This chapter discusses teaching the History of the English Language (HEL) as a sociolinguist and ... more This chapter discusses teaching the History of the English Language (HEL) as a sociolinguist and being guided by three areas in learning sciences: goals, self-regulated learning, and interest, particularly social and personal. Specifically, this chapter addresses the age-old student question, “How is this relevant to me?” Part of our job as college teachers involves getting students to realize the practicality of a course for their needs (e.g., “I need to take this class in order to graduate”), and another part is to acknowledge (or awaken in some cases) their intellectual curiosity (e.g., “I’ve always wondered why “knight” is spelled with letters that aren’t even pronounced”). This chapter provides examples of instruction and assignments that correspond to research literature on goals and interest with respect to teaching and self-regulated learning more broadly and teaching HEL from the perspective of a sociolinguist more specifically.
The foundation of the Ebonics controversy (EC) was laid centuries before its December 1996 debut.... more The foundation of the Ebonics controversy (EC) was laid centuries before its December 1996 debut. The EC was not about the name “Ebonics,” but about a legacy. In the Introduction, Baugh writes: “This text attempts to clarify several of the issues, misconceptions, and educational policies that emerged from the Ebonics controversy while striving to view them within the broader context of the linguistic legacy of American slavery and to address the linguistic prejudices that tend to inhibit improved race relations” (xiii). Within this context, Baugh clarifies how the EC happened, and why.
Language Use in African American Communities: An Introduction Sonja L. Lanehart, Jennifer Bloomqu... more Language Use in African American Communities: An Introduction Sonja L. Lanehart, Jennifer Bloomquist, and Ayesha M. Malik PART I. ORIGINS AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES The English Origins Hypothesis Gerard Van Herk The Creole Origins Hypothesis John R. Rickford The Emergence of African American English: Monogenetic or Polygenetic? With or Without "Decreolization"? Under How Much Substrate Influence? Salikoko S. Mufwene On the Origins of African American Vernacular English: Beginnings Donald Winford African American English Over Yonder: The Language of the Liberian Settler Community John Victor Singler Documenting the History of African American Vernacular English: A Survey and Assessment of Sources and Results Edgar W. Schneider Regionality in the Development of African American English Walt Wolfram and Mary E. Kohn PART II. LECTS AND VARIATION The Place of Gullah in the African American Linguistic Continuum Tracey L. Weldon and Simanique Moody Rural African American Vernacular English Patricia Cukor-Avila and Guy Bailey African American English in the Mississippi Delta: A Case Study of Copula Absence and /r/-Lessness in the Speech of Black Women in Coahoma County Rose Wilkerson African American Voices in Atlanta William A. Kretzschmar African American Language in Pittsburgh and the Lower Susqueshanna Valley Jennifer Bloomquist and Shelome Gooden African American Phonology in a Philadelphia Community William Labov and Sabriya Fisher African American Language in New York City Renee A. Blake, Cara Shousterman, and Luiza Newlin-Lukowicz African American Vernacular English In California: Four Plus Decades Of Vibrant Variationist Research John R. Rickford The Black American Sign Language Project: An Overview Joseph Hill, Carolyn McCaskill, Robert Bayley, and Ceil Lucas The Sociolinguistic Construction of African American Language Walt Wolfram PART III. STRUCTURE AND DESCRIPTION Syntax and Semantics Lisa J. Green and Walter Sistrunk The Systematic Marking of Tense, Modality and Aspect in African American Language Charles E. DeBose On the Syntax-Prosody Interface in African American Language James A. Walker Segmental Phonology of African American English Erik R. Thomas and Guy Bailey Prosodic Features of African American English Erik R. Thomas PART IV. CHILD LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT Language Acquisition in the African American Child: Prior to Age Four Brandi L. Newkirk-Turner, RaMonda Horton, and Ida J. Stockman The Development of African American English through Childhood and Adolescence Janneke Van Hofwegen Development of Variation Lisa J. Green and Jessica White-Sustaita Narrative Structures of African American Children: Commonalities and Differences Tempii B. Champion and Allyssa McCabe Some Similarities and Differences between African American English and Southern White English in Children Janna B. Oetting Contemporary Approaches and Perspectives for Assessing Young and School-Age AAE Child Speakers Toya