African American Vernacular English

1
African American Vernacular English

• Ebonics

2
AAVE Origins

• African slaves learned Pidgin English before
  leaving Africa.
• Pidgins developed into creoles as slaves had no
  community that understood their African
  languages.
• Creole acquired English features with education
  and urbanization.

3
Prevalence of African-American Vernacular English

• Significant proportions of African-Americans have
  a vernacular way of speaking that shares features
  with other African-Americans.

• Individual speakers differ in frequency of
  non-standard forms.
• Females use fewer than males
• Middle class use fewer than Working class

4
African-American Vernacular English in Relation
to Standard English

• African American Vernacular English is clearly a
  dialect of English
• Phonology and syntax are closely related to
  Standard English
• Ebonics is a term advocated by Afrocentrists
  who emphasize African influences on AAVE and
  minimize English influences.

• Social contexts require vernacular or standard
  English,
• African Americans need two dialects AAVE and SE.
• Home often requires vernacular but school
  requires standard.

5
African-Americans shift to a standard style of
English they use in formal situations.

• AAVE is used when participants are very familiar.
• Type 1 is family, Type 4 is to white stranger.
• AAVE includes dropping final /-s/
• Data are from Los Angeles

6
AAVE in relation to other Englishes

• African-American Vernacular English is a
  subsystem of English
• Phonology
• Syntax
• African-American Vernacular English incorporates
  Southern phonology.
• African-American Vernacular English was derived
  from a creole similar to Caribbean creoles.
• African-American Vernacular English has a highly
  developed aspect system unlike Standard English.

7
Features of AAVE

• Reduction of Word-Final consonant Clusters
• Other vernaculars also reduce clusters before
  consonants
• læsnayt last night
• AAVE reduces clusters even at ends of sentences
• She came in las
• Dropping suffix /-s/ is correlated to syntactic
  function.

8
Consonant reduction comparison

• Dialects overlap
• Speakers form a continuum of styles

9
More Consonant cluster comparison

• Whites and and Blacks both simplify if cluster
  followed by consonant.
• Blacks continue to simplify when cluster is
  followed by vowel but whites pronounce complete
  clusters.

10
Consonant cluster reduction must be addressed
when teaching reading.

• Consonant reduction produces homonyms.
• Not all speakers have all of the homonyms below.
• 14 of the examples result from vowels, 5 from
  consonants

11
Variation of /r/

• Post vocalic /r/ is pronounced as extra length on
  the preceding vowel.
• pak yo ka park your car
• Similar to New York and Southern dialects.
• Different in dropping postvocalic /r/ even when
  it is prevocalic.
• Carol kaol
• Interested inteested

12
Contraction and Deletion of the Copula

• Copula is sometimes contracted in rapid Standard
  English.
• Shes smart.
• Copula is sometimes deleted in AAVE.
• She smart.
• Exposed copula is not contracted in Standard
  English and not deleted in AAVE
• She is.
• Copula deletion is rule governed.
• Copula function affects deletion.

13
(No Transcript)
14
Copula Deletion by Class and Gender

• Data are from Detroit
• Womens speech is closer to standard.
• Middle class is close to standard

15
Hypercorrection

• Hypercorrection is producing standard forms in
  greater profusion than the standard
• AAVE
• They act like they think I really likes to go to
  school.
• Third person singular -s is usually dropped
• Attempt to produce standard produces missing
  feature in places where standard would not.
• lookted l ktId
• Past tense /-Id/ is usually dropped
• Attempt to produce standard produces /-Id/ after
  past tense allomorph /-t/
• Hypercorrection occurs more often in formal
  contexts.

16
AAVE Aspect

• Aspect is the manner in which events occur.
• Aspect is sometimes marked on verbs.
• Standard English has few aspect markers
• /-ing/ progressive
• AAVE has six aspect markers (an aspect system)
• African languages generally have aspect systems

17
Will Smith (Men in Black)It be rainin black
people in New York City.
18
Invariant be in the classroom

• Pupil uses aspect precisely

19
More invariant be in the Classroom
20
Be done uses the invariant be
21
(No Transcript)
22

• Multiple negation is also callednegative
  concord.

23
AAVE Style Shifting

• Speakers use AAVE when they have rapport or
  solidarity with the audience.
• In the presence of school authorities African
  American children avoid speaking
• Some African American adults shift to Black
  Standard English in formal situations

24
Black Standard English

• Standard English syntax
• AAVE Pronunciations
• Drop postvocalic /-r/
• Reduce clusters
• But retain past tense /Id/, future /l/,
• and 3d person /-s/

25
African-Americans shift to a standard style of
English they use in formal situations.

• AAVE is used when participants are very familiar.
• Type 1 is family, Type 4 is to white stranger.
• AAVE includes dropping final /-s/
• Data are from Los Angeles

26
School Rejects AAVE

• Children who use AAVE in school are classed as
  hostile or handicapped.
• African American children who do well in school
  are often shunned by peers.
• Labov found inverse relation of popularity and
  reading scores.
• Parents want children to learn standard but they
  still value AAVE.
• Parents who have mastered Standard English have
  higher opinion of AAVE in all contexts.

27
Attitudes to Vernacular

• Oakland, California
• Parents reject use of AAVE in school.

28
Vernacular Culture Index Detroit (Edwards)
29
AAVE Linguistic Variables (Detroit)
30
Correlations to Vernacular Culture Index
31
Ann Arbor School Case

• African American children in Ann Arbor were
  classed as learning disabled due to reading
  problems.
• Parents sued the school board in 1977.
• Labov was expert witness
• Parents won case by proving that AAVE was so
  distinct from Standard English that teachers
  needed to understand differences.
• Outcome was that teachers had to take instruction
  in AAVE.

32
Oakland School Board Resolution

• In 1996 the Oakland School board resolved to
  acknowledge AAVE as distinct in order to improve
  student reading.
• Their plan included instructing teachers about
  AAVE and instructing students in AAVE.

33
Using AAVE in school is controversial

• African American children do better on Boehm Test
  of Basic Concepts when it is presented in AAVE.
• The 1970s Bridge reading program used AAVE
• There were three stages beginning material was
  entirely AAVE, then half AAVE and half SE and
  finally all standard English
• Four months of Bridge instruction improved
  reading scores by 6.2 months compared to 1.6
  months without Bridge
• Publisher stopped printing texts because of
  pressure.
• Oakland resolution was criticized for using AAVE
  in the classroom.

34
Ebonics Controversy

• The Oakland School board resolution undercut its
  persuasiveness with erroneous statements about
  AAVE.
• The resolution claimed that African American
  language is not a variety of English and should
  be called Ebonics, emphasizing its African roots.
• Linguists have determined that AAVE is a variety
  of English.
• The resolution claimed that Ebonics is
  genetically based.
• Linguists have found each language to be learned
  rather than hereditary

35
Obstacles to Classroom Success

• AAVE pronunciation produces different homonyms
  than SE.
• Reading teachers need to know students homonyms.
• Teachers mistake AAVE aspect for grammar errors.
• Educators stigmatize African American childrens
  speech.
• Some African American children resist Standard
  English.
• Acknowledgement and respect for home speech may
  help students learn.
• Learning Standard English does not require
  surrendering the language of home.
• Elsewhere students learn standard language
  different from their home dialect. (e.g.
  Switzerland)
• L.A. teaches codeswitching, acknowledging other
  codes.