its cookin now

8/12/2019 Its Cookin Now

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/its-cookin-now 1/30

"It's Cookin' Now": A Performance Analysis of the Speech Events of a Black Teacher in anUrban Community CollegeAuthor(s): Michèle FosterSource: Language in Society, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Mar., 1989), pp. 1-29Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4167999 .

Accessed: 26/05/2014 16:16

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Cambridge University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Language

in Society.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 157.253.50.10 on Mon, 26 May 2014 16:16:11 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup

http://www.jstor.org/stable/4167999?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp





http://www.jstor.org/stable/4167999?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup



Lang. Soc. i8, 1-29. Printed in the United States of America

It's cookin' now : A performance analysisof the speech events of a Black teacherin an urban community college

MICHELE FOSTER

GraduateSchool of EducationUniversityof Pennsylvania

ABSTRACT

Ethnographic research conducted in the classroom of a Black womanteacher in an urban community college reveals the presence of two dis-tinct but culturally appropriate ways of speaking. Drawing on perfor-mance theory, this article analyzes two speech events through which the

teacher establishes and maintains congruent face-to-face interaction. Itcompares the speech events and discusses their effect on student partic-ipation and the interpretationsand meanings that the participantsattachto each. (Performance, ways of speaking, speech events, ethnographyof communication)

INTRODUCTION

Anthropological studies of cultural conflicts between ethnic minority stu-dents and their teachers are numerous (Gouldner 1978; Rist I973, I976). Lessnumerous, but still significant, are those that document what occurs in class-rooms when the way a teacher manages face-to-face interactions - her inter-actional style - is at variance with that of the community to which studentsbelong. Philips's (1972, I983) study of the Warm Springs community, per-haps the most widely known and cited study on interactional style, examinesNative American students' responses when teachers violate appropriatenorms, rights, and obligations for speaking that shape social relationships.Considerable evidence has accrued which suggests rather strongly that these

participantstructures not only influence learning but, when appropriatelyaltered, can also significantly improve academic achievement. Kamehamehaand Piestrup are two studies that stand out for their demonstrationthat par-ticular aspects of a teacher's interactional style can make a significant dif-ference in raisingthe reading achievement of minority group children. Whilesimilar in this respect, they differ in at least one respect; Kamehameha is theresult of a series of planned curricular nnovations, whereas Piestrup merely

documents existing classroom practices.Of all the studies that address issues of congruence in interactional style,

( 1989 Cambridge University Press 0047-4045/89 $5.00 + .00

I







MICHELE FOSTER

only a handful consider the effect that a shared cultural background has onclassroom interaction (Erickson & Mohatt I982; Mascias I987). Unfor-

tunately, we have little empirical evidence that documents what takes placewhen teachersand students sharea common culturalbackgroundwhich pos-

itively affects classroom interaction.Part of a larger study, this article builds on previous studies of interac-

tional style but differs from them in at least two respects. First, it examines

the interactions between a Black teacher and Black students, a situation all

too rare in the research literature; second, unlike most studies on cultural

congruence in the United States, this article concentrates on adults instead

of children (Cazden I986). It should thus add a new dimension to the liter-ature on interactional style.

Provided herein are a detailed description of the structure and patterning

of two speech events, an examination of the factors that affect the choice of

a particular style of speaking, and an analysis of the role that the speech

events play in promoting and maintaining group identity by reinforcing

socially valued behaviors. Also considered is the effect that these speech

events have on improvingstudent learning and satisfaction. The analysis that

follows is based on data drawn from fieldnotes, audiotapesof classroom dia-

logue, and interviews with participants, collected using broad-based ethno-

graphic methods of participant observation.The article is divided into three sections. The first presents the theoretical

model undergirding the analysis, which describes some of the concepts of

modern folklore that are importantto the understandingof the analysis that

follows. The second section presents the classroom data, discusses the pat-

terningand structureof the speech events, examines the factors which affect

the choice of a specific style, and illustrates how particular ways of speak-

ing reinforce cooperative behavior and collective identity. The last section

reviews some of the existing literatureon collective behavior extant in Black

communities and concludes with implications for schools.

FOLKLORE AND PERFORMANCE THEORIES

The theoretical model employed here comes from modern folklore and per-

formancetheorieswhich have been influencedby and in turn have influenced

Hymes's ethnography of speaking framework (Hymes 1972b, I974). This

framework holds that ways of communicating and speaking are part of a

largercultural system and that speaking - like other systems of behavior -

is organized in culturally specific ways. According to this framework, mem-

bers of a speech community share more than linguisticcode, they also share

similar norms about what constitutes socially appropriate speech. Perfor-mance is a focal point of modern folklore. Accordingto Hymes, performancesare a specific categorywithin the field of ethnographyof communication and

2







PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF TWO SPEECH EVENTS

as such have a specialcontributionto maketo sociolinguisticresearch(Hymes1972a).

Although modern folklorists differ in their definition of the term, they allgive prominence to performance as a special kind of communicative eventin which there is a relationship between stylized material, performer, andaudience (Abrahams I964, I972; Hymes '975; Lomax, I967, 1970). Perfor-mance is often used to describe instances of virtuoso speaking. Bauman(I972) contends that performance is a mode of speakingwhich encompasses,but is not limited to, artistic texts or folklore. Because performances arehighlighted and marked as special, they provide a general intensification of

the social experience.Performances exist on a continuum; speakers can sustain full perfor-

mances or can breakthrough into performance (Hymes 1975). Just as asystem of speaking will vary from one speech community to another, so toowill the nature and extent of stylizedcommunication and expressivebehavior- performances- vary. The rules governing performanceswill vary from onespeech community to another, and differences will be found in the speechacts and genres that can be performed as well as in the norms regulatingwhich individuals are allowed to assume the role of performer.

The extent to which institutions representcontexts for performances will

also vary. The emic markers- verbal and nonverbal strategies - individualsdisplay to signal they are performing will vary across speech communities.Differences will also be found in the outward signs audiencesdisplay to indi-cate that they understand the performer's intention as well as in the behav-ior the audience is expected to demonstrateduring the performance. Finally,speech communities vary in the extent to which stylized performances areexpected, permitted, or even required in day-to-day interaction (AbrahamsI970, 1972; Bauman 1972, I975, '977; Ben-Amos I972).

The concepts of performance just described are useful for analyzing andunderstanding the Kamehameha, Piestrup, and Philips studies mentioned

earlier. Familiar speech events - ones that the respective speech communi-ties would recognizeas performancesare present in both the Kamehamehaand Piestrup classrooms.

KEEP

A research program whose aim is improving the school achievement ofHawaiian children, the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP)conducts Ka Na' Pono, an experimental school with an enrollment of ap-proximately I30 students in kindergartenthrough grade 3. Similar to othercaste minority groups who fail in public schools, Hawaiians have beencharacterized as culturally deprived (Howard '974; Twombly ixoi); also like

other groups so labeled, many are from low income families residingin pub-lic housing or receiving public assistance and have parents who value edu-

3







MICHELE FOSTER

cation but are ambivalent about the responsiveness and effectiveness ofschools (Au & Jordan 198I).

The range of solutions tried by schools where Hawaiian children make upa large percentage of the population, and typically score in the first or sec-ond stanine on standardizedreading tests, resembled solutions that have beentried with other low achieving groups. Tutoring, classroom aides, enrich-

ment, and new types of commercial curricula produced little success (Au &Jordan 198I).