A. Wyatt PART V. EDUCATION African American Language and Education: History and Controversy in the Twentieth Century Geneva Smitherman Managing Two Varieties: Code-switching in the Educational Context Monique T. Mills and Julie A. Washington Balancing Pedagogy with Theory: The Infusion of African American Language Research Into Everyday Pre K-12 Teaching Practices Sharroky Hollie, Tamara Butler, and Jamila Gillenwaters History of Research on Multiliteracies and Hip Hop Pedagogy: A Critical Review K.C. Nat Turner and Tyson L. Rose African-American Vernacular English and Reading William Labov and Bettina Baker Dialect Switching and Mathematical Reasoning Tests: Implications for Early Educational Achievement J. Michael Terry, Randall Hendrick, Evangelos Evangelou, and Richard L. Smith Beyond Bidialecticalism: Language Planning and Policies for African American Students John Baugh PART VI. LANGUAGE IN SOCIETY African American Church Language Charles E. DeBose The (Re)turn to Remus Orthography: The Voices of African American Language in American Literature James Braxton Peterson African American Language and Black Poetry Howard Rambsy II and Briana Whiteside African American Divas of Comedy: Staking a Claim in Public Space Jacquelyn Rahman The Construction of Ethnicity via Voicing: African American English in Children's Animated Film Jennifer Bloomquist SWB: (Speaking while Black or Speaking while Brown): Linguistic Profiling and Discrimination Based on Speech as a Surrogate for Race in International Perspective John Baugh PART VII. LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY Racializing Language: Unpacking Linguistic Approaches to Attitudes about Race and Speech Kate T. Anderson African American Standard English Arthur K. Spears African American English in the Middle Class Erica Britt and Tracey L. Weldon African American Women's Language: Mother Tongues Untied Marcyliena Morgan Black Masculine Language David E. Kirkland Hip Hop Nation Language: Localization and Globalization H. Samy Alim African American Language and…
Page 1. S0o\a L. \-anehart BLACK WOMEN KINFOLK TALK ABOUT LANGUAGE AND LITERACY Page 2. Page 3. P... more Page 1. S0o\a L. \-anehart BLACK WOMEN KINFOLK TALK ABOUT LANGUAGE AND LITERACY Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. Page 5. Th±s Ono SJRZ-L1A-9PQK Page 6. Page 7. SONJA L. LANEHART ffi» TALK ABOUT LANGUAGE AND LITERACY University of Texas Press, Austin ...
L'A. developpe une reflexion a partir de son experience personnelle de professeur d'angla... more L'A. developpe une reflexion a partir de son experience personnelle de professeur d'anglais dans une universite americaine. Il s'attache en particulier a l'influence du facteur race dans ce contexte et a l'enseignement de l'anglais vernaculaire afro-americain. Il recommande a ses etudiants une strategie d'autoregulation afin d'optimiser leur apprentissage et developper leurs competences
Crystal’s Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (CEEL, pronounced like &dquo;seal&am... more Crystal’s Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (CEEL, pronounced like &dquo;seal&dquo; according to Crystal) is a visually striking book. It has many colorful pictures, broad coverage of the English language, and a recent publication date. In Crystal’s explanation of why we study the English language, he uses words such as importance, beauty, fascination, and fun. Crystal’s &dquo;metaphor of traveling&dquo; (vi) approach as opposed to a &dquo;metaphor of story-telling&dquo; (vi) approach can be seen throughout the text: numerous pictures of medieval manuscripts ( 11-17); colorful snapshots of periodicals (300-5); pictures of recent or current political leaders ( 111 ); intellectuals past and present (195 and 373); and other famous or popular people (150 and 275). The appearance of the book is so captivating that it could easily persuade one to use it as a textbook for a lower-division undergraduate course on the English language. For such a class, the goal is usually to introduce key areas of study in the English language-structure, history, and modem variation. CEEL addresses each of those areas and more. It contains twenty-four chapters in all divided into six sections : (1) The history of English, (2) English vocabulary, (3) English grammar, (4) spoken and written English, (5) using English, and (6) learning about English. CEEL does not contain detailed information about each of the six areas but rather a
... yall is used occasionally by native Southern speakers to refer to one addressee (Bernstein 19... more ... yall is used occasionally by native Southern speakers to refer to one addressee (Bernstein 1929; Blaisdell 1931; Spencer 1975; Tillery and Bailey 1998), others maintain that it is not used regularly in that context (Axley 1929; Richardson 1984; Butters and Aycock 1987; Maynor ...
