women female woman female female female female female female female female female female not sure not sure not sure age 30-40 40's 20-30 30-40 mid 20-30 30 30 30 30 40 30 20 30 31-40 20-30 31-40 city, grew where the possibly American south south ? up in south Mt./ south south suburban city East TN city city city city speaker lives southern east Smokies

what none/ educational none none X none none X good clear none fluency no no city none no no no deficits speech

social/ language any deficit none none X none none X none none confidence no boring N/A N/A N/A autistic expression

How friendly 3 5 4 5 4 3 5 4 3 3 4 3 3 3 4 3 How polite 4 5 4 5 4 4 5 4 4 5 4 4 3 3 4 3 correct 3 5 4 3 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 5 5 3 5 5 language how wealthy 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 4 how 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 5 5 3 4 4 educated

Discussion

The teachers in this study tended to see the Standard English dialect as having more education, better mastery of language skills, and more long term achieved wealth. The

Appalachian dialect is seen as being spoken by poor, uneducated, but very friendly people. It appears that teachers want to teach these students to acquire more education, gain mastery of language, and achieve personal sustainability in society, but further studies would be needed to support that notion. This motivates the move toward the primary usage of Standardized English in the classroom. This makes it important to teach teachers how to incorporate more dialectal appreciation and understanding in the classroom. It is also important to help those students learn an effective way to bridge the gap to acceptance. One way to do this is through code switching.

Code-Switching

Linguistic code-switching is “the alternating or mixed use of two or more languages, especially within the same discourse.” (Dictionary.com, LLC, 2016). However, in

Sociolinguistics the term is used to describe “the use of one dialect, register, accent, or language variety over another, depending on social or cultural context, to project a specific identity.”(Dictionary.com, LLC, 2016).

There are many reasons why people are motivated to code switch, both linguistically and socio-linguistically. One of those reasons is fear or stress induced (Thompson, 2013).The brain unconsciously switches to the most frequently used language path. Another reason is the need to

fit in, or to fill a desire. Wanting to please another person’s need to relate can often lead to personal rewards and gains. Manipulation can also be a motivational factor. Furthermore, when someone wants to say something in secret, the second language can be used. However, this mode must be used carefully in today’s multilingual world. Finally, it is often easier for a particular person to fully express themselves in one chosen language over another based on referencing colloquialisms. My studies revealed that most teachers do not know what code switching is. It is important to educate teachers on what code switching is. Through this they may learn that a student has options when learning to tackle Standard English.

Code switching in Appalachia

Many people’s Appalachian accents grow stronger when talking with mountain family.

The accent divergence turns into speaking the dialect completely. This divergence is termed code-switching. Many mountain people are ashamed of the sound of their own voices.

(Ferguson, 2015). Granted many are happy living in the town where they grew up around the same people that they grew up with. This lends them no need to code switch at all. But for others the ability to code-switch could provide them with more opportunities.

Loss of a Dialect

Since the eighteenth century, English has been the language of education used in

Scotland. The native Scot’s language took a back seat to English and became known as the working class or second-rate language (Hamilton, 2012). This attitude can cause dialect death.

An example of dialect death is the dialect known as Cromarty, once spoken in a remote fishing village in Scotland. Bobby Hogg died at the age of 92 as the last native speaker of Cromarty. He took with him the last living example of the dialect. Linguists fear the nearest village, Avoch, will suffer the same fate. Cromarty was the first Scots dialect to die and other lesser used dialects are also in danger of disappearing. The loss of language means the loss of stories told in that language and the cultural knowledge that those stories held. Sadly, globalization, the popular use of technology is aiding in lesser used dialects dying off. The Scottish government has recently allocated money for Scottish language dictionaries, and more books have been published in lesser used languages to rescue them from extinction.

Restoring the Appalachian Dialect

There is a recent upsurge in hillbillies taking pride in the way they speak (Drew, 2015).

