Tamika Hutchinson Loretta Kelly Meg Delaney

African American English  A non-standard variety of English spoken by African American in the United States, specifically in urban and rural communities.

Ebony (black) + Phonics (sound, the study of sound) = Ebonics (Black Speech)

Ebonics is a term that comes from African slaves, particularly in West Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. Some linguists believe, that the development of AAVE is closely connected to that of Southern White English.

 Nonstandard Negro English (1960s)  In 1973 the term, "Ebonics" was created by psychologist Robert Williams and a group of black scholars at a conference in St. Louis, Missouri, on "Cognitive and Language Development of the Black Child.”  In 1975, the term appeared within the title and text of a book edited and co-written by Williams, Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks.  BltQ BltQ

 In 1996, Oakland, California School Board recognized Ebonics as the 'primary' language of its majority African American students and decided to teach them standard or academic English.  The School Board decided African American Vernacular English was a more appropriate term because it puts emphasis on its origin from African roots and independence from English

 Produce sentences without present tense “is” and “are”  "John trippin" or "They allright (aight)".  Don't omit present tense am.  "Ah walkin", “Ahm walkin." Omission of the final consonant in words like 'past' (pas' ) and 'hand' (han')  Pronounce “th” in 'bath' as t or f  bat or baf  Pronounce vowels in words like 'my' and 'ride' as a long ah  Mah rahd.

Positive  Allows African Americans to express themselves  Individuality Negative  Sign of limited education or sophistication  Legacy of slavery  Impediment to socioeconomic mobility

 What up  Finna  Homey  BLING BLING  Crib  Holla at me  Hater  Omelet  Dime  Hood  Salty  Thirsty  Fa real  Lame  Whip  On ma mama  Steady  Ride  My bad  Thick  Raw  Tweakin

 Black preachers  Comedians  Singers  Rappers  EVERY CULTURE!!!! *The use of Ebonics is for a dramatic or a more realistic effect.

 According to Gallas et al. (as cited in Power B. & Hubbard, R., 2002, p.131), “For those children whose home based ways of talking are not similar to school based ways of talking, or for whom the rules of language are not clear, moving into the multiple discourses that schools present will be more difficult.”

Essentially, if the language students are using outside of school does not match rules of the academic language being used in instruction and assessment, the student may have a hard time decoding and adjusting their language to match that of the classroom. When the two don’t match, there is a disconnect and students may find themselves struggling.

 Standard American English (SAE): “That is John’s book.” – The possession is implied by the apostrophe + s.  African-American Vernacular English (AAVE): “That John book.” – The possession is implied by whatever comes in front of the noun.  The Issue: To the teacher grading the AAVE version appears grammatically wrong and the student would be marked down. To the student to grew up using AAVE, that response is rule based and seems correct.

 According to Coffey (2009) ““[Code-switching] can involve the alternation between two different languages, two tonal registers, or a dialectical shift within the same language such as Standard English and Black English.” [Others] also argue that code-switching is “a linguistic tool and a sign of the participants’ awareness of alternative communicative conventions.” Furthermore, code-switching has been described as “a strategy at negotiating power for the speaker” and “reflects culture and identity and promotes solidarity.” (Code-Switching with dialects of African American or Black English section, para.2.)

 There are 2 approaches that linguists go about when code switching: The correctionist approach The contrastivist approach

 “The correctionist approach to language response ‘diagnoses the child’s home speech as ‘poor English’ or ‘bad grammar,’ finding that the child does not know how to show plurality, possession, and tense,’ or the child ‘has problems’ with these.’ This approach assumes that ‘Standard English’ is the only proper form of language and tries to do away with the child’s home language. Because classrooms are not culturally or linguistically monolithic, this approach tends to exclude those students who are not fluent in ‘Standard English’” (Coffee, 2009, Code Switching in Practice section, para.1).

Student says: “We was walking to school today.” Correctionist says: “Wrong.” We is plural and was walking is singular. This violates Standard-American English rules of subject-verb agreement, which all American-English speakers must follow. The correct answer is: “We were walking to school today.”

 “The primary principle of the contrastivist approach is that ‘language comes in diverse varieties.’ This ‘linguistically informed model’ recognizes that the student’s home language is not any more deficient in structure than the school language. In this approach, teachers ‘help children become explicitly aware of the grammatical differences’ between the formal ‘Standard English’ and the informal home language. ‘Knowing this, children learn to code-switch between the language of the home and the language of the school as appropriate to the time, place, audience, and communicative purpose.” When an educator prepares a student to code-switch, the student becomes explicitly aware of how to select the appropriate language to use in the given Context” (Coffee, Code Switching in Practice section, para. 2).

 Student says: “He go to the store yesterday.” Contrastivist says: “That’s very good. Tell me what part of the sentence tells us when that happened?” (Yesterday.) “Now tell me if we took out the word ‘yesterday,’ how we could say that sentence and still know it happened in the past? (He went to the store.)

Most linguists recommend moving away from the correctionist approach. Coffee (2009) suggests following these steps:  Recognize the vernacular patterns in writing and use this to teach a whole class lesson on the differences between the “Standard English” version and the home language. Maybe use a chart to show the differences.  Initiate conversations about how people speak differently in diverse settings.  Engage students in a role-playing activity where they imitate different people they know within the community, and have students examine the differences in the way these people speak.  Demonstrate how to self-correct written work for a formal purpose, and when students feel more comfortable, encourage them to read their work aloud.  Try to be more accepting of the fact that everyone code-switches. Remember the way we respond to a friend’s question might be completely different than how we would answer the principal or superintendent’s queries.  Introduce dialectical language through literature. Culturally rich literature is available at every grade level.

 translator.com/ebonics_dictionary.php translator.com/ebonics_dictionary.php  Not Bad/Not Good- It Just Is!  Black Slang/Speech  Be Cool/Express Themselves  Urban Dialect/Many Cultures  Slang Dictionary  Black English Links

 /workshops/workshop5/codeswitching.html /workshops/workshop5/codeswitching.html  Rebecca Wheeler/Expert In Code Switching Language Varieties/Contrastive Analysis “Flossie and the Fox” by: Patricia McKissack Flossie/AAVE Fox/Standard English * Support Materials

eadership/apr1999/Using_Ebonics_or_Black_ English_as_a_Bridge_to_Teaching_Standard_E nglish.aspx  Using Ebonics to Teach Standard English 1. Word Discrimination Drill 2. Home/School Drill 3. Response Drills

 exQC&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=How+can+teac hers+help+african+american+children/ebonic s+learn+ exQC&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=How+can+teac hers+help+african+american+children/ebonic s+learn  Drama Role-Play Tape Record/Playback  Cartoon/Superhero Role-Play

 earnersinee earnersinee  NCTE/National Council of Teachers of English  8 Beliefs for Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Learners in English Education Each Belief Provides Suggestions for Lessons