Dialect Designs of Distinction
When considering the diverse community of student learners served, I must keep in mind the varied dialects that are heard in the classroom that can be highlighted on the stage or in a written piece. Students will view several African- Caribbean & British poets whose spoken word delivery, accents, and rhythm differ from African American poets. We will use audio recordings on CD or the Internet to listen to different performances or readings.
For detecting design of accents in poetry, which highlights dialect often times, students will again use their own names to explore accentual syllabic meter (see Rhythmic Renditions). Students will be guided in knowing that a sentence serves as notation for suggesting significant tones of voice. Their native tongue will give flavor to the sound of spoken words. Poetry lifts from the page in student voices.
An oral art form first and foremost, poetry is meant to be spoken. Vernacular expression will be the motivation in this section of the unit. All students will be required to use in their poetic creations at least three dialectic words or phrases of their neighborhood, native country, or homeland, thus giving emphasis to the tone, timber and sometimes torment of their daily lives.
I will share with students Robert Frost's discussion of the word "no" and its varied use in his "The Last Refinement of Subject Matter: Vocal Imagination." Various students will be asked to read the short poem aloud so that we can hear the sound and make meaning of the sound compacted in the word. In this way, the utterance of the word will instill words packed with feelings. Students will explore hearing how others use words and word sounds rather than the word in context. We will practice in making an inference about what is heard - visualizing meaning through use of sound. Students will be trained to attend more to the characteristics of sound of other tongues and dialect, as well as their won native tongue because of careful listening to recordings of poets and poetry readers.
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