Walt Wolfram, a North Carolina State University linguistics professor, and Kirk Hazen, a linguist at West Virginia University are among those who are on a quest to debunk the "Beverly

Hillbillies"- myths and stigmas about Appalachia. In southwest Virginia, English professor Amy

D. Clark has held summer workshops for fifteen years to assist rural teachers to learn to effectively teach writing to Appalachian children without shaming them about their speech. The same message is conveyed when teaching units on dialect to schoolchildren in North Carolina and West Virginia (Drew, 2015). Hazen’s research to collect dialects in Appalachia through the

West Virginia Dialect Project has revealed the loss of some features of the language. Some of the stereotypical features of Appalachian speech are rare. For example, the demonstrative

‘them’(“them roses are red”) and the a-prefixing. (“I’m a-going!”) were not recently heard in the

Pineville area where he was collecting samples. Those unique features have not been spoken for about three generations.

My study reveals that teachers may not know what to do when a child enters their classroom with a dialect that is outside of their comfort zone. Perhaps the farther dialects are on the continuum from each other, the harder it is for teachers to devise a plan to assist the child in bridging that gap. This could potentially be due to a lack of available professional development addressing the topic. It can take decades for perceptions about language to change. (Drew, 2015)

If we begin now perhaps we can preserve the Appalachian dialect in its beautiful glory.

One example of the Appalachian dialect oppression that exists in the public school classroom can be seen in a personal account. An Appalachian speaking child sits in the classroom anxiously awaiting the return of the best paper she thinks she has ever written. She was asked to describe her favorite place. She put great thought into the elaborate plan to write the paper. She took a journey down memory lane to the best place she had been. Instantly, she recalled the magic of the Christmas tree. Nothing came close to the razzle and dazzle of the lights and family ornaments. That was her favorite place. Although she had never recieved gifts before, she was awe struck by the beauty of the Christmas tree, and upon every chance she could, she would lie underneath it gazing at the beauty. She wanted to share that experience with the world, because it was so wonderful. The teacher dropped the paper on her desk and commented that she should have put more effort and time into that paper. The paper was so full of red marks

that it looked like it had been taken to market and slaughtered. The amount of red markings outnumbered the actual number of words written. She felt as though the teacher did not understand her at all. She felt that the teacher belittled her culture and her family. This was the line that had been drawn. There would be no more blood bath papers after today. The student asked the teacher to have a few minutes in her office after class. A proper tongue lashing was in order for that teacher for sure. The student sat boiling inside, and she could not pay attention to anything taught that day. After class, the student enters the office and tells the teacher off, explaining that her feelings had been hurt. The paper contained her family memories. She had worked two full days on the paper to get it perfect, although she had no one at home with enough education to help her. The student pulled out a sketch of the tree, along with an outline for the story and flung them at the teacher as she walked out. The following week the teacher called the student in and apologized. She had done some research and soul searching over the weekend and had decided that her actions were unjust. A new plan was set to help the student improve her writing skills. The English teacher and the student eventually developed a friendship that extended into adulthood. This teacher became a family friend and godmother to the girl’s only daughter in later years.

In Professional Learning Community meetings, teachers do not talk about dialectal language. Those who said that they did for the study were Special education teachers who deal with language as a deficit, but not dialect. They reported talking about language, but not specifically dialect. This leads the need to provide more professional development opportunities for teachers to learn how to address dialectal language needs of their multi-dialect classrooms.

Classroom Implementation

One example of implementation in the classroom is contrastive analysis. “Contrastive analysis is an approach in which students diagram spoken sentences and compare them to formal written English. Contrastive analysis is among the methods discussed at the Appalachian Writing

Project's summer institute for teachers, led by Clark, the English professor in Virginia. About

130 teachers have completed the training program since it started in 2001.” (Drew, 2015) A second example is having students keep journals of how the adults in their community switch between formal and casual ways of speaking (Drew, 2015). A third example is teaching culture through dance, music, and literary works. Showing students how to appreciate the Appalachian culture that exists around them outside of school can enhance learning and social acceptance.

Thus, better community members are created.

