LING 400 Winter 2010 Language attitudes

Overview Standard vs. nonstandard Language attitudes African-American Vernacular English Attitudes towards AAVE for further learning about variation and/or language attitudes: LING 432 please turn off your cell phone

“Standard” dialect Standard American English (SAE) Used by political leaders media higher socioeconomic classes ≈ “correct” by prescriptive standards

Language attitudes “Others judge you by the way you speak” Potentially positive effects correct control of jargon, slang you are one of us Potentially negative effects you are not one of us you are inferior What factors influence attitudes toward language and group membership?

African American Vernacular English (AAVE) A.k.a. African-American English, Black English, Black English Vernacular, Ebonics, etc. A continuum of language varieties that are spoken primarily by and among African-Americans Sample from early 80s (‘AAE Sample’, from Black on White (The Story of English, v. 5)) e_ref.mov e_ref.mov But… Not only African-Americans speak AAVE Not all African-Americans speak AAVE Not all do so 100% of the time ‘CodeSwitching’ (Arthur Spears)

Some misconceptions (attitudes) about AAVE It is ‘black slang’ It is a product of ‘lazy’ speech It is an inferior, simplified form of English It is grammatically incorrect, illogical In fact, AAVE has its own rules.

Some phonological characteristics of AAVE Final consonant cluster reduction cold [ko ʊ l], hand [hæn] Scanner Boy Renegade: Wil’ Style Vocalization or loss of [ ɹ ] / V__V hurry [h ʌɨ ], furrow [f ʌ ə] also in “old-fashioned white speech” Substitution of /k/ for /t/ in s__ ɹ clusters street [skrit], stream [skrim] unique to AAVE?

AAVE Syntax Multiple negation AAVE: He don’ know nothin’. Russian: Oн ничего не знает. [on nəči | v ɔ ni | zn ɑ ət] ‘he nothing not know.’ Middle English: “He never yet no villainy not said In all his life to no kind of creature.” (Chaucer, 1400)

AAVE Morphosyntax Lack of copula (‘be’) AAVE: He __ my brother. Scanner Boy Renegade: He down wi’ the nation. Russian: Oн мой брат. [on m ɔ j br ɑ t] he my brother

Seattle Times covert prestige: use of nonstandard forms to establish oneself as member of some group

AAVE Morphosyntax Habitual ‘be’: habitual, repeated action AAVE:The coffee be cold (every day). The coffee cold (right now). They be late (all the time). They late (today). Scanner Boy Renegade: “You can’t be standing there.”

AAVE Morphosyntax Absence of 3 rd person sg. –s AAVE: He eat_ five times a day. She want_ us to go. I want you want he/she want we want they want

‘Ebonics’ controversy Background: 1996: In Oakland, CA schools, African- Americans make up 53% of students, but… …80% of suspensions …64% of students held back each year …71% of students in ‘special needs’ classes (for ‘language deficiency’)

‘Ebonics’ controversy Dec. 1996: Oakland School Board passes ‘Ebonics resolution’ Original: res1.html Revised 1997: Goals: to formally recognize AAVE to change teachers’ attitudes about AAVE to implement usage of AAVE as tool in teaching African-American students to read, write SAE

Negative public reaction Ebonics is… “black street slang” -- NY Times “just bad English” -- Chicago Sun-Times “gibberish” -- Boston Globe “a cruel joke” -- NY Daily News “ridiculous” -- CA Gov. Pete Wilson

Negative public reaction Due largely to wording of resolution “[Ebonics] is genetically based” “[Ebonics] is not a dialect of English” “instruction…to students…in [Ebonics]”

‘Genetically based’ Popular interpretation African Americans are biologically predisposed to speak AAVE Intended meaning ‘Genetic’ refers to linguistic origins (or ‘genesis’) in African languages

‘Not a dialect’ Popular interpretation Ebonics is a separate language. Intended meaning To counter popular (but inaccurate) conception of ‘dialect’ as inferior/ substandard form of a language.

‘Instruction in Ebonics” Use of Ebonics as tool in teaching, not as object of lessons clips/UnaccentedBlack_ref.mov”

Teachers’ attitudes towards AAVE Negative teacher attitudes and expectations are linked to underachievement in students, especially African-Americans. Taylor 1973 survey of 422 teachers 40% positive, 20% neutral, 20% negative 2000 survey of NYC teachers Sample survey question (n = 19); e.g. “African American kids would advance further in school without African American English.” (a) agree strongly, (b) agree mildly, (c) no opinion, (d) disagree mildly, (e) disagree strongly

Figure 5. African American Vernacular English (Ebonics) is a form of English. from 2000 survey of NYC teachers

Figure 6. African American English (Ebonics) is subject to its own set of rules. “few (14%) feel that it is a lazy form of English (Survey question 9).” from 2000 survey of NYC teachers

Summary AAVE is systematic, rule-governed Has structures common to many other languages/dialects Misunderstanding of AAVE contributes to continued prejudice, stigma Debate over use of AAVE vs. SAE is ongoing

Question Suppose you speak both a standard and non- standard variety of some language. What is one reason or situation where you might choose to use one or the other variety? Or do you know someone who speaks both SAE and some other variety of English? When does that person use the other variety?