1. African American English and Linguistic Ideology in To Kill A Mockingbird Presenter: Cassie Falling Faculty Sponsor: Robert Troyer

2. African-American English (A.A.E.) Not “bad English” A dialect of English, with its own grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary

3. Examples of A.A.E. from Mockingbird “I [want] to know why you bringin‘ white chillun to [our] church.” (Compared to: “I want to know why you are bringin' white children to our church.”) “...and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty!” (Compared to: “...like you were so high and mighty!”)

4. Non-Standard English (N.S.E.) “There is no official academy that regulates usage for the English language, but there is still a prevailing world-wide view that there is a ‘standard English’: the language variety codified in dictionaries, grammars, and usage handbooks.” ~The Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English N.S.E. = English that does not fit into the category of Standard English or another official dialect.

5. Examples of N.S.E. from Mockingbird “They’s my comp’ny.” (Compared to: “They’re my company.”) “He likes ‘em better’n he likes us.” (Compared to: “He likes ‘em better than he likes us.”) 

6. “To Kill A Mockingbird” Around the time of WWII Fictional town in Alabama Atticus = white man; lawyer; defends an African-American man Scout = young white girl; daughter of Atticus Jem = teenage white boy; son of Atticus Dill = young white boy; friend of Scout and Jem Cal = African-American woman; nanny for Scout and Jem http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/im agecache/blog_post_349_width/2013/09/to_kill_a_mo cking_bird.jpg

7. “Cal,” I [Scout] asked, “why do you talk nigger-talk to the—to your folks when you know it’s not right?” “Well, in the first place I’m black—” “That doesn’t mean you hafta talk that way when you know better,” said Jem... “It’s right hard to say,” [Cal] said. “Suppose you and Scout talked colored folks’ talk at home it’d be out of place, wouldn’t it? Now what if I talked white-folks’ talk at church, and with my neighbors? They’d think I was puttin‘ on airs to beat Moses.” “But Cal, you know better,” I said. “It’s not necessary to tell all you know... You’re not gonna change any of them by talkin‘ right... and when they don’t want to learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language.” “To Kill A Mockingbird” (pg. 125)

8. Purpose of Study & Hypothesis Purpose: Separate the character's opinions of their speech from how they actually speak, through analyzing use of AAE and NSE by different characters. Hypothesis: “White-folk” talk has more in common linguistically with "nigger-talk" than characters perceive.

10. Method of analysis Select sample pieces of dialogue from four groups: White adults (speaking to white children) White children (speaking to each other) “White-folk” talk Cal The African-American community (Cal using “nigger-talk” and others) Analyze each sample for AAE and NSE Compare groups with each other

11. Sample dialogue approx. 330 words each In the White Community In the African-American Communit y

12. Hypothesis confirmed? Hypothesis: “White-folk” talk has more in common linguistically with "nigger-talk" than characters perceive. Cal Hypothesis = Partially correct “White-folk” talk Cal and “nigger-talk” Cal = substantial difference "Nigger-talk" Cal similar to the rest of the African-American community

13. Hypothesis confirmed? (cont.) Hypothesis: “White-folk” talk has more in common linguistically with "nigger-talk" than characters perceive. White Children Hypothesis = Correct Use a noticeable amount of NSE More linguistically in common with African-American community than with white adult community

14. Conclusions Children's perception regarding their speech and “nigger-talk” did not match up with the language the characters actually used. African-Americans use NSE = "Nigger-talk" White children use NSE = Not "nigger-talk" Racially biased linguistic ideology is present Disconnect between perception and reality All English dialects worthy of respect

15. References Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Leech, G. (2002). Longman student grammar of spoken and written English. Edinburgh Gate, England: Pearson Education Limited. Green, L. J. (2002). African American English: a linguistic introduction. Retrieved from http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam034/2003268698.pdf Ebonics-translator.com [home page]. Retrieved from http://www.ebonics-translator.com/ Lee, H. (1960). To kill a mockingbird. New York, NY: Warner Books, Inc. N Holliday. (2010, Aug 5). Why would you study that bad English? [Blog]. Retrieved from http://africanamericanenglish.com/2010/08/05/why-would-you-study-that-bad-english/ Dialects: African American English. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/topics/dialects/aae.html Examples of non-standard usage. Retrieved from http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/06senten/nonstandardans.html Wolfram, W. The grammar of urban African American Vernacular English. Retrieved from http://www- personal.umich.edu/~mdover/website/Social%20Welfare%20Policy%20Main%20Folder/Prof essional%20Writing%20for%20Policy%20Practice/checklistPDF-Urban_AAE.pdf