Language and African Americans

Geneva Napoleon Smitherman

35 citations0/0 files storedJournal of English Linguistics

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Multilingual Education and Policy Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies Linguistic Variation and Morphology

Abstract

It was nearly a generation between Martin Luther King Junior Elementary School Children, et al., v. Ann Arbor School District Board (l979) and Oakland, California, Unified School District Board’s “Resolution on Ebonics” (l996). In that time, however, public knowledge of and attitudes toward African American Language (AAL) remained largely unchanged, as was exceedingly clear from the public outcry that greeted Oakland’s resolution. The author compares King and Oakland and finds that although it is clear that history did in fact repeat itself in many ways, there are also unmistakable signs of progress in language research, pedagogy, and policy. The author points out opportunities for linguists to infuse research on African American educational achievement with the results of Black Language research. For the sake of all children, it is time to act in ways that reflect genuine valuation of language diversity and to implement policies fostering multilingualism and dialect awareness.

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References

2000Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English 2016Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 2001 1995Black talk: words and phrases from the hood to the amen corner 2000TALKIN THAT TALK 1998The Real Ebonics debate: power, language, and the education of African-American children 1999Talkin that Talk 1986De facto segregation of black and white vernaculars 2020Anthropological Linguistics

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2010A Review of Developmental and Applied Language Research on African American Children: From a Deficit to Difference Perspective on Dialect Differences 2021Remixin’ and flowin’ in centros: exploring the biliteracy practices of Black language speakers in an elementary two-way immersion bilingual program 2019Making Sense of “Bad English”2021Linguistic artistry and flexibility in dual-language bilingual classrooms: young Black children’s language and literacy practices 2018White affects and sociolinguistic activism 2009

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