Conclusion

Teachers have perceptions about students based on their dialect. It is often hard to admit that we make judgments of others, because society teaches us that it is wrong. However this is the base way that we gain information about one another to function safely within the community groups that we establish. It is important to recognize how teachers can effectively promote acceptance and enhance learning at the same time. Through this dialect appreciation teachers can be role models for the communities in changing the perceptions of Appalachian speakers and thus save the dialect while bridging the gap in education through dialect appreciation.

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ay-shun

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Article Submission Guidelines for Chapter 4

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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION

Introduction

Appalachia is a beautiful and culture rich region, rife with history and tradition; language, particularly in terms of dialect, is a cherished part of that culture. As intellectual humans, we are charged to protect and preserve the history that is present in Appalachia, as this history is interwoven into the history of early America. As a result of examining teachers’ pervasive perceptions of Appalachian speakers and that relation to an educational deficit, it is apparent that teachers do make educational assumptions upon first meeting a student. This was confirmed by the participants’ responding to the questions in the study. If they did not make assumptions, the charts and answers would have remained blank. Teachers’ initially make these judgments to direct their intentions to assist the child in educational progression while simultaneously taking their abilities into account. However, if teachers’ continue to suppress the Appalachian dialect, what would happen if we lose the Appalachian dialect completely due to its perceived unacceptability? Then we will lose a part of the history that makes America what it is.

Summary of Chapters

My study was conducted to show that the perception of Appalachian dialect speakers has not changed. These speakers are still stereotyped as uneducated, uncouth, and low class. This study was conducted to raise awareness of these unfair assumptions and to change the current environment of our educational system. Teachers need to lead the way by taking on a pivotal role

in changing the future of a dialect that could one day cease to exist. The unique values of the

Appalachian culture are underappreciated for their influence on creating who we are. For my research in this region of the country, I chose a town located nearest the Appalachian Mountains without venturing into the towns where I grew up or where I currently work. The location of the town was a key factor in getting a glimpse of how teachers perceive the Appalachian students.

Appalachian music, dance, stories, and dialect are all aspects that create a great Appalachian culture.

Appalachian music and dance are an important part of the culture. Students can learn many things about their history and culture through music and dance appreciation. It is important to make these an important part of a school learning atmosphere. Learning about traditional instruments, how they are played, and their rich history gives students that have moved into the region a chance to see and understand the Appalachian culture. In addition, it gives Appalachian children a chance to respect their culture and learn that it has great value. Learning about dances like clogging, flat footing, and buck dancing, with their historical beginnings, can enrich student learning and promote acceptance of other cultures. Embracing their own culture promotes the inclusion of other people’s languages and cultural differences. It is a step toward erasing bigotry, and fostering an atmosphere of open-mindedness toward all cultures.

From the history of the word Appalachia to present day, Appalachia is steeped in a wonderful storytelling history. There are two main categories of storytelling that incorporate a variety of folktales, myths, legends, animal tales, Jack tales, Jests, and Master tales. These stories

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play an important role in passing on important information to the next generation about the communities and their social boundaries. Teachers should include storytelling more often in their lesson plans. Songs and ballads are a great way to introduce storytelling to the youth. They are interesting oral ways to enhance learning. Stories make learning meaningful and allow the listener to connect to the teller creating an exchange of information. This adds to increased literacy of the listener, and develops the art of listening attentively and processing the words.

Dialects are one factor that sets us apart and connects us to societal groups. Some people wish to be strongly connected to a particular group while others are more fluid in their language choices. Teaching students in Appalachia to appreciate their dialect begins with appreciation in school. When a person’s dialect is rejected, their identity is also rejected, resulting in low self- esteem. The concept of Appalachian people being poor and uneducated has not changed, but with proper professional development to build better role models, there is a chance that the dialect can be salvaged before it succumbs to low status and weak ties leading to dialect death.

My study supports the view that teachers, as representations of what is acceptable in society, hold the view that Appalachian English is an inferior dialect to Standard English. There is a current trend in the Appalachian area of outsiders moving into the region. This influx of Standard

English further diminishes the regional, native dialect, thus creating those weak ties that push a language toward dedialectilization. Code switching and the acknowledgment that both

Appalachian English and Standard English are different yet interesting, will bridge the gap and promote acceptance. Teachers’ play a key role in changing the perception of Appalachian

English and creating more opportunities for academic success.