Ruling out motivation and cognitive and linguistic deficit as the cause ofreading failure, KEEP focused instead on cultural discontinuity in interac-

tional style, changing the structure of the reading lessons to incorporatepatterns of language use that were familiar to Hawaiian children. The in-

structionalapproach moved away from phonics and stressed comprehensionby focusing on students' personal experience. Comprehension was thus

enhanced through instruction that included a unique, culturally responsiveinteraction among teacher, child, and text (Au I980).

The results of the new reading programhave been impressive.Within fouryears, students had made significant gains in reading achievement, with theirreading scores on the Gates/MacGinnitie Reading Test moving from theeighth percentile to above the fiftieth (Calfee et al. I98I). The reorganiza-

tion of the KEEP reading lessons incorporated elements of talk story, aHawaiian performance in which personal experiences are mixed with folkmaterials.

A comparison of the transcripts of the KEEP reading lessons and thoseof talk story narrativescollected from Hawaiian children ages 5 to 7 yearsby Watson (1975; now Watson-Gegeo), reveals that while not identical thesespeech events are similarin a number of respects.Talk story routines as theyoccur in the community are cooperative, contrapuntal, or jointly producedstories marked by a highly rhythmical speech contour that resembles chant-ing. In addition, the most successful performers adhere to culturally appro-

priate norms for turn taking and conarration. Like the children whoproduced the talk story narrativescollected by Watson, the participants -

teachers and students - in KEEP reading lessons engage in conarrationthat

is a manifestation of mutual participationand a reinforcementof social rela-tionships (Au & Jordan I98I). Within the context of a familiarspeech event,students and teachers in KEEP classrooms cooperate to make meaning.

Piestrup

Piestrup (I973) studied 14 predominantly Black grade I classrooms in the

Oakland Public School System. The study introducedno treatment; t merelydocumented whetherspecific teaching styles were associated with better read-

ing achievement. In so doing, Piestrup identified six distinct teaching styles,

4








which she labeled the Vocabulary,Decoding, StandardPronunciation, WhiteLiberal, Black Artful, and Interrupting Styles.

Of these, the Black Artful was the most effective. Children in classroomsof Black Artful teachers scored significantly higher on standardizedreadingtests than pupils of Interruptingand White Liberal teachers. Children whowere taught using the Black Artful style also scored significantly lower ondialect measures than pupils of the Interruptingand Vocabulary teachers.

Black Artful teachers used a style filled with rhythmic language, rapidintonation, and encouraging gestures. Piestrup suggests that this style wasfamiliar to Black children because it resembled one of the art forms of Black

culture. An analysis of the transcriptsfrom the Piestrup study reveals a num-ber of stylistic structures in the verbal interaction between Black Artfulteachers and students: repetition, alliteration, call and response, use ofrhythm, variation in pace, creative language play. Some or all of these fea-tures are found in the stories and playsongs of Black children; in the sound-ing, rapping, toasts, and verbal art of Black adolescents and adult males; inBlack music; and in Black preaching style (Abrahans I970; Abrahams &Bauman '97'; Chernoff 1979; Davis I985; Heath I983; Keil I972; KochmanI970; Mitchell-Kernan 197I; Smitherman I977; Szwed I969; WatermanI952).

A key aspect in both the KEEP and Piestrup's Black Artful classrooms isthe presence of a culturally familiar speech event, one that would beappropriately abeled an artistic verbalperformanceand would be recognizedas artistic verbal communication by members of a speech community whoshare similar norms for evaluating aesthetic speech (Bauman I977).

Marva Collins's classroom: Additional evidence

Marva Collins, well known for her successes in Chicago's Westside Prepara-tory School, employs strategies similar to those of the Black Artful teach-ers. Whereas little scholarlyresearch has been done on her teaching, my own

observations and what little has been written indicate that her teaching styleis similar in many respects to the teacher behavior noted in the Piestrup andKEEP studies. Although Collins claims that her success results from usingphonics, it is unlikely that her success stems from this approach alone. Inlight of the evidence from the KEEP and Piestrup studies, congruencebetween her interactional style and the children's cultural experiences seemsa more plausible explanation. This congruence is especially evident in herinstructional style, which resembles behavior readily observed in family andpeer group settings.

Two features merit attention, especially since they have been previouslyidentified in the KEEP and Piestrup studies. Familiar language and partic-ipation patterns, including rhythmic language, call and response, repetition,and deliberate body motions were a part of group and individual children's

5







MICHELE FOSTER

recitations and presentations. Collins encourages these familiar interactionstyles, and through them childrendemonstrate not only knowledge, but also

their competence in the performance norms of the community (Hollins1982). Moreover, in her teaching, Collins displayed her own competence inthe performance norms of the community. Her interactional style was en-

gaging, punctuatedby rhythmicuse of language, filled with analogies, apho-

risms, and moral messages, all resembling Black preaching styles (Mitchell

1970). An adept performer, Collins describesa good teacheras a ham who

must always convey energy and enthusiasm to her students (Collins &

Tamarkin I982:117).

Warm Springs

Finally, although Philips's study of the Warm Springscommunity is not con-

cerned specificallywith performancestyle, it does suggesta link between per-

formance standards and the norms of face-to-face interaction and ideal

patterns of group relations that emerge in other interactions in the commu-

nity. The unwillingnessto dominate, evident in public events including ritual

activities; the calmness and control Warm Spring audiences use to judge the

quality of performances; the performers' ability to control their bodies in

dance; and the absence of false starts and rephrasingsare but a few Philips

mentions. With respect to audience behavior, she notes that Warm Springs'saudiences provide fewer verbal comments and visual clues to indicate they

are attending.

THE PRESENT STUDY: REGENTS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Elsewhere, I describe in great detail the history and characteristics of the

teachersand studentsat Regents, a community college in a largenortheastern

city of the United States (Foster I987). Let me note here that the collegeserves a predominantlyBlack student population. In fact, when it opened in

1972, its founders envisioned Regents as an Afro-American college. DuringI985-86, the period of time this study was undertaken, of the I,8oo students

attending the college, 85 percent were Afro-American, io percent of this

number coming originally from Anglo or FrancophoneCaribbean countries.

Another io percent, the majority Latinos, were enrolled in English as a Sec-

ond Language programs;4.5 percentwere classified as foreign, mainly from

African and Arab Middle Eastern countries; and less than 0.5 percent were

white.The class I studied had an overall enrollment of 33 students, whose aver-

age age was 30 years:There were 24 Afro-Americans (7 of whom were from

the Caribbean),6 Latinos, 2 Ethiopians, and I Caucasian. Two-thirdsof theclass members were women, and even with attrition, the ratio of women to

men remainedconsistent throughout the term. The average daily attendance

6








was 20, but the number of students present on any day fluctuated consider-ably. Two-thirds of the students were high school graduates; the remainderhad earned high school equivalency (GED) certificates. Although specificreading levels for this class are not available, results of a college-wide test-

ing program indicate that the standardized reading scores of students atRegents are low. The average reading achievement level of the 286 studentstested in the fall of I983 was 8.2 (Foster I983).

This class was studying Management I, a required course for all students

majoring in businesswhether they are pursuing an Associate of Arts in Busi-

ness Management degree or the Associate of Science in Business Adminis-

tration. Students majoring in other career programs - accounting, courtstenography, word processingspecialist, computer-aided drafting and design- might also elect to take Management I as one of their business electivecourses.

