I did not know Ebonics was a language...let alone a form of English

[Paslode]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documen...onics-experts#

Justice Department Seeks Ebonics Experts
DEA wants “Black English” linguists to decipher bugged calls


AUGUST 23--The Department of Justice is seeking to hire linguists fluent in Ebonics to help monitor, translate, and transcribe the secretly recorded conversations of subjects of narcotics investigations, according to federal records.

A maximum of nine Ebonics experts will work with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta field division, where the linguists, after obtaining a “DEA Sensitive” security clearance, will help investigators decipher the results of “telephonic monitoring of court ordered nonconsensual intercepts, consensual listening devices, and other media”

The DEA’s need for full-time linguists specializing in Ebonics is detailed in bid documents related to the agency’s mid-May issuance of a request for proposal (RFP) covering the provision of as many as 2100 linguists for the drug agency’s various field offices. Answers to the proposal were due from contractors on July 29.

In contract documents, which are excerpted here, Ebonics is listed among 114 languages for which prospective contractors must be able to provide linguists. The 114 languages are divided between “common languages” and “exotic languages.” Ebonics is listed as a “common language” spoken solely in the United States.

Ebonics has widely been described as a nonstandard variant of English spoken largely by African Americans. John R. Rickford, a Stanford University professor of linguistics, has described it as “Black English” and noted that “Ebonics pronunciation includes features like the omission of the final consonant in words like ‘past’ (pas’ ) and ‘hand’ (han’), the pronunciation of the th in ‘bath’ as t (bat) or f (baf), and the pronunciation of the vowel in words like ‘my’ and ‘ride’ as a long ah (mah, rahd).”

Detractors reject the notion that Ebonics is a dialect, instead considering it a bastardization of the English language.

The Department of Justice RFP does not, of course, address questions of vernacular, dialect, or linguistic merit. It simply sought proposals covering the award of separate linguist contracts for seven DEA regions. The agency spends about $70 million annually on linguistic service programs, according to contract records.

In addition to the nine Ebonics experts, the DEA’s Atlanta office also requires linguists for eight other languages, including Spanish (144 linguists needed); Vietnamese (12); Korean (9); Farsi (9); and Jamaican patois (4). The Atlanta field division, one of the DEA’s busiest, is the only office seeking linguists well-versed in Ebonics. Overall, the “majority of DEA’s language requirements will be for Spanish originating in Central and South America and the Caribbean,” according to one contract document.

The Department of Justice RFP includes a detailed description of the crucial role a linguist can play in narcotics investigations. They are responsible for listening to “oral intercepts in English and foreign languages,” from which they provide verbal and typed summaries. “Subsequently, all pertinent calls identified by the supervising law enforcement officer will be transcribed verbatim in the required federal or state format,” the RFP notes.

Additionally, while “technology plays a major role in the DEA’s efforts, much of its success is increasingly dependent upon rapid and meticulous understanding of foreign languages used in conversations by speakers of languages other than English and in the translation, transcription and preparation of written documents.” (11 pages).

The DOJ Document

[Richard]

It's been around awhile for anyone who's been paying attention - especially as it relates to educational issues in the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebonics

Richard

[echoes]

Originally Posted by Richard

It's been around awhile for anyone who's been paying attention - especially as it relates to educational issues in the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebonics

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search
For African American U.S. English that is distinct from standard U.S. English, see African American Vernacular English." Richard

Well, all I can say is, No, Sir. And my blonde hair stands up when wikipedia is used as a credible reference, Richard, Sir. As I have been taught that by QP's on this site.

My Father and Step-Mom were both Eduataors at the MS and HS levels, both having multiple Masters degrees. And when I ponder the question of weather or not ebonics is acceptable, I fall back on Their shared experiences in the classroon, and wanting their students to succeed! Proper English is a must!

Speak English, or get the FU*K out of America, is also MHO.

Holly

[PSM]

Originally Posted by echoes

Speak English, or get the FU*K out of America, is also MHO.

Holly

Well, I wouldn't go that far. I've been to New England, and I get by much better in Mexico.

Pat

[Sigaba]

Originally Posted by PSM

Well, I wouldn't go that far. I've been to New England, and I get by much better in Mexico.

Pat

Wicked good.

[Pete]

My problem is the classification - Ebonics.

I have no problem with the Feds looking for someone who can understand the slang of the people talking.

Again I live in a mixed neighborhood and blacks and whites pretty much talk the same - with some variations. But its when you go downtown or out on the Murc where the language changes.

The funny ones are the white teens trying to be "all ghetto" in their talk, walk, look and music. They just can't pull it off.

[echoes]

Originally Posted by PSM

Well, I wouldn't go that far. I've been to New England, and I get by much better in Mexico.

