Does Black English stand between black students and success in math and science? Eleanor Wilson Orr, a teacher for over 35 years, discovered that many of her students' difficulties were rooted in language., and she offers here an account of the program she established to help them reach their potential. In the light of the current debate over Ebonics, she has written an introduction for the reissue of this important study.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A veteran high school teacher of science and mathematics offers an unusual approach to the problem of underachievement among minority students. Founder with her husband of the Hawthorne School in the District of Columbia, Orr here describes the results of the school's experimental linguistic program from which her theory is developed: "Differences between black English vernacular (BEV) and standard English can affect a BEV speaker's concept of certain quantitative relations." Observing the functional role of prepositions, conjunctions and relative pronouns in the identification of quantitative ideas, Orr pinpoints misunderstandings that beset students whose first language is nonstandard English. Her belief that BEV is rule-governed and not merely "bad" English is supported by data from her students who, for example, confuse "twice" and "half" or combine "as" and "than" in their partitive comparisons. The inquiry and explanations are complex, but Orr is generous with illustrations and invites compelling speculation on how the Hawthorne experiment might be replicated by educators seeking to unleash the scientific potential of disadvantaged black students.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Orr believes that the structure of the nonstandard English spoken by many black students is a direct cause of their failure to do well in school, especially in mathematics and science. She examines and illustrates the function of standard English prepositions, conjunctions, and relative pronouns in the expression of quantitative relationships, arguing that speakers of black English have problems in understanding concepts. As co-founder of the innovative Hawthorne School in Washington, D.C., she was able to test her assumptions on student transfers from the public schools, 98 percent of whom were black. She developed teaching methods that appear to prove that the problems are correctable, even at the high school level. Likely to be controversial, certainly an important work. Shirley L. Hopkinson, Library & Information Science Div., California State Univ., San Jose
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely helpful in teaching remedial critical thinking,
By SCHIELD@AUGSBURG.EDU (Minneapolis, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twice as Less (Paperback)
Without this book I might never have been aware of some of the 'shortcuts' students take in their thinking. Although written about black english, I find many of the linguistic mistakes mentioned are not limited to those who speak black english. With this knowledge, I could see my students (of all races) making critical conceptual mistakes based on their lack of appreciation for the importance of certain words in indicating abstract relationships. This book is a labor of love; it is of tremendous value to any teacher who wonders who they can't seem to help some students who seem bright enough and motivated enough, but just don't seem to understand. Thank you Elearnor Orr!
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good product, slow delivery,
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This review is from: Twice as Less (Paperback)
The book took a pretty long time to arrive... over 2 weeks, but when it arrived it was just as promised, in very good condition.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
THE HAWTHORNE SCHOOL, an independent coeducational high school, was founded in the District of Columbia in 1956, not as an "escape" from the public schools, nor as what people in the sixties called "an alternative to the public schools. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
irregular number systems, nonstandard half, route one travels, collapsed sentences, scalar adj, nonstandard perceptions, sons present age, uncollapsed version, vector adjective, indefinite comparison, subtracting equal quantities, hrs the plane, nonstandard combinations, fathers present age, nonstandard equivalent, faster traveler, noun mode, slower plane, subtraction statement, mode intact, nonstandard expressions, composite sentences, negative attraction, negative concord, skeleton proof Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York City, Statements Reasons, Robert Jenks, The Catch-Up Problem, Another Round Trip, District of Columbia, Francis Pool, More Than Half As Fast New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
THE HAWTHORNE SCHOOL, an independent coeducational high school, was founded in the District of Columbia in 1956, not as an "escape" from the public schools, nor as what people in the sixties called "an alternative to the public schools. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
irregular number systems, nonstandard half, route one travels, collapsed sentences, scalar adj, nonstandard perceptions, sons present age, uncollapsed version, vector adjective, indefinite comparison, subtracting equal quantities, hrs the plane, nonstandard combinations, fathers present age, nonstandard equivalent, faster traveler, noun mode, slower plane, subtraction statement, mode intact, nonstandard expressions, composite sentences, negative attraction, negative concord, skeleton proof Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York City, Statements Reasons, Robert Jenks, The Catch-Up Problem, Another Round Trip, District of Columbia, Francis Pool, More Than Half As Fast New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 4
books:
3
books
cite this book:
- Black English by J.L. Dillard on 4 pages
- Teaching Black Children to Read by Baratz in Front Matter
- Final report in Back Matter
- Final report (CCS occasional paper ; no. 6) by Speyside Project in Back Matter
- Mathsemantics: Making Numbers Talk Sense by Edward MacNeal on page 86
- Removing Barriers: Women in Academic Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics by Jill M. Bystydzienski on page 269
- Language, Education, and Ideology: Mapping the Linguistic Landscape of U.S. Schools by Timothy Reagan on page 57
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