Although five discreteevents occur regularly in this classroom, the discus-sion that follows examines only two, the purpose being to demonstrate howone Black teacher in an urban community college incorporates familiar waysof speaking and appropriate performance norms into her classroom.

IT'S COOKIN' NOW

Performances

It's cookin' now is the phrase used by one student to characterize those

times during class when discussion is lively and participationactive. Labeled

performances because they resemble the expressive talk and preaching styleof Afro-Americans, performances are one of the ways that the teacher triesto involve students in class discussion.

In this classroom, the teacher is most likely to breakthrough into perfor-mance when she is trying to explain a concept that students have encoun-

tered in the text or a lecture; she uses performances to interpret the text,relating it to everyday life. Performances depend on active student input tohelp interpret the text. The successful performance draws students in andenlists their support in jointly constructing the meaning to be derived fromthe word.

In the sequence that follows, the teacher, Ms. Morris, is trying to get theclass to understand the budgeting process. She begins by questioning severalstudents about their personal budgets (lines I-87). In line 88, she begins adiscussion about capitalism, which continues until line io8, when she is inter-rupted. After the interruption, she returns to class, inquires about a student

before resuming the discussion about capitalism (lines 124-I82), eventuallytying it to budgeting (lines I84-I97). The sequence concludes with a generaldiscussion of economics and the effects of inflation on interest rates.

7







MICHELE FOSTER

Throughout the entire sequence, students are attentive, class participationlively, and the discussion spirited.

TranscriptionKey

= vowel elongation ( ) = actions of speakersor listeners= vowel elongation (longer) [ ] = explanations of terms in text

/= end of sentence, falling intonation ' over word = accented word or syllable= rising intonation or syllable= overlapping utterance {x sec pausel = pause in number of seconds= phrase break {[acc:]} = increase in rate

1:..: = repeated material {Idec:]} = decrease in rate= rising and holding intonation

Morris: ah/ Miss Summer/ um ah/ not even based on the Ibook// what do you know about budgets?

whatSummer: do I know about budgets?

Morris: I'm looking for 5everybody's collective consciousness/ of whatthey know about budget making// what do youknow about budgets? you have one? you gota budget?

Summer: yes 10

Morris: how do you do it?Summer: j:my house

Morris: your hOuse:lSummer: my moneyMorris: no/ I don't '5

know a house a money that budget?Summer: yeah yeah

I have a budget//Morris: {[acc:l you know a master pla:n to beat the economic

system?) 20

Summer: no/ not yet (laughs)Morris: well, that's what a

budget is umh/Summer: I was referring to budgeting money

for payin' the bills runnin' my my house// 25

Morris: um huh// that's a budget//Summer: yes/ it works//

Morris: you're sure?Summer: yes/ I:itworks//

Morris: it works:L 30Summer: for me//

Morris: for yoiu:lok// somebody else who wannashare their ideas about budget// I want to makesure everybody understands what a budget is inhere/ before we go on// yes, Miss Goins// 35

Goins: I was

just makin' mines up this morning// it has

(class laughs) un/ where who I have to pay upand yo know/ how much money do am I gonna gonna

get and how much money do I have to pay oTf 40

everybody and everything and how much money will I

have left and how much money will I put in thebank// that's basically what my budget

8








Morris: somebodyelse// thank you/ Miss Goins// yes/ Miss Tate// 45Tate: taking your/ well/ in other words/ taking your

your total income/ and your total expenses/ andum you take your priority expenses/

Morris: oh oh wait aminute// oh thank you Miss Tate// oh you should 50you should grant her a loan/ Bank of Commerce//(class laughs) let's get back at this/has everybody in here had accounting yet?

Students: yeahMorris: yeah 55

Students: yeah

Student: yes/ but we failed it//Morris: nah nah nahyou had accounting? I hope you use thoseaccounting principles// Miss Tate// that was a 6overy good answer// what you say?

Tate: I said you take

I:your total incomeMorris: your total in`o`me:j (writing on

the boardl 65Tate: and j:your total expenses

Morris: your total

expenses:1 (writing on the board) um what else?Tate: and then you take j:your priority expenses

Morris: your 70

priority expenses:ITate: the ones that are most

important// this is how I do it/ and um/ I add itup/ I add up all my priority expenses/ and Isubtract it from my total income/ and whatever 1 75have left

Morris: un huhTate: I figure out what I wanna spend it

on//Morris: oh oh any more ideas on a on on a on a 8o

budgets? what are they used for? what are budgetsused for? not even nothin' in the book what a arewhat are budgets used for?

Student: I:allocating money/Morris: allocating money:1 //ok/ another good ah ah term 85

there// oh we're gonna get into this// {[dec:1allocating money} (writing on the board)how many in here are capitalists?

O'Banyon: how many what?Morris: how many in here are capitalists? (students raise go

hands) one two three four// you know there'sonly four capitalists in here// do you know what acapitalist is? what is a capitalist?

Student: I:person whohas some capital// 95

Morris: person who has some capital//:I

but what's the trick behind it?Tate: a capitalist is

one who/un/ he already has money// I:he controlsmoney// 100

9








board) believe me ladies and gentlemen it took meseven years of education to find this out//

Student: howbout/ how bout if you're in between? i6o

Morris: ,:there aiin'tno in b6etween/ (class laughs) there ain't no in

between:I but but you can ascertain to get to acertain point// ;emember we talked about gettin' upto the mountain side? we may not get up there but 165we're gonna get pretty damn close// well/bu'dgeting/ bu'dgeting/ helps you get up thismountain// budgeting// ok// this is this really/see? a lot of people// I:America confuses a lot a

people it confu::ses a lot of 170people:[ always believing in the capitalist systemyeah yeah ye'ah// but/ there's very few capitalistsin our system//

O'Banyon: that's that only come out of themouth of the rich though I75

Morris: of course// they want toperpetuate the system that's keeping them rich//

O'Banyon: RightMorris: look at Miss Spence/ I can see the diamonds

sparkling in her mind// bo:y what you thinking? i8oSpence: oh are you saying we have a little Castro in

this society bloomin' under this capitalistic

Morris: ok/ the reason why why did I put I put thatthere? I was gonna get into into budgetok// and there are such things as budget games 185they let you believe that the American dreamis owning a home/ and blah blah blah blah blah blahblah and some of us strive all our lives/ to obtainproperty and material things/ and try to turnour minds// I may not never have a house cuz IgoI'm priced out of the market tell you all thetruth/ even with my little professional salary/but there's nothing wrong with me having fiftysix'ty seventy thousand dollars in the bainkmoney for Imieyou wouldn't have to depend upon 195financial ai::d or anything else/ if everytimeyou sneezed you made money like J. Paul Getty.you know uh economics I'm really gettin'interested I may go back and take some moreeconomics courses I'm really gettin' interested in 200

this stuff. Why am I talking about about this//Well, well, Lourdes/ Lourdes/ showed me a flyerabout the money supply// I know you hadeconomics in here// you talked about the moneysupply and MI/ does this sound familiar to some 205of you? ok/ we they're talking/ right now there'sa lot of money in the economy/ that means there'sgonna be inflation and when inflation happenswhat happens? to the interest rates//

Students: goes up (in 210

unison)Morris: ok the interest rates go up so I'm advising

11







MICHELE FOSTER

you all/ even though you're poor starvingstu:dents to put some money aside if you can/because/ if the interest rates go up/ you can take 215

advantage of these// (writes CD on the board)what are those?