Language can be a means of solidarity, resistance, and identity within a culture or social group.... more Language can be a means of solidarity, resistance, and identity within a culture or social group. Though language consists of arbitrary signs, symbols, or sounds constructed to make meaning, its purpose is not simply to communicate, nor is communication necessarily its most essential function. Freire and Macedo (1987, 128) claim that &dquo;language should never be understood as a mere tool of communi-
Abstract This paper uses current theory and research in educational psychology to explicate how i... more Abstract This paper uses current theory and research in educational psychology to explicate how instructors in Linguistics classrooms can create activity settings that facilitate the development of students' self-regulated learning skills. The focus of the discussion is on the importance of goals in self-regulation and how goal-setting can be integrated into classroom activity settings. In addition, characteristics of activities that can be used to help develop self-regulated learning skills are presented. Finally, the process of facilitating students' self-regulated learning will be discussed as it relates to classroom management issues. The hope is that by combining research in educational psychology with Linguistics pedagogy a mutually beneficial interdisciplinary relationship will result that will better serve students and teachers' classroom practice. ********** One of the dilemmas for today's teachers is whether we should teach self-regulation and critical thinking skills in addition to the content of subjects like linguistics and history in order to help students direct their own learning. Students obviously need both self-regulation and critical thinking skills in addition to content knowledge because the usefulness of the skills and content knowledge they acquire today will benefit them in their ability to regulate and continue their learning outside a classroom environment in the future. For this reason, self-regulated learning must be a concern of educational research and practice regardless of discipline. Self-regulated learning is a multidimensional skill that is exemplified by students who are metacognitively, motivationally, and behaviorally active participants in their own learning (Zimmerman, 1986). In other words, as students develop their self-regulatory skills they become active controlling participants who direct what they learn and how they go about learning. Although there are different approaches to self-regulated learning, they do have at least one thing in common: the importance of goals in self-regulation. In fact, for most researchers, the term "self-regulation" implies that something is being used as a reference point to guide one's behavior (e.g., Carver & Scheier, 1982; D. Ford, 1987; M. Ford, 1992; Schutz, 1991, 1994, in press). Simply put, you cannot regulate without something to compare where you are with where you want to be. Goals are seen as those points of comparison because what you know and do now should help you achieve your goal of being at a higher level of development later. In other words, you need to be able to access your level of knowledge, self-regulation, and critical thinking skills so that you know where you are now and how far you need to go to get to a higher level of knowledge and skills. With the importance of goals for self-regulation in mind, it becomes clear that in order to facilitate self-regulation in the classroom students need opportunities to develop their own goals and regulate their learning in relationship to those goals. In addition, if we want students to regulate their learning when they leave school, they need the opportunity to regulate their leaning while they are in school. This is important at all grade levels though activities to accomplish such will vary for elementary, junior high, high school, and college grade levels. Although most of the suggested activities described herein are targeted toward some high school and college classrooms, many can certainly be modified to be appropriate for all grade levels. Facilitating goal development for self-regulated learning Goals are an important part of the self-regulation process and a good place to begin facilitating the development of self-regulated learning skills. There are three steps that can be used to begin this process. First, create activities that provide students the opportunity to develop their skills at setting "useful" goals. …
Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice, 2000
This study was designed to examine the nature of core goals and to investigate how core goals are... more This study was designed to examine the nature of core goals and to investigate how core goals are related to semester subgoals, time spent on subgoals, and academic performance. The study provides evidence for a set of core goals that tend to become the central focus of behavior. The importance of these goals was demonstrated by participants who set and accomplished more core semester subgoals than secondary semester subgoals and who spent more time on those goals. In addition, participants who spent more time on their core subgoals and accomplished more core subgoals tended to perform better academically. Thus results indicate that courses designed to increase student retention rates such as University 101 or learning and study strategies courses may profit from activities designed to help students think about their goals and to examine the alignment of their most important goals with their subgoals and how they spend their time.
