Shawna Grew Up in a Poor Inner-City Neighborhood but Has

Essay

Shawna grew up in a poor inner-city neighborhood but has recently moved to pursue her undergraduate degree at a prestigious university. She's an intelligent woman and works very hard to earn good grades in all of her classes-she was a star among her high school peers. Unfortunately, she finds that many of her professors at the university dismiss her questions and comments in class because of her language use-they just don't seem to understand what she's saying or to recognize the intelligence and insight behind what she offers. Synthesizing what you have learned throughout this chapter, what would you say to Shawna to help her understand the linguistic challenge she has encountered? What can Shawna do to manage this communication problem?