Students: certificates of depositMorris: ok/ certificates of deposit so/ if you got one

thousand dollars in the bank (writing on the 220

board) right// and your yield ok/ ok/ interest isseven point forty-one percent/ I think that what the Five is offeringnow/ for six months CD/ that comes due in aboutfour weeks for me/ and the interest rate startsgoing up and they start offering nine percent// you know 225

what I'm gonna buy// nine percent CD//now there's nothingwrong with being a little capitalist// insteadof thinking/ ok/ I wanna get this super fly allkinda car here/ that costs me ten thousanddollars/ instead of having a ten thousand 230

treasury note payin' you money instead of ridin'around in a depreciating piece of machinery// yes/Mister Vincent//

Vincent: those CD/ those/ but don't youhave to keep your money in the bank for a certain 235amount of time?

Morris yes/ but it's up to you/ from sixmonths to one year/ to two years/ to two and a

ahalf to three

yearsand if

yougot fifty

thousand dollars they come back called jumbo 240

certificates o::h I want one o'f thKem// classlaughs)

Morris: ju'mbo certificates// Mr. O'Banyon/ ok/ got aquestion back here?

O'Banyon: those percentage rates do them 245apply like to/ um like/ that seven point forty-one does that applyfor/ uh/ if you work for capital and capital's notworking for you?

Morris: yeah/ or if you if/ uh/ ok I'llput you work for caipital you not uh you're not a 250

capitalist// if you give your money away this iswhat I'm talking about// I'd better put up my own

economic terms here// all right/ you have so muchdiscretionary income left over/ right? what isdiscretionary income? you answered my question 255over there already// what is discretionary income?I want you to start learning these terms/ andusing them see when you even though l'm teachingyou management/ you're supposed to be learningaccounting/ aid economics/ and/ all of this stuff 260

is interrelated// that's why I can talk about it//you're not learning economics over here/ and itdoesn't have anything to do with wi withmanagement over here/ you better learn thataccounting/ to make sure nobody don't cheat you out 265

of your money/ or mess with your books// ok/ now/um/ who asked a question somebody asked about

O'Banyon: Iasked about the percentage rates//

12








Morris: the percentage 270rates oh// if you have a one thousand certificate/this is compounded monthly/ monthly/ this interestso how much am I gonna get/ just just forget thisfigure/ so my thousand sits there for sixmonths and is compounding at seven percent// how much money do 275my thousand make?

Student: seven thousand dollarsStudent: no seventy dollarsMorris: huh who said it?

O'Banyon: you said seven percent 280

Morris: compoundingmonthly

O'Banyon: that/ that/ I I would assume seventy dollars//Morris: ok//that sounds like the right figure// 285

Compared to other speech events in this classroom, the talk in this se-

quence is more symmetrical. In the first part of this transcript, for example,students and teacher have equal numbers of turns and the students speak

almost as much as the teacher: 211 words to her 296; this contrasts sharplywith other speech events that are highly asymmetrical and in which the

teacher dominates the interactions, sometimes talking 23 times as much as

students. Furthermore, in this unlike in other interactions, students partici-

pate spontaneously, frequently interjecting unsolicited comments into theongoing talk. Several times during this episode when the teacher calls foraudienceresponse, as in lines 125-129, the class responds in unison. This calland responsepattern is fairly obvious. More subtle is the mechanismthat sheuses to elicit additional student comments. Throughout this speech event

there is evidence of cross-speaker anaphora; in lines 12-13, 29-32, 63-71,and 94-107, the teacher repeats student responses, echoing their exact wordswith rising intonation. Examples of this strategy follows:

SI: Yes, j:it worksS2: it w5irks:l

SI: 1: or meS2: for you:I

SI: a I:person who has some capitalS2: person who has some capital:

but what's the the trick behind it?SI: a capitalist is one who un he already hias

money I:he controls moneyS2: he controls moneyS3: yeah, it's

one who 1:controlsrmoney:1I:he keeps gettin' richer

SI: he keeps gettin' richer:ISt: I: e invests it to get more money

S2: he invests it to get more mo6ney:1

The resulting pattern is similar to a refrain in a song. While this verbal

pattern is characteristic of performances, it is not evident in other inter-

13







MICHELE FOSTER

changes the teacher has with students. Throughout the speech event, theteacher continues to develop and explain concepts and terms, extending theclass's understanding of them by bridging the gap between text and experi-ence. She specifically calls for active, vocal audience response in lines 125and 128; later, students begin contributing spontaneously to the talk with-out her calling for it (lines I37-I45). This creates the overlappingspeech andback-channelingthat is evidence of heightenedstudent interest and attentive-ness in this class.

At this point in the speech event - as if to decrease the distance, creategreater intimacy, and increase the interaction between performer and audi-

ence - Ms. Morris removes the podium from behind which she usually lec-tures and places it on a chair beside her desk. It is also at this point that sheemploys a number of expressive and stylistic devices to embellish her talk.Throughout this transcript,but particularly n lines I49-I97, she deliberatelymanipulates the grammatical structures, uses cadence and meter, repetition,vowel lengthening, catchy phrasing, figurative language, symbolism, andgestures to underscore her point. A few of these features taken from thetranscript exemplify these strategies.

Lines Item Features

i61-163 I:thereaiIn'tno in b6etween Grammatical structuresthere ai'n'tno in b'etween:I Meter/rhythm/cadenceRepetition

19-20 {[acc:] you got a master Vowel elongationpla:n Meter/rhythm/cadence

to beat theeconomic system?)

149-150 ([dec:] itfyou work for Meter/rhythm/cadencecapitalyou are not a

capitalist}

154-156 if you work for capital Meter/rhythm/cadenceyou are not a ca,pitalist{[dec:J if your capital wo'rksf6r you

you are a capitalist}

i69-171 J:Americaconfuses Vowel lengtheninga lot of people Repetition

it confu::sesa lot of people:1

164-168 remember we talked about Symbolism:gettin' up to the mountain Figurative languageside? Repetition

we may not get up therebut we're gonna get

pretty damn close

well budgetingbudgeting

helps you get up this mountain:1

14







MICHELE FOSTER

accountability. What would you d::o if everybodystarted jumpin' on your division about changing theform? what would you do? you're a manager there//{3 sec pause}// how would you fight for it?

Khalilah: if we're all held accountable for it 30Morris: [um huh

Khalilah: thenhow could they jump on one person?

Morris: J:butyou're still the manageryou're still the manager:I and ya kno::w 35

I:Jobsay it's your fault

{[acc:l in fact people think}it's your fauilt:l this is a group-made

deci::sion/ how would you go about handling it?What would what logically/ you know noth nothing 40nothing hard/ you know you're getting a lot ofnegative feedback / wh wh wh wh what would you doas a manager in that situation?