This chapter discusses teaching the History of the English Language (HEL) as a sociolinguist and ... more This chapter discusses teaching the History of the English Language (HEL) as a sociolinguist and being guided by three areas in learning sciences: goals, self-regulated learning, and interest, particularly social and personal. Specifically, this chapter addresses the age-old student question, “How is this relevant to me?” Part of our job as college teachers involves getting students to realize the practicality of a course for their needs (e.g., “I need to take this class in order to graduate”), and another part is to acknowledge (or awaken in some cases) their intellectual curiosity (e.g., “I’ve always wondered why “knight” is spelled with letters that aren’t even pronounced”). This chapter provides examples of instruction and assignments that correspond to research literature on goals and interest with respect to teaching and self-regulated learning more broadly and teaching HEL from the perspective of a sociolinguist more specifically.
The foundation of the Ebonics controversy (EC) was laid centuries before its December 1996 debut.... more The foundation of the Ebonics controversy (EC) was laid centuries before its December 1996 debut. The EC was not about the name “Ebonics,” but about a legacy. In the Introduction, Baugh writes: “This text attempts to clarify several of the issues, misconceptions, and educational policies that emerged from the Ebonics controversy while striving to view them within the broader context of the linguistic legacy of American slavery and to address the linguistic prejudices that tend to inhibit improved race relations” (xiii). Within this context, Baugh clarifies how the EC happened, and why.
Language Use in African American Communities: An Introduction Sonja L. Lanehart, Jennifer Bloomqu... more Language Use in African American Communities: An Introduction Sonja L. Lanehart, Jennifer Bloomquist, and Ayesha M. Malik PART I. ORIGINS AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES The English Origins Hypothesis Gerard Van Herk The Creole Origins Hypothesis John R. Rickford The Emergence of African American English: Monogenetic or Polygenetic? With or Without "Decreolization"? Under How Much Substrate Influence? Salikoko S. Mufwene On the Origins of African American Vernacular English: Beginnings Donald Winford African American English Over Yonder: The Language of the Liberian Settler Community John Victor Singler Documenting the History of African American Vernacular English: A Survey and Assessment of Sources and Results Edgar W. Schneider Regionality in the Development of African American English Walt Wolfram and Mary E. Kohn PART II. LECTS AND VARIATION The Place of Gullah in the African American Linguistic Continuum Tracey L. Weldon and Simanique Moody Rural African American Vernacular English Patricia Cukor-Avila and Guy Bailey African American English in the Mississippi Delta: A Case Study of Copula Absence and /r/-Lessness in the Speech of Black Women in Coahoma County Rose Wilkerson African American Voices in Atlanta William A. Kretzschmar African American Language in Pittsburgh and the Lower Susqueshanna Valley Jennifer Bloomquist and Shelome Gooden African American Phonology in a Philadelphia Community William Labov and Sabriya Fisher African American Language in New York City Renee A. Blake, Cara Shousterman, and Luiza Newlin-Lukowicz African American Vernacular English In California: Four Plus Decades Of Vibrant Variationist Research John R. Rickford The Black American Sign Language Project: An Overview Joseph Hill, Carolyn McCaskill, Robert