Eastern’s English department is unique when it compares to other state universities. Sure they share most of the same classes, requirements and intense writing courses, but Eastern has a gem that is not included in most English departments. That gem’s name is Shauna Searcy.

Graduate assistant Shauna Searcy during the previous semester held a workshop once a week on Wednesday nights to help African American students learn standard English while knowing when it is okay to use their own African American dialect.

“The workshop is for African American speakers who speak the vernacular,” said Searcy, “however, not all African Americans speak that dialect. What I do is educate those students who speak the vernacular about their own dialect and the standard as well. I mirror the two for them so they can understand the patterns going on.”

Searcy, an English graduate, understands the need for people to conform to a standard way of speaking. She studies linguistics and composition at the graduate level and works in the writing center. The workshop she put on was part of her thesis. The workshop was the basis of research for her to collect on students who speak the African American dialect. However, she knows how important it is for African American students to learn the standard vernacular, while still being able to speak the dialect in their own neighborhoods.

The students need to know how to write and speak standard English because “jobs are looking for people who speak the standard. If they want a good job they will have to know the standard,” said Searcy. “But at the same time if they go home to their community and family speaking the standard they will be kicked out, considered not apart of them anymore.”

What Searcy sees as a problem when most African American students try to learn the standard in school is that teachers force the direct standard with no in-between or base for the students to go off of. She said it is like teaching Spanish without an English base. The students need their own grammatical structure as a foundation.

The African American vernacular is a grammatically correct dialect that can be explained and dissected. It uses patterns just the same as the standard and is a legitimate form of communication but it is not well accepted.

Through a three in class essays, in class exercises, two interviews with one about themselves and the other on the African American vernacular and comparative analysis of the two vernaculars, Searcy teaches students how to language effectively in a job and education setting as well as knowing when it is appropriate to use their native dialect as well.

Searcy breaks down the two vernaculars, using the African American dialect as a base and show how the patterns compare and contrast to the standard while showing the connection between the two.

“I give the key to power in society, which is language,” said Searcy. “If they choose to use it they will better themselves and receive things that are needed in life. I am not about taking away culture. They can still use their dialect but only in appropriate settings.”

For her workshop, Searcy had a turnout of about 12 students, mostly freshmen with one 20 year old and two 23 year olds. The workshop, however, was open to anyone of any age. The students that did show up were kept anonymous.

The students did show improvement in their grades as well as speaking and writing throughout the semester, said Searcy.

One of her students, a freshman male, said he heard of the workshop through the gateway program and through Searcy herself at the writing center. He attended all semester and thought Searcy was “a great assistant and teacher. She taught me how to be able to use both standard and the African American dialect. Through the program my grades have improved because I now have a greater linguistic background.”

He also continued: “[Searcy] was easy to adapt to us better then Caucasians. She knew where to help us and did it all semester. She was better than white teachers because she knew where we were coming from. She made my freshman year more of a success.”

Unfortunately, other state schools do not have a program like this to help African American students.

Western’s English department said they have nothing specific on helping African American students in learning the standard vernacular.

“It is worked into two composition classes and part of what is taught is Standard Etiquette English, but there is no special class or workshop,” said a representative of the department.

Professor William Maxwell, graduate director for the English Department at the University of Illinois, said that many of the university offers African American literature and various composition classes but nothing that specific.

“The graduate program does not sponsor that kind of research at the graduate level,” said Maxwell. “Our university has summer programs to help orient undergrad students with the help of the graduate college minority gradate students. It is a University sponsored thing if we do, not by individual departments.”

The Southern Carbondale campus also does not have anything specific. A representative of the English department said they have pre-semester workshops for incoming students of any race. That is the only thing they have on campus. They said that because of Southern’s multicultural basis, the pre-semester program would help everyone, not just African Americans. Any questions students have can be answered in workshops or by directors in the department.

Basically, Searcy’s work with African American students is a one-of-a-kind study that does benefit those students the way other universities cannot.

Searcy hopes to continue her program in the fall before she graduates in December. She also hopes that her workshop will inspire teachers everywhere so they can help their students earlier.

“[The program] is not so much now oriented toward students, although it helps them, but teachers and how to help teachers teach the students,” Searcy said. “It needs to be happening in grade school. By college, some things can be done but it is harder to learn when the students get older. I want to start a ripple effect. By affecting 20 teachers they can, in turn, help 20 students apiece. The teachers need to realize they need to help these students.”

Searcy is truly a revolutionary in helping African American students and Eastern is lucky to have such a gem.