Breaker, Break, Broke: Citizens Band in the Classroom

Citizens Band (CB) radio offers learning opportunities for English teachers & students. It is a 'dialect' with a lexicon, phonology, & syntax all its own that can be brought directly into the classroom. Among its syntactic peculiarities are the use of 'we' for 'I' & deletion of copulas & auxiliaries. Phonologically, it is characterized by a southern accent. CB speakers also use an arrangement termed 'chunking' by linguists; paragraphs are indicated by words such as 'hey' or 'aye.' Advice is given for setting up CB radio in the classroom; good antenna placement is a challenging necessity. Linguistic exercises include: listening to a 'trucker's channel' & taking notes, compiling a CB glossary, testing CB mastery by transmitting, & comparing CB language to other dialects. D. Burkenroad