Khalilah: just explain to them that nobody in particular isat fault// 45

Morris: but you're talking to the o:ther managers.Khalilah: ahhhhh (sounding exasperated)

Morris: I know what you/ I'm just trying to get you to becreative/ I'm sorry to pick on you/ like that// Iwould/ first of all/ I would hold a meeting// I'd 50get everybody together/ I'd say listen we're gonnastick to this mess and y'all gonna back me u:p or Igonna fight with you all and I'll fi:re you if youdon't/ ok? does that make/ does that soundlogical? and we'll issue a report on why we did 55it/ and we'll sit down and meet with yo:u and takeinto account that you can't fill out form x butyou're gonna fill out form y// But you have tothink about that when you make a group deci::sioneven though everybody makes the decision and 6oyou're still the manager they don't say this in thebook// this come from Morris.

(continues lecturing) while individual decision making tendsto be faster/ group-aided decisions usually are of

a higher quality// group-aided decisions are 65usually of a higher quality/ so on this hand themanager uses the group/ makes a decision and takesthe responsibility// in either case you always haveto take the res res responsibility/ whether itsgroup aided or the group made the decision// 70somebody has to take the responsibility

Consistent with other performances, Ms. Morris also manipulatesa num-ber of stylistic devices. Although vowel elongation occurs with the greatestfrequency (lines I I, 26, 35, 52, 53, 56, and 59), changes in meter, tempo, andcadence also indicate she is performing.

LinesItem

Featuresi i your grou::p made a decision Vowel lengthening

34-38 J:butyou're still the m'anager Repetitionyou're still the manager:1 Meter/cadence/rhythm

16







MICHELE FOSTER

over, the repetitionof the /s/ coupled with various vowel sounds in lines 2-3forms an alliterative sound contour. In lines 9-IO Ms. Morris manipulatesthe cadence and meter by speeding up the phrasing. Finally, in lines I 1- 2,

she employs patterned repetition for effect.There is evidence which suggests that performances require the active par-

ticipation of students to move them forward. Several times during perfor-mance sequences, the teacher castigates the class for failing to respond to anincipient performance; in an episode that occurred in late November, aftercalling for participation and receiving none, she suggests lecturing as a lessdesirable alternative style of talk.

In each of these performances, by deliberately manipulating rhythm andgrammatical structures, varying intonation, and using repetition, gestures,and imagery, the teacher shifts from a more mainstream to a more Blackstyle of speaking to accomplish certain communicative ends. The most suc-cessful performances evoke personal stories and narratives. Personal knowl-edge enters the classroom through narratives, and they become the vehiclethrough which participants get meaning from and make sense out of aca-demic content. Problem posing occurs through narrative units, and theseactivate dialogic interactions among classroom participants (Freire 1970).

The podium from which the teacher lectured served as a prop and trig-

gered an audience response that began even before the class. Frequently, asthe students sat in the hallway waiting for class to begin, the sound of thepodium being wheeled down the hallway would prompt anticipatory com-ments such as that'sher, here she comes, it'scoming, as if to announcethe entrance of a performer.

The fact that students eagerly anticipatedthe teacher'sappearancecoupledwith her frequent threat to lecture if they failed to participate highlightsthis speech event as special and contrasts it with other classroom discourse.

Beyond this, however, there is evidence that indicates that more than beingenjoyable, the performancesservedan importantmnemonic function for the

students. They were more likely to recall information conveyed through nar-rative units and performance than they were to remember information notcommunicated in this manner. And, although they reportedthat the teacherrepeated things over and over again, this fact is not borne out by the data.What students seem to be reacting to are the oral embellishments of perfor-mances and narratives. Variations in pitch, changes in tempo, vowel elon-

gation, repetition, and other stylistic devices seemed to assist students in

recalling the information they heard with astonishing accuracy. Three inci-

dents serve as examples.The first comes from the first transcript. In this interchange, a student

asks a question (line 245). Interestingly, he does not employ the semanticlabel capitalist in his question. Rather, he subsumes the term in the teach-

er'sdefinition, encoding the question in exactly the same rhythmicallyembel-

18








lished language hat she hademployedearlier o distinguish hose who arefrom those who are not capitalists lines I49-I56).

In a second example,the teacherundertakesa reviewof the material obe covered n preparationor an upcomingquiz. Occasionallyduringthisreview, he bursts nto spontaneous erformancesn one section.Despite hefact thattheclass reviewed hematerialo be covered n the quiz, the gradeson the exams werepoor. Of 25 exams, 18studentsreceiveda failinggrade.Nonetheless,studentsdid exceptionallywell on the material hat was per-formed. Outof 25 students,21 got more than half of the points awardedfor the question.

Another exampleof the mnemonicfunction of performanceoccurredwhen the teacherhas the studentsdevelopa typical familybudget n orderto help them understandvariablecosts, fixed costs, and other budgetingterms.

Morris: Now we know what fixed costs are and weneed a volunteer. We gonna make up someah. We're gonna make up a family budget.(writes on the board) okIf you haven't done this already withyour finances we gonna have the fixedcosts up here (writes on the board)

So what's a fixed cost what's the firstthing you gotta pay?

Class: (in unison) Your rent[rent

[rentMorris: Ren::t?

Students: First, you pay yourselfMorris: Thank yo::u

Yourself (claps hands and stamps foot)Yourself (claps hands and stamps foot)

We're not usedto thlnking th'atway.

Yourself

i'syour savings a'ccountYour mad mo:ney

j[acc:J Your hope to die} mo:neyf quit mo:ney

OK so l'ma put savings up thereno

y o u r s e l f

Fivedays later,she asks the class:

Morris: Who's the first person you pay in a budget?

Class: Yourself.

In this classroom,performancesre distinguishedromotherspeech ventsnot only by topic but more importantlyby stylistic features.Compared o

19







MICHELE FOSTER

other classroom speech events that are asymmetrical, highly regulatory,evaluative, and dominated by the teachers, performances are participatory,spontaneous, interactive events that require mutuality between teacher andstudents. Whereas the tone of other speech events is serious, that of perfor-mances is perceivedby students to be humorous, and they frequentlyrespondto performances with laughter. What seems to account for the difference intone and student response is the manner in which performances are stylized.Performances are stylisticallyembellished vocally as well as gesturally. Pro-sodic features such as vowel elongation; changes in meter, tempo, andrhythm;cross-speaker anaphora; single speaker repetitions;manipulation of

grammatical structures; and use of figurative language and gestures are thesalient markers of performances.

Compared to other speech events, which stress conformity to rules, allowlittle student input, and are more regulatoryand institutional in nature, per-formances are creative, humorous, and allow for more individual contribu-tion. In performances, there is a shift to language and behavior that is lessmainstream and more Black. The talk is more participatory, with studentscontributingspontaneously. In spite of the fact that the talk resemblesplay,the focus of these performances is instructional, the content intellectual, andit is through performances that explanations and learning take place.

Metaphors

Although one features of performance is its use of metaphor, performancesare not distinguished by this single characteristicalone. Nevertheless,the useof metaphoris a significantaspect of this particularclass. This section exam-ines the way metaphor is used in this class.

Morris: What are your goals?Student: To get an A in this courseMorris: Aren't you a member of the F-troops

Morris: Do you want to see the second part of the film?Student: NoMorris: Who said no? (student acknowledges)

Wouldn't you know someone who's unemployed. What about the rest of you?

Student: You'd better study if you want to to stay in the Bank. I'm planning to get a jobin the Bank.

Student: I didn't come to school to be unemployed.

The participants in these exchanges are employing metaphors to communi-cate. A recurringevent, talking through metaphors forms a discontinuousspeech event that can be invoked at will by the participants.