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The Study

My study was conducted in a town that has both Appalachian speakers and non-

Appalachian speakers. The town is located within the Appalachian region. The first question I sought to answer is “What are teachers’ pervasive perceptions of Appalachian language speakers?” The study showed that teachers do have perceptions about dialect speakers. These perceptions are that Appalachian speakers are uneducated, poor, friendly, somewhat polite, and linguistically at a deficit.

The second question is “Will teachers view Appalachian speakers as having an educational deficit?” This study showed that teachers’ view Appalachian speakers as having educational deficits in contrast to their initial statements of them having none. It could be postulated that the initial response to the question meets societal boundaries of correctness, but further questioning reveals a different answer.

Importance of the Study

The importance of this study is that it allowed an open forum to discuss pervasive perceptions that still exist about Appalachian speakers. Little research exists on the current biased views of teachers regarding Appalachian dialects. This study opened the lines of conversation to determine the current beliefs of Appalachian speakers, based solely on dialect, from the teacher’s viewpoint. This also formed a basis for others to study, and it laid the

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groundwork for starting a conversation on how teachers can reverse the direction of Appalachian language loss within the classroom.

Implications

The practical implementation of this is that teachers can first educate themselves through self study on the culture within their classroom, and make changes to ensure that the cultural backgrounds of all students’ are appreciated as different and valuable among the community.

Diversity and inclusion should be promoted. Next, teachers can adjust and change their classrooms to include more culturally specific components.

Recommendations for Further Study

I did not include children in this study; however this study could be expanded to discover the perceptions of other students about Appalachian dialect speakers. For this study I focused solely on the educators who are likely to make the most impact on how culture appreciation is taught. Another future study could include how learning Appalachian instruments and traditional dance increases cultural acceptance.

Limitations of the Study

Two non-controllable factors of the study are the attitudes of the teachers toward

Appalachian speakers and the teachers’ exposure to the pure native Appalachian dialect. I could not identify the teachers’ viewpoints because those are private thoughts of unknown individuals.

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Conclusion

Teachers have a superhero quality, even if they don’t realize it. That power can be used to impact a child’s life in a positive manner. Students’ emulate their teacher’s attitude and reaction toward others. Language that binds us together can also be the tool used to further change the perception of Appalachian people. This can start in the classroom. Globalization of the

Appalachian Mountains is creating less isolation; communities are growing bigger, thus producing more weak ties. The second class language status puts the dialect in danger, and this will lead to the dedilectilization of Appalachian English. Promoting an appreciation for

Appalachian English via public schools will enhance learning and create a healthier community atmosphere supported by parental involvement. Teachers hold the key to bridging the gap in cultural and linguistic education to acceptance of Appalachian dialect speakers through a change in their perception of the value of the culture.

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Appendix A-1

IRB-Office for the Protection of Human Research Subjects

Educational Research

I ______grant permission to Nola Carrie Queen Isobe to conduct research for the study titled Pervasive Dialectal Perceptions in Education Contributing to Language Dedialectalization: Appalachian a Case Study at the following institutions

______

As Director of Schools for ______County, I attest that no students will be used in this study. I allow teachers to answer questions regarding the study during after school hours.

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Appendix B

Letter to Teacher Requesting Volunteers

Date:

Dear Faculty of ______,

My name is Nola Isobe. I am completing a dissertation at Carson Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee. I am collecting data on the perceptions of teachers in regards to dialects and their link to academic deficits. I am in need of volunteers for individual interviews and small focus group interviews. I would appreciate very much the chance to work with you to gain some data on this topic.

