Response to Gee and Delpit

Gee disagrees with Delpit concerning acquisition, stating that it is definitely NOT learning, rather an inherent ability to build knowledge of a language through the exposure to conversation in the home. They both agree that “apprenticeship” and learning “superficial features” are ways to identify insiders and outsiders, or who they should include and who are excluded from a certain discourse community.

I stand somewhere in the middle, maybe a little closer to Delpit in that acquisition is in a sense learning as you continue to acquire parts of your discourse as you grow older. I also believe teachers should try not to resort to “not teaching” based solely on the grounds of discomfort or fear of embarrassing the student. In a way that doesn’t single the student out, they should find time to correct mistakes so that the student is aware and won’t make the mistakes later down the road when they could be embarrassing.

These arguments are relevant to us as English teachers because we are aiding student’s “apprenticeship” in the form of schooling: it prepares them and exposes them to different manipulations, usages, and forms of language that they can then apply to their futures. They are always learning more about their language, their primary discourse is the foundation but they will continue to grow from there. As Gee explains, you cannot be considered an “insider” if you do not have a good control of the language or if you can’t use it to function within the group.

I’d like to explore or learn more about how to modify lessons for second language learners as to accommodate all levels of language speakers in my classroom.