Example sentences for: ebonics

How can you use “ebonics” in a sentence? Here are some example sentences to help you improve your vocabulary:

  • The sentence comes from Geneva Smitherman, a professor of English, the director of the African-American Language and Literacy Program at Michigan State University, the author of the books Talkin and Testifyin (1977) and Black Talk (1994), and one of the people quoted most frequently by reporters and commentators seeking context for the national controversy over "ebonics"--a form of Black English recently granted official recognition as a separate language by the Oakland, Calif., school board.

  • First, the word "ebonics," which dates back to the early 1970s and has been used even in some public-school settings without controversy for years, may seem to be putting on airs, but what many linguists prefer to call "Black English Vernacular" or "African-American Vernacular English" is a major linguistic stream that has been flowing within recognizable channels for centuries.

  • It is a distinct language--not a dialect, not nonstandard speech--called "ebonics" (a combination of "ebony," meaning "black," and "phonics").

  • The resolution asserts that deficiencies in black educational achievement cannot be remedied unless the prevalence of ebonics is recognized and somehow dealt with.

  • How would you answer that question about ebonics and math?


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