These interviews and small focus groups will take place after school. The location will be announced. These will be very short and will require neither a long term nor a long time commitment. I will record the interviews only to allow me ease of transcription. Your name will be replaced with a pseudonym to maintain your confidentiality. Your name will not be used when reporting results from my collected data.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Isobe

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Appendix C

Informed Consent Form

Carson Newman University

Title of Project: Pervasive Dialectal Perceptions in Education Contributing to Language Dedialectalization: Appalachian a Case Study

Principal Investigator: Nola Isobe

Participant’s Printed Name:

Introduction I invite you to take part in a research study Pervasive Dialectal Perceptions in Education Contributing to Language Dedialectalization: Appalachian a Case Study at Carson Newman University, which seeks to identify a more effective means of creating awareness of dialectal issues. Taking part in this study is entirely voluntary. We urge you discuss any questions about this study with our staff members. Talk to your family and friends about it and take your time to make your decision. If you decide to participate you must sign this form to show that you want to take part.

Section 1. Purpose of the Research This study is being conducted to assess the current perceptions of teachers regarding dialects and what your perceptions might be pertaining to their influence on academic deficits or challenges.

You are being offered the opportunity to take part in this research study because you are a teacher at a rural school located within the rural Appalachian area.

Approximately 300 people will take part in this research nationwide and about 30-50 people are expected to take part at your school.

Section 2. Procedures Should you take part in this study you will answer questions concerning dialects and their relation to academic success.

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Section 3. Time Duration of the Procedures and Study In choosing to participate in this study, you are committing approximately 45 minutes to answer questions via a questionnaire, focus group, or individual interview.

Section 4. Discomforts and Risks There are no known risks associated with the research.

Section 5. Potential Benefits The possible benefit you may experience from this research is an increased awareness of dialects in the classroom. However, there is no guarantee that you will benefit from being in this research.

Section 6. Statement of Confidentiality

Your responses to questions are reviewed, stored, and analyzed by the researcher. Results will be reported. Pseudonyms will replace your natural born name.

In the event of any publication or presentation resulting from the research, no personally identifiable information will be shared.

We will keep your participation in this research study confidential to the extent permitted by law. However, it is possible that other people may become aware of your participation in this study. For example, the following people/groups may inspect and copy records pertaining to this research.

The Office of Human Research Protections in the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services  The Carson Newman College Institutional Review Board  The Carson Newman University Human Subjects Protection Office

Some of these records could contain information that personally identifies you. Reasonable efforts will be made to keep the personal information in your research record private and confidential but absolute confidentiality cannot be guaranteed.

Section 7. Costs for Participation There is no cost to participate in this study

Section 8. Compensation for Participation You will not receive any compensation for being in this research study.

Section 9. Research Funding There will be no funding for this research

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Section 10. Voluntary Participation Taking part in this research study is voluntary. If you choose to take part in this research, your major responsibilities will include answering questions, attending focus groups, or individual interviews. You do not have to participate in this research. If you choose to take part, you have the right to stop at any time. If you decide not to participate or if you decide to stop taking part in the research at a later date, there will be no penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

Section 11. Contact Information for Questions or Concerns

You have the right to ask any questions you may have about this research. If you have questions, complaints or concerns or believe you may have developed an injury related to this research, contact Nola Isobe at 865-591-2361.

If you have questions regarding your rights as a research participant or you have concerns or general questions about the research, contact the research subjects protection advocate in the Carson Newman University’s Subjects Protection Office.

For more information about participation in a research study and about the Institutional Review Board (IRB), a group of people who review the research to protect your rights, please visit the Carson Newman University IRB’s web site. Included on this web site, under the heading “Participant Info”, you can access federal regulations and information about the protection of human research participants.

Signature and Consent/Permission to be in the Research

Before making the decision regarding enrollment in this research you should have:  Discussed this study with an investigator,  Reviewed the information in this form, and  Had the opportunity to ask any questions you may have.

Your signature below means that you have received this information, have asked the questions you currently have about the research and those questions have been answered. You will receive a copy of the signed and dated form to keep for future reference.

Participant: By signing this consent form, you indicate that you are voluntarily choosing to take part in this research.

