What to do with Black English in a Mainstream English Curriculum?
Location
Instructional Strategies 1 (Session 1 Breakouts)
Proposal Track
Practice Report
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
Black English (BE) is a language shared amongst many Black Americans across the nation (Labov, 2012). Due to its many similarities to Mainstream American English, BE is often viewed as inferior, ignorant, or unintelligent (Johnson & VanBrackle, 2012). However, it is indeed a language with its own phonemic and mechanic structure (Craig, Thompson, & Washington, 2003; Labov, 2012). Unfortunately, too many educators are unaware of the unique structure and rules of BE, which can lead to tragic mislabeling of Black students’ language, reading, and writing ability (Stockman, 2010). With proper training and knowledge, educators can support BE speakers in a Mainstream American English curriculum (Fogel & Ehri, 2006). Culturally responsive teaching approaches like dialect awareness instruction (Johnson, Terry, Connor, Thomas-Tate, 2017; Pearson, Connor, Jackson, 2013) and miscue analysis with linguistic consideration (Hendricks & Adolf, 2017; Keh, 2016) can support BE speakers growth within their own language while also learning the cultural capital needed in mainstream society. The literature review presented in this presentation will teach others the rules and structure of BE, what research says about the relationship between early literacy and BE usage, and provide teachers practical culturally responsive instructional strategies and considerations to use in the classroom.
Keywords
Black English, Language Equity, Language Diversity, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Professional Bio
Amberly Evans currently works as an elementary teacher. She has six years of teaching experience in a variety of grades, including kindergarten, second grade, and third grade. Amberly has a passion for equitable literacy teaching practices that highlight the unique cultural voices of black and brown students. She advocates for culturally responsive and culturally sustaining teaching practices. As a doctoral candidate, she dedicates her research to learn more about Black English as a language form, its relationship with early literacy achievement, and how teachers respond and treat the use of diverse languages in the classroom.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Evans, Amberly, "What to do with Black English in a Mainstream English Curriculum?" (2020). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 3.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2020/2020/3
What to do with Black English in a Mainstream English Curriculum?
Instructional Strategies 1 (Session 1 Breakouts)
Black English (BE) is a language shared amongst many Black Americans across the nation (Labov, 2012). Due to its many similarities to Mainstream American English, BE is often viewed as inferior, ignorant, or unintelligent (Johnson & VanBrackle, 2012). However, it is indeed a language with its own phonemic and mechanic structure (Craig, Thompson, & Washington, 2003; Labov, 2012). Unfortunately, too many educators are unaware of the unique structure and rules of BE, which can lead to tragic mislabeling of Black students’ language, reading, and writing ability (Stockman, 2010). With proper training and knowledge, educators can support BE speakers in a Mainstream American English curriculum (Fogel & Ehri, 2006). Culturally responsive teaching approaches like dialect awareness instruction (Johnson, Terry, Connor, Thomas-Tate, 2017; Pearson, Connor, Jackson, 2013) and miscue analysis with linguistic consideration (Hendricks & Adolf, 2017; Keh, 2016) can support BE speakers growth within their own language while also learning the cultural capital needed in mainstream society. The literature review presented in this presentation will teach others the rules and structure of BE, what research says about the relationship between early literacy and BE usage, and provide teachers practical culturally responsive instructional strategies and considerations to use in the classroom.