Bayley, and Ceil Lucas The Sociolinguistic Construction of African American Language Walt Wolfram PART III. STRUCTURE AND DESCRIPTION Syntax and Semantics Lisa J. Green and Walter Sistrunk The Systematic Marking of Tense, Modality and Aspect in African American Language Charles E. DeBose On the Syntax-Prosody Interface in African American Language James A. Walker Segmental Phonology of African American English Erik R. Thomas and Guy Bailey Prosodic Features of African American English Erik R. Thomas PART IV. CHILD LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT Language Acquisition in the African American Child: Prior to Age Four Brandi L. Newkirk-Turner, RaMonda Horton, and Ida J. Stockman The Development of African American English through Childhood and Adolescence Janneke Van Hofwegen Development of Variation Lisa J. Green and Jessica White-Sustaita Narrative Structures of African American Children: Commonalities and Differences Tempii B. Champion and Allyssa McCabe Some Similarities and Differences between African American English and Southern White English in Children Janna B. Oetting Contemporary Approaches and Perspectives for Assessing Young and School-Age AAE Child Speakers Toya A. Wyatt PART V. EDUCATION African American Language and Education: History and Controversy in the Twentieth Century Geneva Smitherman Managing Two Varieties: Code-switching in the Educational Context Monique T. Mills and Julie A. Washington Balancing Pedagogy with Theory: The Infusion of African American Language Research Into Everyday Pre K-12 Teaching Practices Sharroky Hollie, Tamara Butler, and Jamila Gillenwaters History of Research on Multiliteracies and Hip Hop Pedagogy: A Critical Review K.C. Nat Turner and Tyson L. Rose African-American Vernacular English and Reading William Labov and Bettina Baker Dialect Switching and Mathematical Reasoning Tests: Implications for Early Educational Achievement J. Michael Terry, Randall Hendrick, Evangelos Evangelou, and Richard L. Smith Beyond Bidialecticalism: Language Planning and Policies for African American Students John Baugh PART VI. LANGUAGE IN SOCIETY African American Church Language Charles E. DeBose The (Re)turn to Remus Orthography: The Voices of African American Language in American Literature James Braxton Peterson African American Language and Black Poetry Howard Rambsy II and Briana Whiteside African American Divas of Comedy: Staking a Claim in Public Space Jacquelyn Rahman The Construction of Ethnicity via Voicing: African American English in Children's Animated Film Jennifer Bloomquist SWB: (Speaking while Black or Speaking while Brown): Linguistic Profiling and Discrimination Based on Speech as a Surrogate for Race in International Perspective John Baugh PART VII. LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY Racializing Language: Unpacking Linguistic Approaches to Attitudes about Race and Speech Kate T. Anderson African American Standard English Arthur K. Spears African American English in the Middle Class Erica Britt and Tracey L. Weldon African American Women's Language: Mother Tongues Untied Marcyliena Morgan Black Masculine Language David E. Kirkland Hip Hop Nation Language: Localization and Globalization H. Samy Alim African American Language and…
Page 1. S0o\a L. \-anehart BLACK WOMEN KINFOLK TALK ABOUT LANGUAGE AND LITERACY Page 2. Page 3. P... more Page 1. S0o\a L. \-anehart BLACK WOMEN KINFOLK TALK ABOUT LANGUAGE AND LITERACY Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. Page 5. Th±s Ono SJRZ-L1A-9PQK Page 6. Page 7. SONJA L. LANEHART ffi» TALK ABOUT LANGUAGE AND LITERACY University of Texas Press, Austin ...