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______Signature of Participant

Printed name ______

Date

This document was created using the following resources:

CTN Best Practices  Informed Consent Discussion Documentation  Informed Consent Document Template and Instructions

Fuller Theological Seminary Graduate School of Psychology

 Informed Consent Template

National Cancer Institute

 Informed Consent Template for Cancer Treatment Trials (English Language)  Learn about Clinical Trials – Informed Consent

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Appendix D

Focus Group Questions

Before listening to the recording answer this question. Do you believe that dialect shows a deficit in educational levels? *On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being not at all and 5 being Very, answer the following questions. Subject 1 (recording provided) We use that term because that’s like a sense of family you know what I sayin, it’s like the term is the line, you know what I’m saying, if we’re real close, then were at liberty to talk like that because we understand each other. Where if you were an outsider and I didn’t really know you, and you know, it’s like “Hey how you doin?” it’s just like, “Oh, hi, how you doin man?” until I get that vibe that you loose, then it’s what’s up,” you know, but until it gets to that point, you kinds just do that, you kinda draw that line. The more closer you feel to somebody, then you loosen up, and the language plays a big part of that.

Question 1 2 3 4 5

(not at all) (Very) 1.How friendly is the speaker? 2.How polite is the speaker? 3. How correct is the speaker’s language? 1. 4.How wealthy is the speaker? 5.How educated is the speaker?

6. What is the gender and age of the speaker?

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7. Where does the speaker live? 8. What educational deficits if any do you perceive this speaker to have? 9. What deficits if any does the speaker have? ______

Subject 2 (recording provided) It’s just somebody comin up with a strange word, is what it means, I mean let’s say your tryin to get something done, your building something. And you take a look at it, like the word “si-goggling.” You’re lookin at it and it’s all outta line, and you just might come up with the word si-goggling. I do that myself. Can’t think of anything right off, but I come up with a lot of new words myself. And so you get, somebody standin around, they hear that, okay, it’s si-goggling.

Question 1 2 3 4 5 (not at all) (Very) 1.How friendly is the speaker? 2.How polite is the speaker? 3. How correct is the speaker’s language? 10. 4.How wealthy is the speaker? 5.How educated is the speaker?

6. What is the gender and age of the speaker? 7. Where does the speaker live? 8. What educational deficits if any do you perceive this speaker to have?

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9. What deficits if any does the speaker have? ______

Subject 3 (recording provided)

Today I went to the mountains to take a hike. I walked back into the woods and listened as the birds sang a low soulful tune. I really like to go walking in nature and to breathe the fresh air. It has been a very long time since returning for a family visit, and looking at nature is fun, but the knowledge of black bears being in every square mile scares me. So I carry a bear spray repellent just in case.

6. What is the gender and age of the speaker? 7. Where does the speaker live? 8. What educational deficits if any do you perceive this speaker to have? 9. What deficits if any does the speaker have?

______

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1. In your Professional Learning Communities meetings, have you discussed language and how this affects students’ abilities? 2. Should there be initiatives or programs in place at schools designed to address dialect language deficits? 3. Any idea of what one might include? Mentors?

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Appendix E

Interview Questions

1. Do you believe that dialect shows a deficit in educational levels? 2. Read these exerts of speakers with dialects. * On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being not at all and 5 being perfect, answer the following questions. Subject 1 We use that term because that’s like a sense of family you know what I sayin, it’s like the term is the line, you know what I’m saying, if we’re real close, then were at liberty to talk like that because we understand each other. Where if you were an outsider and I didn’t really know you, and you know, it’s like “Hey how you doin?” it’s just like, “Oh, hi, how you doin man?” until I get that vibe that you loose, then it’s what’s up,” you know, but until it gets to that point, you kinds just do that, you kinda draw that line. The more closer you feel to somebody, then you loosen up, and the language plays a big part of that. Question 1 2 3 4 5 (not at all) (Very) 1.How friendly is the speaker? 2.How polite is the speaker? 3. How correct is the speaker’s language? 2. 4.How wealthy is the speaker? 5.How educated is the speaker?

6. What is the gender and age of the speaker? 7. Where does the speaker live? 8. What educational deficits if any do you perceive this speaker to have?

