Elevating Students’ Oral and Written Language: Empowering African American Students Through Language

A consistent pattern emerges where African American students’ scores lag behind their counterparts on both national and state literacy assessments. One possible explanation is rooted in the fact that approximately 80% of African American students speak African American English, which differs from th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Education sciences 2024-11, Vol.14 (11), p.1191
Main Authors: Pittman, Ramona T., O’Neal, Lynette, Wright, Kimberly, White, Brittany R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Access to Education
African American English
African American Students
African Americans
American English
Black Dialects
Black students
Caregivers
Children & youth
Developmental Stages
Dialect Studies
Education
Educational evaluation
English
Environment
Grade 4
Language
Language Dominance
Language of Instruction
Language Usage
Learning
Linguistics
Literacy
Literature Reviews
Morphemes
Morphology
Morphosyntax
Native Language
North American English
Oral Language
Phonemes
Phonology
Pragmatics
reading
Reading Instruction
Segregation
Semantics
Slang
Speaking
Suffixes
Teacher education
Teachers
Teaching
United Kingdom
United States
writing
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Summary:A consistent pattern emerges where African American students’ scores lag behind their counterparts on both national and state literacy assessments. One possible explanation is rooted in the fact that approximately 80% of African American students speak African American English, which differs from the General American English, the language expected to be used within educational settings. African American English encompasses distinct phonological and grammatical (morphosyntactic) features compared to General American English. This paper aims to delineate the differences between these two languages, review research on African American English, and explore the prevalence of bidialectal or multidialectal abilities among African American students. Additionally, it will address research indicating that many teachers and teacher educators lack awareness of African American English, leading to a deficit-oriented perspective that views African American English as a linguistic deficiency rather than a linguistic difference.
ISSN:2227-7102
2227-7102
DOI:10.3390/educsci14111191