SDTP (Workshop on African American Dialect and Implications for Educators)
The Summer Dialect Teacher Project (SDTP), one of the programs of the Center for the Study of African American Language at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will be held from July 9-11, 2008. Because many school-age African American children use African American English (AAE) as their major form of communication, the goals of the SDTP are to provide information about AAE and to demonstrate how this information can be used in developing instruction to improve literacy skills. The focus of the 2008 SDTP will be on identifying AAE patterns in the language of school-age children and addressing the ways in which students’ use of non-standard dialectal patterns may influence methods of instruction and classroom success.
The workshop will be divided into different sessions on AAE and education that address topics ranging from the linguistic description of AAE to questions about what it means to correct students’ dialectal patterns. Teachers will have the opportunity to attend all sessions and work on mini hands-on projects that involve application of classroom strategies and development of materials that can be used to facilitate reading and writing instruction for dialect users.
Registration is open to teachers for whom information about the use of non-standard dialectal patterns and their implications for instruction is relevant. To participate in this workshop, teachers must be currently employed in a U.S. school.
Meals will be provided for participants, and some funding to help defray travel costs will be available. Professional development credits will be available through the Western Massachusetts Writing Project for teachers who work in Massachusetts school systems.