David W. Marlow
University of South Carolina Upstate
A Cross-Curricular Approach to Dialect Diversity in South Carolina Middle Schools

One of the most insidious forms of discrimination is based on dialect. Humans as a whole tend to judge others according to how they speak, often without recognizing our own biases. At the 2008 SECOL conference Jeffrey Reaser, Walt Wolfram and others from North Carolina State University introduced the “Voices of North Carolina, Language and Life” project, a program aimed at increasing awareness of dialects and promoting dialect tolerance through a set of curricula designed for eighth grade Social Studies classes in North Carolina. I have been working since August to develop a sister set of curriculum materials for South Carolina, based on the NCSU project. While this work extends the NCSU concept, there are significant differences. Most critically, there is little overlap between North and South Carolina either the dialects or state educational curriculum standards. This presentation describes the progress of this work which is targeted for pilot testing in May and June and for wider distribution in the fall of 2009.
            Following a brief overview of the NCSU project, I will discuss the current progress of the South Carolina project. One issue discussed will be similarities and differences between the North Carolina materials and what we are developing for South Carolina. Another will discuss partnerships established within my own university between the English [Linguistics] and Education Departments, with linguists and education specialists at other universities, and with practicing middle school teachers in various locations around the state. Obstacles we have faced, including the nature of the SC education standards, will be explored as well. The presentation will conclude with an outline of our plans for the coming months and will include how we plan to enlist more teachers to incorporate dialect diversity issues in their classroom teaching.