What Is “Standard”?“Standard English” and Literacy in

the African-American Vernacular

English Speech Community

Note: Herein, SE denotes Standard English; AAVE denotes African-American Vernacular English.

Matt Beach

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Educational Institutional Rhetoric

• Common Core Standards

• What is literacy?

• Who decides?

From Common Core Language Arts Standards

Read the article, “What is Literacy?,” and fill in the blanks.

From The New Oxford American Dictionary

From Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary

Who (from what culture—class, race, etc.) do you think determines “proper” Standard English?

Notice: “The New Oxford American Dictionary records and exemplifies the most important of these [lexical and syntactic] patterns at the relevant senses of each word, thus giving guidance on language as well as word meaning.”

Notice: “All of the pronunciations recorded in this book can be documented as falling within the range of generally acceptable variation.” (my emphasis)

What is generally acceptable? To whom?

List 10 words of your choice. Look up the same 10 words in each dictionary and jot down the definitions. What are some differences?

What is AAVE?

History and Origins

Linguistic Components of AAVE

Linguistic Components of AAVE

Grammar, semantics, and phonology:

1. Read Walt Wolfram’s “The Grammar of Urban African American Vernacular English.” (pp. 117-131)

Then, answer these questions.

2. Examine the AAVE phonological chart.

Then, look up 5 words in the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and discuss the differences in pronunciation between the dictionary (SE) and the chart (AAVE).

What are some linguistic differences between SE and AAVE?Zero copula (absence of “to be”

verb):

from Gwendolyn Brooks’

“We Real Cool”

to Ice Cube’s

“We Be Clubbin’”

History and Origins

1.Hypothesized Origins of AAVE

Follow the link to study the terms and definitions related to the origin of AAVE, play the games, and take the quiz!

2.TimelineFollow the link above. Examine the timeline to fill in the missing components.

3. Historical Attitudes Regarding AAVE in Education

Read the passage and note your thoughts: you will need to explain your stance later.

Bad or Different?Is AAVE bad English, or is it different English?

The Bill Cosby Case The “Do You Speak American?” Case

During the Oakland debates of ‘96 and ‘97, prominent African-Americans, such as Jesse Jackson (at first), Maya Angelou, Arsenio Hall, Kwesi Mfume, Shelby Steele, Eldridge Cleaver, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., denounced the use of AAVE in classrooms.

“Igno-Ebonics”

—Bill Cosby

“But to call black vernacular speech in toto

‘igno,’ man, you might as well bust the real dirty

dozens on our peops for continuing to use what

we inherited from our mamas, grandmamas,

and great granddaddies. I mean, it’s like slappin’

our linguistic forebears in the face.”

--Kermit Campbell

What is your stance?

Many others supported the use of AAVE in classrooms.

White English v. Black English

“The notion of black English in turn connotes the existence of white English, as the same female staff pointed out: ‘Everybody has their own dialect and you don’t label that. You don’t label the way a white person speaks, but you label African Americans . . .’ Then, all too often, white English becomes synonymous with ‘standard English’ in spite of the fact that millions of Euro-Americans speak ‘nonstandard, stigmatized’ dialects. Thus the term ‘standard English’ ‘becomes something which is divisive, something which suggests superiority, something which suggests superiority on the part of those who might have access to this so-called standard English, and then certainly it suggests inferiority on the part of those who do not have access, who might speak differently’ (male professor)” (Speicher & McMahon, 1992).

What are your thoughts?

School English v. Home English

Cultural Values

Read pp. 2-4 in Ogbu’s article, “

Beyond Language: Ebonics, Proper English, and Identit

y in a Black-American Speech Community

.”

What roles do cultural values play in communication between teacher and student– between SE and AAVE?

Write your thoughts here.

Hip Hop Culture:

(Alim, 2011)

v Start here.v

Limited v. Limitless

Hip Hop Culture:

“[AAVE] is more than just language—

invariant be’s, double negatives, and inverted

semantics—it is rhetoric, a highly developed

discursive system . . . a rhetorical tradition

from the West African griot to African

American street-corner rappers, Spoken

Word poets, and Hip hop artists” (Campell,

2005, p. 3).

Check out this list of some Hip Hop-created linguistic contributions.

How many Hip Hop expressions can you name?

Expressions

Poetry Slams

“Coded Language” by Saul Williams

How does Saul Williams use and manipulate language to more fully express his ideas and experiences?

Lyrics

Write Your Own Rap or PoemThink about ways the AAVE speech community has struggled to maintain identity and expressive value in high school language arts or other classes.

Write a rap or poem that expresses your thoughts. You may draw from personal experiences or from observations. Think about how will you express yourself. How can you open up the English language? What words will you use?

You can make up your own words to more vividly express yourself. Be as creative as you can!

Write your rap or poem in your journal.

Then, go to the studio to track your record.

References

Articles:

Alim, H. (2011). Global ill-literacies: Hip hop cultures, youth identities, and the politics of literacy. Review of Research in Education, 35, 120-146.

Campbell, K. (2005). Getting’ our groove on: Rhetoric, language, and literacy for the hip hop generation. Detroit, MI: Wayne State UP.

Ogbu, J. (1999). Beyond language: Ebonics, proper English, and identity in a Black-American speech community. American Educational Research Journal, 36(2), 147-184. Retrieved from http://aer.sagepub.com/

Speicher, B., & McMahon, S. (1992). Some African-American perspectives on Black English Vernacular. Language in Society, 21(3), 383-407. Retrieved from http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=LSY

Wolfram, W. (2000). The grammar of urban african american vernacular English. Retrieved from http://www.ncsu.edu/linguistics/docs/pdfs/walt/PDF-Urban_AAE.pdf

References, cont.

Web URLs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX1-FgkfWo8&feature=c-shelf-119http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWIbIA9BltQ&playnext=1&list=PLF67F5B2C81B0EB8C&feature=results_videohttp://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/english-language-arts-standardshttp://www.edc.org/newsroom/articles/what_literacyhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/http://www.urbandictionary.com/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzY2-GRDiPMhttp://www.rehabmed.ualberta.ca/spa/phonology/features.htmhttp://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/AAVE/timeline/http://quizlet.com/1274208/aave-flash-cards/http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unk0OiIitw4http://www.scribd.com/doc/16522469/List-of-Slang-Used-in-Hiphop-Musichttp://www.metrolyrics.com/coded-language-lyrics-saul-williams.html