Ah, yes, I probably rewrote an earlier sentence on my phone. That said, while 'gone' sounds correct, what is the actual rule?
"Went" is the past indicative tense of "to go." We say "I went, you went, they went," etc.
"Gone" is used as an adjective: I forgot to close my bedroom window, and when I came home, my cat was gone.
But its primary role is as the past participle of "to go." Like any past participle, it must be preceded by an auxiliary verb--or "helping verb" as we used to call them. I have gone. Thou hast gone. He has gone. We have gone. Where have all the flowers gone?
Sorry, what I meant to say was I was originally taught to sound out words, but this fell out of favor and a new pedagogue was used whereby we were taught not to sound out words but to recognize them by sight alone.
I'm not a professional teacher, so my opinion doesn't carry a lot of weight. Nonetheless, when we read, almost every one of us turns the printed word into a spoken word in our brains. The reason is obvious: We all learned to speak and understand speech several years before anyone tried to teach us to read!
I'm curious to know how those poor kids developed--the ones who were taught not to sound out the words in their heads.
The technology of spoken language was invented around 60,000 years ago, whereas the technology of writing only goes back about 7,000 years. Our species has had a very long time to adapt to spoken communication and become really good at it, whereas reading and writing is relatively new.
In those early years as children, when we hear people talk and try to imitate them, I guarantee that our brains grow new synapses that make speaking and listening extremely efficient.
So at age five or six, when kids are encouraged to learn to read and write, you can be sure that those synapses used for oral communication will be adapted to help us learn to read and write, based on what we already know about words and language!
What ever happened to those ebonics classes? Seems insane IMO.
I never lived in a community where ebonics was formally taught. Even here in Maryland, arguably the most well-racially integrated state in the country, none of the African-Americans I've met had ever encouraged their children to speak African-American Vernacular English--the official name for "ebonics." The last thing they want is yet ANOTHER reason for Euro-Americans to regard them as "different"!
Nonetheless, to answer your question, I'd say that there is very little formal teaching of ebonics in the USA. It's just not that complicated!