During the semester, the teacher used several metaphors and created anextended one through which she talked to students and through which theycommunicated with each other. Two months into the semester, the teacher

20








divided the class into four working groups. Named after three local Blackbusinesses and one State agency, with whose characteristics students werefamiliar, these groupings enabled the teacher to create a total metaphoricalsystem that could be extended throughout the semester and pressed into ser-vice at will.

On the day that she first introduced the metaphor, the teacher tells theclass:

I don't want the Bank of Commerce to get swelled heads. Now, don't getswelled heads because you you if you want want to remain if you want tobe in the Bank of Commerce and if you give someone in Cruz Construc-tion Company a hard time you may end up in that group. Now, I wantsome competition in here. I'm gonna give you a class project. You all aregonna be managersand um this State agency, the Division of EmploymentSecurity if you don't want to be unemployed you gonna be fighting toget jobs in Cruz Construction and ah unh Western Union in order tokeep your position. I'm gonna have you do a class project in here. So, ifyou don't like the company or the State agency you work for you gonnahave to do something about your grades. I'm not gonna be telling youunh it any more. So, I'm just gonna let you sit with your most deserved

group.... Oh, yeah I pick on the DES [Division of Employment Secu-rityl, I pick on the DES umh and the Bank of Commerce a lot. I'm gonnacall on them for all my questions.

Laterthat same day, she invokes the metaphorto banterwith the students.

Morris: Is this the group with all the money? You better give me a house loan.Student: Depends on how good your credit rating is.Morris: I have an excellent credit rating.

This metaphor operates on multiple levels. A business metaphor is ideallysuited for use in a managementclass, thus creatingone level of meaning. Thefact that all of the businesses are Black owned and operate within the local

Black community superimposes another level of meaning. Finally, the cir-cumstances of the companies themselves add more depth to the metaphor.Included among these circumstances are (a) the Bank of Commerce, reor-ganized from another that was closed because of insolvency, has becomesuccessful; (b) the construction company, one of the most successful mi-nority-owned companies in the city, was started by a common laborer; and(c) Western Union, even though it provides a valuable service for commu-nity members without bank accounts, charges exorbitant fees for its check-cashing services. The metaphor that emerges is intricate, one nested withmany layers of meaning that relate and allow for the interplay of ideas.

Frequentlythroughout the semester, the teacher brings the metaphor intoplay to call on students, to urge them to do their best on an assignment orquiz, or to compliment them. Examples of this strategy are:

21







MICHELE FOSTER

I have notes up here. Can somebody unh fill in from the Division ofEmployment Security.... Come up here and put it on the board. If youleave anything out unh the Bank of Commerceyou should tell them whatit is.

Oh, oh wait a minute. Thank you Miss Taylor oh you should grant her aloan Bank of Commerce.

I do hope the Bank of Commerce, you keep all your members. I do hopeDES gets smaller.

We'll pick on the Bank of Commerce today. Everybody like that. We'llpick on the Bank of Commerce. The Bank of Commerce is gonna dochapter 12 and do a class presentation on motivating job performance.

In most of these excerpts, the teacher is communicating to the studentsthrough the metaphor; however, in the last two of the four examples givenearlier,studentsare using the metaphorto talk among themselves. It is worthnoting that the students quickly picked up on the metaphor's intent, usingit to communicate among themselves only four days after the metaphor wasfirst used by the teacher. Many other conversations like these took place

among the students when the teacher was not present.An analysis of the speech acts in which participants use the metaphor is

instructive because it reveals that in addition to being used to compliment oradmonish students, it is also being used to engender competition betweengroups or individuals. Ordinarily, the teacher does not encourage competi-tion between students and they rarelycompete with each other. Yet, by usingthe company theme where competition is appropriate, a key aspect of busi-ness is introduced into the classroom. Indeed, competition deemed inappro-priate in this classroom is permitted within the metaphorical frame. Thus,student challenges such as You'd better study if you want to stay in the

Bank, I'm planning to get a job in the Bank are acceptable, whereas undernormal circumstances such competitive and individualisticstatements wouldbe deemed inappropriate.

This use of metaphor corresponds to Black's (1962) interactionisttheory,which holds that metaphorscan be used to suppress, select, or organize fea-tures of the principal subject by applying statements about it that normallyapply only to a secondary subject, what Black calls a set of associated mpli-cations. In this instance, the associated implicationsof the business world -competition to get ahead - are being applied intentionally or not to a usu-ally noncompetitive classroom to produce maximum academic achievement.Consequently, this metaphorenables students to compete and challengeeachother playfully while still maintainingtheir personae of noncompetitiveness.Moreover, using the metaphor to encourage group competition, the teacher

22








is able to bring out the best from all groups while at the same time encour-aging individual students to excel.As used in the classroom, metaphor serves two important functions. First,

it enables the classroom participants to interpreteach other's words figura-tively instead of literally, resulting in a kind of indirection frequently foundin Black communities (Mitchell-Kernan197I; Smitherman 1977). Second, itpoints out the cooperativefunction of competition, which when used in wayscongruent with Afro-American community norms, creates an atmosphere -

a dynamic opposition - that compels individuals to give their best perfor-mances (Abrahams I976; Kochman I98I).

In summary, in this class familiar speech events - performances and met-aphor - link classroom content to real life and create a bridge between textand experience. The salient features of these speech events are the rhetori-cal strategies that characterize the preaching style, the expressive language,and verbal art forms of Afro-American communities (Abrahams 1964;FolbI980; Heath I983; Kochman I970; Mitchell I970; Mitchell-Kernan '97';

Smitherman 1977). Using performances to establish a bridge between textand personal experience is also an important feature of an effective Afro-American sermonic style (Davis I985; Mitchell I970). By deliberately manip-ulating rhythm, intonation, repetition, imagery, and grammatical structures,

the teacher effects a style shift - from mainstream to more Black - to accom-plish certain communicative ends.

The two speech events have at least one other thing in common besidessimilar rhetorical and linguistic devices. In both, the teacher's attention isdirected at the group; the group, not the individual, is the organizing prin-ciple behind the speech events. Cooperative not competitive behavior isstressed, and the interactionsamong participantsare marked by social equal-ity, egalitarianism, and mutuality stemming from a group, not an individ-ual, ethos.

PARTICIPANTS VIEWPOINTS

To what extent is the analysis presented here interpretive, that is, how welldoes it conform to what the participants are actually experiencing? Thisquestion is taken up next. Considered first is the teacher'sviewpoint, that is,what she says she is doing, and how she explains her behavior. Next the stu-dents' perspectives are discussed, primarily how they react to the classroomevents and the teacher's behavior and how they compare this class and thisteacher with others. Finally, in the next section these two points of view are

converged, along with my own interpretation and analysis.

Never having taken a teacher-trainingcourse, Ms. Morris, nonetheless,hasan explicit model of good teaching which derives from several sources. Oneof these is grounded in and shaped by the cultural and social experiences of

23







MICHELE FOSTER

her membership in an Afro-American community. Her teaching style hasgrown out of her involvement with the Black church. One of her models for

good teachingcame from listeningto Black preacherson the radio. Althoughunable to name the features that constitute a Black sermonic style, theteacher believes that preachers are effective because they are able to take

complicatedtheology, break it down to the ordinaryperson; teach, entertain,and keep the people's attention (cf. Mitchell I970:100).