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9. What deficits if any does the speaker have? ______

Subject 2 It’s just somebody comin up with a strange word, is what it means, I mean let’s say your tryin to get something done, your building something. And you take a look at it, like the word “si-goggling.” You’re lookin at it and it’s all outta line, and you just might come up with the word si-goggling. I do that myself. Can’t think of anything right off, but I come up with a lot of new words myself. And so you get, somebody standin around, they hear that, okay, it’s si-goggling. Question 1 2 3 4 5 (not at all) (Very) 1.How friendly is the speaker? 2.How polite is the speaker? 3. How correct is the speaker’s language? 10. 4.How wealthy is the speaker? 5.How educated is the speaker?

6. What is the gender and age of the speaker? 7. Where does the speaker live? 8. What educational deficits if any do you perceive this speaker to have? 9. What deficits if any does the speaker have? ______

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Subject 3

Question 1 2 3 4 5 (not at all) (Very) 1.How friendly is the speaker? 2.How polite is the speaker? 3. How correct is the speaker’s language? 11. 4.How wealthy is the speaker? 5.How educated is the speaker?

6. What is the gender and age of the speaker? 7. Where does the speaker live? 8. What educational deficits if any do you perceive this speaker to have? 9. What deficits if any does the speaker have?

______

3. In your Professional Learning Communities meetings, have you discussed language and how this affects students’ abilities? 4. Should there be initiatives or programs in place at schools designed to address dialect language deficits? 5. Any idea of what one might include? Mentors?

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6. Describe your experiences with dialects? Have you encountered anyone with a different dialect than your own? 7. What mental picture did you create of the person, based on their abilities? 8. Did you assess them educationally? 9. How do you feel about introducing a language intervention program for non-Standard dialects? 10. Have you provided intervention for students with language differences? 11. Do you have any teaching strategies to help students transition?(code switching) tutors? Buddy system?

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Appendix F

Online Questionnaire

1. What is your gender? a. Male b. Female 2. How many years have you been teaching?

3. Is English your first language? a. Yes b. No

Read the following and answer the questions below.

Subject 1

We use that term because that’s like a sense of family you know what I sayin, it’s like the term is the line, you know what I’m saying, if we’re real close, then were at liberty to talk like that because we understand each other. Where if you were an outsider and I didn’t really know you, and you know, it’s like “Hey how you doin?” it’s just like, “Oh, hi, how you doin man?” until I get that vibe that you loose, then it’s what’s up,” you know, but until it gets to that point, you kinds just do that, you kinda draw that line. The more closer you feel to somebody, then you loosen up, and the language plays a big part of that.

1. Where do you think this speaker lives? 2. How old is the speaker?

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*On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being not at all and 5 being perfect, answer the following questions. Question 1 2 3 4 5 (not at all) (Very) 1.How friendly is the speaker? 2.How polite is the speaker? 3. How correct is the speaker’s language? 12. 4.How wealthy is the speaker? 5.How educated is the speaker?

3. Do you think the speaker is male or female?

4. Do you believe the person to have a learning challenge or deficit?

5. Do you believe this speaker’s dialect can affect their school success? Explain?

Subject 2

Read the following and answer the questions below.

It’s just somebody comin up with a strange word, is what it means, I mean let’s say your tryin to get something done, your building something. And you take a look at it, like the word “si-goggling.” You’re lookin at it and it’s all outta line, and you just might come up with the word si-goggling. I do that myself. Can’t think of anything right off, but I come up with a lot of new words myself. And so you get, somebody standin around, they hear that, okay, it’s si-goggling.

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1. Where do you think this speaker lives? 2. How old is the speaker?

*On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being not at all and 5 being perfect, answer the following questions. Question 1 2 3 4 5 (not at all) (Very) 1.How friendly is the speaker? 2.How polite is the speaker? 3. How correct is the speaker’s language? 3. 4.How wealthy is the speaker? 5.How educated is the speaker?

4. Do you think the speaker is male or female?

5. Do you believe the person to have a learning challenge or deficit?

6. Do you believe this speaker’s dialect can affect their school success? Explain?

Subject 3

Read the following and answer the questions below.

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Today I went to the mountains to take a hike. I walked back into the woods and listened as the birds sing a low soulful tune. I really like to go walking in nature and breathe the fresh air. It has been a very long time since returning for a family visit. Looking at nature is fun but the knowledge of black bears being in every square mile scares me, so I carry a bear spray repellant just in case.