Pat

Pat, I hear you, but,

Honestly, when did it become bad to say that Americans should speak ENGLISH?

Seriously, This Is America, G**Damnit!!!!! PC be damned!!!! Either Be an American, or Get the FU*K OUT, is my humble opinion!!

For goodness sake, Our soldiers are DYING in war to protect our way of life! The least we can do is honor that, and show some respect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holly

[Sigaba]

Originally Posted by echoes

Pat, I hear you, but,

Honestly, when did it become bad to say that Americans should speak ENGLISH?

Seriously, This Is America, G**Damnit!!!!! PC be damned!!!! Either Be an American, or Get the FU*K OUT, is my humble opinion!!

For goodness sake, Our soldiers are DYING in war to protect our way of life! The least we can do is honor that, and show some respect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holly

Who should be the arbiter of what is and is not "American"? You? Me? Or individual Americans themselves?

[echoes]

Originally Posted by Sigaba

Who should be the arbiter of what is and is not "American"? You? Me? Or individual Americans themselves?

Sigaba,

In all sincerity, you are far "smarter" than me, obviously. My post is my own opinion, and in that vein, you may draw your own conclusions.

You know where I stand, in answer to your question.

Holly

[Richard]

Originally Posted by echoes

Well, all I can say is, No, Sir. And my blonde hair stands up when wikipedia is used as a credible reference, Richard, Sir. As I have been taught that by QP's on this site.

My Father and Step-Mom were both Eduataors at the MS and HS levels, both having multiple Masters degrees. And when I ponder the question of weather or not ebonics is acceptable, I fall back on Their shared experiences in the classroon, and wanting their students to succeed! Proper English is a must!

Speak English, or get the FU*K out of America, is also MHO.

Holly

Holly,

1 - I agree that the better one can read and properly write and speak a language, the better off they are.

2 - I was trying to keep it simple.

http://linguistlist.org/topics/ebonics/

http://linguistlist.org/about.cfm

3 - I grew up in California, and you probably would have enjoyed my struggles in trying to understand the 'American English' I encountered when I first moved to Georgia and North Carolina.

Gutes lesen.

Richard

[echoes]

Originally Posted by Richard

Gutes lesen. Richard

Richard Sir,

Thank you Sir, for your response.

Holly

[18DWife]

I speak Southernese so I guess I can't say anything ....well ,not and be PC anyway ....

I don't encounter anyone in NC that speaks like me ,but of course its not southern impo ....

[Eagle5US]

Originally Posted by Sigaba

Who should be the arbiter of what is and is not "American"? You? Me? Or individual Americans themselves?

I have said it many times before, and I will indeed say it again...
America is no longer the melting pot, it is the salad bowl. Language allows communication across the Nation and provides a bind of commonality and identity. The "identity" of American language is that of English. We are not made of up tribes that base our border on the big rock by the waterfall or the Hunkau Tree at the base of the mountain. We have well defined borders and functionality within those borders should dictate knowledge of the COMMON LANGUAGE. That being ENGLISH.

Yes, I know that a Hero Sandwich is also called a Slider, a Plank, and a Dagwood depending on where you live. That is not the aim of my point.

While working in Laos our interpreters had terrible times trying to work...why because of the blasted "Hunkau tree". Tribes did not WANT other tribes knowing what they were saying, did not WANT to loose their identity by having commonality of language. They had little need to work together as they were self sufficient. Their language was one of the main things that set them apart within the same region.

We are already losing much of our identity as Americans. The language debate has gone back and forth for years. Places like California, New Mexico, and Florida have had bills put forward (that failed) to make SPANISH the official language of the State due to their increasing populations of Spanish only literate "occupants". What does that tell us about the state of our own expectations for learning English? There are few places now where state and local government forms are not automatically available in English AND Spanish.

You want to maintain your own culture and pride in your "heritage", I am all for it. But there should be a RESPONSIBILITY to learn English along with it. As an example, here in El Paso when I call my utilities company...now IN SPANISH, it says "To continue in Spanish, press 1, for English Press 2" - THEN in English, it says, to "continue in English, press 2".

I shouldn't have to press anything...

Eagle

[mojaveman]

The funny ones are the white teens trying to be "all ghetto" in their talk, walk, look and music. They just can't pull it off.[/QUOTE]

Correct Pete,

As much as I can't stand profanity laced anti-establishment gangsta rap, it's even worse when a white guy tries to pull it off.

Ebonics? How about one standard of English?

[Paslode]

Originally Posted by Sigaba

Who should be the arbiter of what is and is not "American"? You? Me? Or individual Americans themselves?

The US does have a National language which is English. What would be the outcome if we catered to individual ethnic groups and their languages? I believe it would be more than just more language options on the ATM.

Maybe I am wrong, but I believe things are more harmonious when we speak in the same tongue.