L'A. developpe une reflexion a partir de son experience personnelle de professeur d'angla... more L'A. developpe une reflexion a partir de son experience personnelle de professeur d'anglais dans une universite americaine. Il s'attache en particulier a l'influence du facteur race dans ce contexte et a l'enseignement de l'anglais vernaculaire afro-americain. Il recommande a ses etudiants une strategie d'autoregulation afin d'optimiser leur apprentissage et developper leurs competences
Crystal’s Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (CEEL, pronounced like &dquo;seal&am... more Crystal’s Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (CEEL, pronounced like &dquo;seal&dquo; according to Crystal) is a visually striking book. It has many colorful pictures, broad coverage of the English language, and a recent publication date. In Crystal’s explanation of why we study the English language, he uses words such as importance, beauty, fascination, and fun. Crystal’s &dquo;metaphor of traveling&dquo; (vi) approach as opposed to a &dquo;metaphor of story-telling&dquo; (vi) approach can be seen throughout the text: numerous pictures of medieval manuscripts ( 11-17); colorful snapshots of periodicals (300-5); pictures of recent or current political leaders ( 111 ); intellectuals past and present (195 and 373); and other famous or popular people (150 and 275). The appearance of the book is so captivating that it could easily persuade one to use it as a textbook for a lower-division undergraduate course on the English language. For such a class, the goal is usually to introduce key areas of study in the English language-structure, history, and modem variation. CEEL addresses each of those areas and more. It contains twenty-four chapters in all divided into six sections : (1) The history of English, (2) English vocabulary, (3) English grammar, (4) spoken and written English, (5) using English, and (6) learning about English. CEEL does not contain detailed information about each of the six areas but rather a
... yall is used occasionally by native Southern speakers to refer to one addressee (Bernstein 19... more ... yall is used occasionally by native Southern speakers to refer to one addressee (Bernstein 1929; Blaisdell 1931; Spencer 1975; Tillery and Bailey 1998), others maintain that it is not used regularly in that context (Axley 1929; Richardson 1984; Butters and Aycock 1987; Maynor ...
Language can be a means of solidarity, resistance, and identity within a culture or social group.... more Language can be a means of solidarity, resistance, and identity within a culture or social group. Though language consists of arbitrary signs, symbols, or sounds constructed to make meaning, its purpose is not simply to communicate, nor is communication necessarily its most essential function. Freire and Macedo (1987, 128) claim that &dquo;language should never be understood as a mere tool of communi-
Abstract This paper uses current theory and research in educational psychology to explicate how i... more Abstract This paper uses current theory and research in educational psychology to explicate how instructors in Linguistics classrooms can create activity settings that facilitate the development of students' self-regulated learning skills. The focus of the discussion is on the importance of goals in self-regulation and how goal-setting can be integrated into classroom activity settings. In addition, characteristics of activities that can be used to help develop self-regulated learning skills are presented. Finally, the process of facilitating students' self-regulated learning will be discussed as it relates to classroom management issues. The hope is that by combining research in educational psychology with Linguistics pedagogy a mutually beneficial interdisciplinary relationship will result that will better serve students and teachers' classroom practice. ********** One of the dilemmas for today's teachers is whether we should teach self-regulation and critical thinking skills in addition to the content of subjects like linguistics and history in order to help students direct their own learning. Students obviously need both self-regulation and critical thinking skills in addition to content knowledge because the usefulness of the skills and content knowledge they acquire today will benefit them in their ability to regulate and continue their learning outside a classroom environment in the future. For this reason, self-regulated learning must be a concern of educational research and practice regardless of discipline. Self-regulated learning is a multidimensional skill that is exemplified by students who are metacognitively, motivationally, and behaviorally active participants in their own learning (Zimmerman, 1986). In other words, as students develop their self-regulatory skills they become active controlling participants who direct what they learn and how they go about learning. Although there are different approaches to self-regulated learning, they do have at least one thing in common: the importance of goals in self-regulation. In fact, for most researchers, the term "self-regulation" implies that something is being used as a reference point to guide one's behavior (e.g., Carver & Scheier, 1982; D. Ford, 