The model of the preacher as teacher guides her in conducting classes that

motivate, are relevant, and develop student interest.

This stuff is boring it can be very boring. . . . I gotta find a way to make

a subject interesting. I say oh God, this here is dull that's where yourimagination gets turned on. I use all my creativity to make the subject

undull. I try to turn them on to make them feel that what they are learn-

ing is relevant. No matter what you're teaching take that subject andsomehow make it relevant and exciting. I try to be excited about what Iam teaching;it's the amount of enthusiasm and teacher's eaching style. ...

I had a lot of bad teachers in management, technical, dry, and boring. I

learned because I was hungry, but our students won't stand for it, so I

want to involve them in the classroom. You have to make your subject

interesting. If I were teaching Latin, I'd walkin

witha

toga that wouldmake it interesting. I'd do anything to get their attention and make it

interesting. I try to give them real life in the classroom. Are the students

involved? You know if Black folks ain't talking and excited and involved,

they ain't learning a thing, but most of what happens in school is dull.

Dry, technical, and boring. School tries to make Black folks dull, but

many of our students won't stand for it.

She is also convinced that schooling weakens the Black community byteaching successful students to break their ties to the community by reject-

ing its behavior, norms, and values. Her descriptionof successful Blacks who

have adopted a superiorityattitude, no longer identify with the community,and have chosen an individual over a group ethos comes through in thisinterview excerpt.

A good way of looking at that [ego], Michele would be you know how

some Black folks are once they get education right, they get a superiorityattitude. Nigger, I got mine, you gotta get yours the best way you can

cause I'm Black and I done made it and I ain't gonna be bothered with

you, you're trash. . . . ho::ne:y a lot of teachers around here got theirnose up in the air and I can't stand that you know I can't stand that so I

speak to everybody you know so their ego you know some people reallyget off making something difficult.

24








The stuidents concur with much of what the teacher says. For instance,when they describe the ideal teacher, it is always as one who is fun,interesting, and exciting ; one who draws from real life to explain

abstract concepts; and who uses the security of the group to promote indi-vidual well-being. Listen to the student voices:

I like the way she draws from our real-life experiencesto explain the text-book. I can learn from her presentation, manners, and ways. I don't learnfrom books, I learn from people.

School and teachers they're boring what they're teaching don't help you

make it in the real world. But I can tell Ms. Morris has been out thereknows the real deal. If a teacher can't show me how what they're teach-ing and what's in the book has anything to do with me, my life, and whatI see around me, I can't remember it, don't need it, and won't learn it.

In some classes you are afraid to raise your hand. In Ms. Morris's classpeople aren't afraid because she says help them out. In Ms. Barnes'sclass, you feel like you're swimming alone if she doesn't help you, you'lldrown. In Ms. Morris's class you know if you jump in the water, some-one will come by and help you out and you won't drown. I'm even afraidto ask questions in Ms. Barnes's class.

A GROUP-CENTERED ETHOS

The speech events describedin this article are not the most significant aspectof this class. In fact, considering them apart from the social structure thatsustains them is misleading. However, there is significance in the feeling thatthey lessen the social distance and create an identification with indigenousBlack cultural norms. It is significant that particular speech events promotea group-centered ethos toward learning and achievement and thereby rein-

force group-sanctioned norms. It is against this backdrop that the speechevents discussed here should be considered.

Almost all of what takes place in this class is group centered. Learning isa social event, not an individual endeavor. The activities in this classroomare unlike those in most others, where the typical learning strategy matchesone learner with a text; where the goal of instruction is to lead learners toindependence; where individuals compete against each other; and where themost successful teachers produce students who read, calculate, and learnwithout the assistance of teacher or other students. Learning in this class isstructured as a social activity; individual achievement emerges from group

competition; texts are interpreted by the group and only by talking aboutthem collectively do texts come to have meaning.

25







MICHELE FOSTER

This group focus is consistent with findings from researchconducted inAfro-American communities, which propose that competition - especiallyin

those domains the community considers work - is not the norm (Szwed &

Abrahams 1979). Other researchhighlights the impact that a group-centered

ethos has on literacy activities, stressing in particularhow written materials

only come to have meaning when interpretedthrough the experiencesof the

group, which turns them into occasions for public discussion (Heath x983).

Most of what happens in classrooms exhorts individuals to excel by en-

couraging them to compete against each other. Yet, when it comes to Afro-

American students, the researchstrongly indicates that encouraging a com-

petitive atmosphere for learning that pits individual against individual maynot be the best strategy to promote achievement. Research by Fordham

(I988) demonstratesthe conflict that adolescents encounter when they try to

achieve academicsuccess by adopting an individualethos in the face of com-

munity norms that value a group-centeredone. Disaffiliation with the Black

community and its norms invariably accompanies school success. Twenty

years ago, Labov noted similar conflicts in the adolescent males he studied

in New York, highlightingin particularthe linguisticconsequencesof being

a lame (Labov I973; Labov & Cohen I969).

Paralleling this is the finding that successful urban students - those who

stay in school - are more depressed, more conformist, less assertive,and lessconnected to their communities than their counterparts who have dropped

out (Fine I987). This is the bad news.

The good news is that some schools are promoting achievement by using

a group-centered approach to learning and meeting with success. The lim-

its of space dictate a brief discussion of only two. Bill Green, the principal

of Jordan Mott Junior High School in the South Bronx, has radically

improved the achievement patterns of poor Black and Hispanic students

merely by altering the relationship of individual students to the group. At

Mott, which uses a sports analogy, individual students (players)are rewarded

only for the accomplishmentsof the class (team). Students who attend Mottcome from elementary schools that rank 574 and 614 out of 623 schools on

standardized reading tests but, upon completion, they place in the top I I

percent of all New York public schools. Individuals excel and their efforts

are valued because they benefit the group. The competition that ensues has

been described as fierce (Bishop I986), and the principal reports that the

students are so enthusiastic about school that he has to keep them from get-

ting too excited. Last year, after Green returned to the regular program,

his students' reading and math achievement declined substantially (personal

communication).

Another example can be found in the work of Uri Treisman (1985), amath professor at the University of California at Berkeley, who has discov-

ered that using a group-centered approach to teaching math has not only

26








reduced the attrition rate for Black students, but that students taught in thismanner have achievedhigher levels in math as measuredby standardizedtestscores than their Asian counterparts.

What is noteworthy is these students come from varying socioeconomicbackgrounds, from the middle class to those perjorativelylabeled the under-class, yet all have benefited from the collective ethos. Taken together, thesestudies suggest strongly that rethinking the emphasis that teachers andschools place on individual achievement, competition, and status differen-tiation may be a critical first step in improving the academic achievementofBlack students. By adopting cooperative learning activities congruent with

the group ethos of the Black community, institutions can and do actuallybuild on its strength.

REFERENCES

Abrahams, R. D. (1964). Deep down in the jungle: Negro narrative folklore from the streetsof Philadelphia. Chicago: Aldine.

(I970). Positively Black. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.(1972). Jokin': The training of the Man of Words in talking broad. In T. Kochman(ed.),

Rappin' and stylin' out. Champaign-Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 215-40.

-1976). Talking Black. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.Abrahams, R. D., & Bauman, R. (197I). Sense and nonsense in St. Vincent: Speech behaviorin a Caribbean speech community. American Anthropologist 73:762-72.