1. Where do you think this speaker lives? 2. How old is the speaker?

*On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being not at all and 5 being perfect, answer the following questions. Question 1 2 3 4 5 (not at all) (Very) 1.How friendly is the speaker? 2.How polite is the speaker? 3. How correct is the speaker’s language? 3. 4.How wealthy is the speaker? 5.How educated is the speaker?

4. Do you think the speaker is male or female?

5. Do you believe the person to have a learning challenge or deficit?

6. Do you believe this speaker’s dialect can affect their school success? Explain?

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FIGURE 2

Robert Delaney Map of American English.

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Figure 3

Summary of Dialect Samples

Focus groups, Interviews, and Survey Results

Score of 16 Participants

Answer How Friendly points 5.00

3.88 4.00 4.00 3.69

3.00

2.00 Min. Avg. Max. 1.00

0.00 African American Mountain Talk Standard English Question sample

140

Answer How Polite points 5.00 3.94 4.06 4.00 3.63

3.00

2.00 Min. Avg. Max. 1.00

0.00 African American Mountain Talk Standard English Question sample

Answer Correct Language points

5.00 4.44

4.00

3.00 2.50 2.44

2.00 Min. Avg. Max. 1.00

0.00 African American Mountain Talk Standard English Question sample

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Answer How Wealthy points 5.00

4.00 3.63

2.94 2.81 3.00

2.00 Min. Avg. Max. 1.00

0.00 African American Mountain Talk Standard English Question sample

Answer How Educated points 5.00 4.12 4.00 2.94 3.00 2.56

2.00 Min. Avg. Max. 1.00

0.00 African American Mountain Talk Standard English Question sample

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Table 1

Summary of Dialect Samples

Score of 16 Participants

How African friendly American 3.00 3.88 5.00 2.00 Mountain Mountain Talk Talk 3.00 4.00 5.00 2.00 → Standard

English 3.00 3.69 5.00 2.00 African How polite American 3.00 3.63 5.00 2.00 Mountain Standard

Talk 2.00 3.94 5.00 3.00 → English Standard

English 3.00 4.06 5.00 2.00 correct African language American 2.00 2.50 4.00 2.00 Mountain Standard

Talk 2.00 2.44 3.00 1.00 → English Standard

English 3.00 4.44 5.00 2.00 how African wealthy American 2.00 2.94 4.00 2.00 Mountain Standard

Talk 2.00 2.81 4.00 2.00 → English Standard

English 3.00 3.63 4.00 1.00 how African educated American 2.00 2.94 4.00 2.00 Mountain Standard

Talk 2.00 2.56 4.00 2.00 → English Standard

English 3.00 4.13 5.00 2.00

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Table 2

Individual Dialect Sample Results

Score of 16 Participants

Sample 1: African American English/Black Vernacular

knew time street verbal unable to any deficit none to change X X grammar none no none social social N/A N/A N/A sense usage tell dialect

Sample 2: Mountain Speech/Appalachia

question: Mountain P-1 P-2 P-3 P-4 P-5 P-6 P-7 P-8 P-9 P-10 P-11 P-12 P-13 P-14 P-15 P-16 Talk sample

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Sample 3: Standard English

question: Standard P-1 P-2 P-3 P-4 P-5 P-6 P-7 P-8 P-9 P-10 P-11 P-12 P-13 P-14 P-15 P-16 English sample dialect shows not no no no no no no no no not always no yes no N/A N/A N/A a deficit necessarily gender women female woman female female female female female female female female female female not sure not sure not sure age 30-40 40's 20-30 30-40 mid 20-30 30 30 30 30 40 30 20 30 31-40 20-30 31-40 city, grew where the possibly American south south ? up in south Mt./ south south suburban city East TN city city city city speaker lives southern east Smokies

what none/ educational none none X none none X good clear none fluency no no city none no no no deficits speech

social/ language any deficit none none X none none X none none confidence no boring N/A N/A N/A autistic expression

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