A Comparative Analysis of Text, Media, and Linguistic Discrimination toward Speakers of AAL from the 19th Century to the Present Day Classroom
Type of Presentation
Panel submission
Brief Description of Presentation
This paper presentation will discuss critical pedagogy in light of linguistic discrimination for speakers of African American Language. By comparing one text from the post-bellum North and one element of media from the present day, the presentation offers the opportunity to expose and transform instances of linguistic discrimination in today’s classrooms in an effort to promote a student’s academic self-worth.
Abstract of Proposal
Linguistic discrimination toward speakers of African American Language (AAL) has been present since before the Civil War and is still persistent in today’s media and system of education via textbooks and mass media. While some educators and policy makers, through mantras of “zero tolerance” and “no excuses,” justify forms of linguistic discrimination as necessary in order for students to gain access to Dominant American English, others have found that such discrimination results in a student’s lack of academic self-efficacy and confidence (Baker-Bell, 2014) and restricts a student’s access to her linguistic and cultural community while on school grounds (Paris, 2012). Thus, in order for students of undervalued languages (Young, 2014) to succeed in today’s education system, a critical analysis of past and present media is required. This paper analyzes the linguistic discrimination toward speakers of AAL in an 1870s Sunday School text, and compares such discrimination to current media. The paper ends with a discussion of how educators today might use critical media literacy analyses in the classroom in order to expose and transform such instances of linguistic discrimination for our students. While focusing on linguistic discrimination for speakers of AAL, linguistic discrimination for speakers of all undervalued languages may be analyzed as well. Based on this comparison across two texts, the author offers an analysis of past and present critical media literacies in order to better prepare and sustain our students’ academic self-efficacies.
Location
Coastal Georgia Center
Start Date
3-26-2016 12:50 PM
End Date
3-26-2016 2:20 PM
Recommended Citation
Neville, Mary M., "A Comparative Analysis of Text, Media, and Linguistic Discrimination toward Speakers of AAL from the 19th Century to the Present Day Classroom" (2016). International Critical Media Literacy Conference. 11.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/criticalmedialiteracy/2016/2016/11
A Comparative Analysis of Text, Media, and Linguistic Discrimination toward Speakers of AAL from the 19th Century to the Present Day Classroom
Coastal Georgia Center
Linguistic discrimination toward speakers of African American Language (AAL) has been present since before the Civil War and is still persistent in today’s media and system of education via textbooks and mass media. While some educators and policy makers, through mantras of “zero tolerance” and “no excuses,” justify forms of linguistic discrimination as necessary in order for students to gain access to Dominant American English, others have found that such discrimination results in a student’s lack of academic self-efficacy and confidence (Baker-Bell, 2014) and restricts a student’s access to her linguistic and cultural community while on school grounds (Paris, 2012). Thus, in order for students of undervalued languages (Young, 2014) to succeed in today’s education system, a critical analysis of past and present media is required. This paper analyzes the linguistic discrimination toward speakers of AAL in an 1870s Sunday School text, and compares such discrimination to current media. The paper ends with a discussion of how educators today might use critical media literacy analyses in the classroom in order to expose and transform such instances of linguistic discrimination for our students. While focusing on linguistic discrimination for speakers of AAL, linguistic discrimination for speakers of all undervalued languages may be analyzed as well. Based on this comparison across two texts, the author offers an analysis of past and present critical media literacies in order to better prepare and sustain our students’ academic self-efficacies.