Au, K. (1980). Participant structure in a reading lesson with Hawaiian children: An analysisof a culturally appropriate instructional event. Anthropology and Education QuarterlyI1(2):91-115.

Au, K., & Jordan, C. (1981). Teaching readingto Hawaiian children:Finding a culturallyappro-priate solution. In H. Trueba, G. Guthrie, & K. Au (eds.), Culture and the bilingual class-room. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House. 139-51.

Bauman, R. (1972). Differential identity and the social base of folklore. In A. Paredes & R.Bauman (eds.), Towards new perspectives in folklore. Austin: University of Texas Press.

39-41.(1975). Verbal art as performance. American Anthropologist 77:290-311.

(1977).The

nature of performance. InR.

Bauman (ed.), Verbalart as performance.Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 3-58.Ben-Amos, D. (1972). Toward a definition of folklore in context. In A. Paredes & R. Bauman

(eds.), Towards new perspectives in folklore. Austin: University of Texas Press. 3-15.Bishop, M. (1986). Update. Sports Illustrated. io February. 43-44.Black, M. (I962). Models and metaphors: Studies in language and philosophy. Ithaca, N.Y.:

Cornell University Press.Calfee, R. C., et al. (1981). Designing reading instruction for cultural minorities: The case of

the Kamehameha Early Education Project (ED 215 039). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Uni-versity, Graduate School of Education.

Cazden, C. B. (1986). Classroom discourse. In M. Wittrock (ed.), Handbook of research onteaching. New York: Macmillan. 432-63.

Chernoff, J. M. (979). African rhythm and African sensibility: Aesthetics and social actionin African musical idioms. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Collins, M., & Tamarkin, C. (1982). Marva Collins' way. Los Angeles: J. P. Tarcher.Davis, G. L. (I985). 1got the word in me and I can sing it you know: A study of the performed

African-American sermon. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Erickson, F., & Mohatt, G. (i982). Culturalorganizationof participationstructures n two class-

27







MICHELE FOSTER

rooms of Indian students. In G. Spindler (ed.), Doing the ethnography of schooling: Edu-cational anthropology in action. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Fine, M. (1987). Silencing in public schools. Language Arts. 64(2):157-74.Folb, E. A. (1980). Runnin' down some lines: The language and culture of Black teenagers.

Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Fordham, S., & Ogbu, J. U. (1986). Black students'school success: Coping with the burden of

acting white. Urban Review. i8(3):176-2o6.Fordham, S. (i988). Racelessnessas a factor in Black students' school success: Pragmaticstrat-

egy or pyrrhic victory? Harvard Educational Review. 58(l):54-84.Foster, M. (1983). Studyof student reading levels. TransferOpportunitiesProject: RegentsCom-

munity College._ (1986). Folklore and performance theories: Models for analyzing classrooms. Special

Qualifying Paper, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

(1987). It's cooking now : An ethnographic study of a successful Black teacher in anurban community college. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Harvard University.Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Seabury.Gouldner, H. (1978). Teachers' pets, troublemakers and nobodies: Black children in elemen-

tary school. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood.Heath, S. B. (1983). Wayswith words: Language, life, and work in communitiesand classrooms.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Hollins, E. R. (1982). The Marva Collins story revisited: Implications for regular classroom

instruction. Journal of Teacher Education 33(l):37-40.Howard, A. (1974). Ain't no big thing: Coping strategies in Hawaiian-Americansociety. Hon-

olulu: University Press of Hawaii.Hymes, D. (1972a). Contribution of folklore to sociolinguistics. In A. Paredes & R. Bauman

(eds.), Towards new perspectives in folklore. Austin: University of Texas Press. 124-34.

(1972b). Models of the interaction of language and social life. In J. Gumperz & D.Hymes (eds.), Directions in sociolinguistics: The ethnographyof communication. New York:Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 35-71.

(1974). Foundations in sociolinguistics: An ethnographic approach. Philadelphia: Uni-versity of Pennsylvania Press.

(1975). Breakthrough into performance. In D. Ben-Amos & K. Goldstein (eds.), Per-

formance and communication. The Hague: Mouton. I1-74.

Keil, C. (1972). Motion and feeling through music. In T. Kochman (ed.), Rappin'and stylin'out. Champaign-Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 83-100.

Kochman, T. (1970). Toward an ethnography of Black American speech behavior. In N. Whit-ten & J. Szwed (eds.), Afro-American anthropology: Contemporaryperspectives. New York:

Free Press. 145-62.(1981). Black and white styles in conflict. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Labov, W. (1973). The linguisticconsequencesof being a lame. Languagein Society 2(1):81-1 15.Labov, W., & Cohen, P. (1969). A note on the relation of reading failure to peer-group sta-

tus in urban ghettos. Teachers College Record 70(5):395-405.Lomax, A. (1967). The good and the beautiful in folksong. Journal of American Folklore

80:213-35.(1970). The homogeneity of Afro-American musical style. In N. Whitten & J. Szwed

(eds.), Afro-American anthropology: Contemporary perspectives. New York: Free Press.

I81-201.

Mascias, J. (i987). The hidden curriculumof Papago teachers: American Indian strategies for

mitigating cultural discontinuity in early schooling. In G. Spindler (ed.), Interpretiveethnog-raphy of education at home and abroad. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

Mitchell, H. (i97o). Black preaching. Philadelphia: Lippincott.Mitchell-Kernan, C. (1971). Language behavior in a Black urban community. Working Paper

Number 23. Berkeley: University of California, Language Behavior Research Laboratory.

Philips, S. (1972). Participationstructuresand communicativecompetence: Warm Springschil-dren in community and classroom. In C. Cazden, V. John, & D. Hymes (eds.), Functions

of language in the classroom. New York: Teachers College Press. 370-94.

28








(1983). The invisible culture:Communicationin classroom and community on the WarmSprings Indian reservation. New York: Longman.Piestrup, A. M. (1973). Black dialect interference and accommodation of reading instruction

in first grade. Monograph of the Language Behavior Research Laboratory. Berkeley: Uni-versity of California.

Rist, R. (1970). Student social class and teacher expectations. Harvard Educational Review

40:411-51.(I 973). The urban school: A factory for failure. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.(1976). Invisible children. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Smitherman, G. (1977). Talkin'and testifying. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.Szwed, J. (i969). Musical adaptation among Afro-Americans. Journal of American Folklore.

82:1 12-21.

(1970). Afro-American musical adaptation. In N. Witten & J. Szwed (eds.), Afro-American anthropology: Contemporary perspectives.

New York: Free Press.219-27.

Szwed, J., & Abrahams, R. (I979). After the myth: Studying Afro-American cultural patternsin the plantation literature. In D. Crowley (ed.), African folklore in the new world. Austin:University of Texas. 65-86.

Treisman, U. (I985). A study of the mathematics performance of Black students at the Uni-versity of California Berkeley. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of CaliforniaBerkeley.

Twombly, A. (I90o). The native Hawaiian of yesterdayand today. Speech read at the MohonkConference. October.

Waterman, R. (I952). African influence on the music of the Americas. In. S. Tax (ed.), Accul-turation in the Americas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 81-94.

Watson, K. A. (1975). Transferable communicative routines: Strategies and group identity intwo speech events. Language in Society 4(1):53-72.

29

its cookin now

Documents