1987; M. Ford, 1992; Schutz, 1991, 1994, in press). Simply put, you cannot regulate without something to compare where you are with where you want to be. Goals are seen as those points of comparison because what you know and do now should help you achieve your goal of being at a higher level of development later. In other words, you need to be able to access your level of knowledge, self-regulation, and critical thinking skills so that you know where you are now and how far you need to go to get to a higher level of knowledge and skills. With the importance of goals for self-regulation in mind, it becomes clear that in order to facilitate self-regulation in the classroom students need opportunities to develop their own goals and regulate their learning in relationship to those goals. In addition, if we want students to regulate their learning when they leave school, they need the opportunity to regulate their leaning while they are in school. This is important at all grade levels though activities to accomplish such will vary for elementary, junior high, high school, and college grade levels. Although most of the suggested activities described herein are targeted toward some high school and college classrooms, many can certainly be modified to be appropriate for all grade levels. Facilitating goal development for self-regulated learning Goals are an important part of the self-regulation process and a good place to begin facilitating the development of self-regulated learning skills. There are three steps that can be used to begin this process. First, create activities that provide students the opportunity to develop their skills at setting "useful" goals. …
Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice, 2000
This study was designed to examine the nature of core goals and to investigate how core goals are... more This study was designed to examine the nature of core goals and to investigate how core goals are related to semester subgoals, time spent on subgoals, and academic performance. The study provides evidence for a set of core goals that tend to become the central focus of behavior. The importance of these goals was demonstrated by participants who set and accomplished more core semester subgoals than secondary semester subgoals and who spent more time on those goals. In addition, participants who spent more time on their core subgoals and accomplished more core subgoals tended to perform better academically. Thus results indicate that courses designed to increase student retention rates such as University 101 or learning and study strategies courses may profit from activities designed to help students think about their goals and to examine the alignment of their most important goals with their subgoals and how they spend their time.
The foundation of the Ebonics controversy (EC) was laid centuries before its December 1996 debut.... more The foundation of the Ebonics controversy (EC) was laid centuries before its December 1996 debut. The EC was not about the name “Ebonics,” but about a legacy. In the Introduction, Baugh writes: “This text attempts to clarify several of the issues, misconceptions, and educational policies that emerged from the Ebonics controversy while striving to view them within the broader context of the linguistic legacy of American slavery and to address the linguistic prejudices that tend to inhibit improved race relations” (xiii). Within this context, Baugh clarifies how the EC happened, and why.
Can You Hear (And See) Me Now?: Race-ing American Language Variationist/Change and Sociolinguistic Research Methodologies, 2019
This chapter provides a survey of the journal American Speech from its inception in 1925 to 2017 ... more This chapter provides a survey of the journal American Speech from its inception in 1925 to 2017 using a Critical Race Theory, Black feminist, intersectionality lens in order to critique the status quo of (a) American language variation/change and sociolinguistic research and researchers as White, heterosexual, and male (WHAM), and (b) African American Language research as African American, heterosexual, and male (AAHAM), to demonstrate the need for more critical, and intersectional American language variation/change and sociolinguistic research addressing more complex, diverse, and inclusive questions around language and identity as well as interrogating researcher identities and their subjectivities. The survey of American Speech revealed that most of the participants and researchers are WHAMs. Even when they are not WHAMs, they are male people of color, or POCs. When POCs and women of color, that is to say not WHAMs, engage in research and research their own communities, it is not only more representative of humanity but also broadens our understanding of all of humanity from multiple perspectives. Suggestions for redress include diversifying research and researchers, acknowledging researcher subjectivities and their impact on research methods and methodologies, and using interdisciplinary research and research methods and methodologies to address complex and fluid questions.
The History of English: Varieties of English, 2017
This chapter reviews the differing positions concerning the history and development of African Am... more This chapter reviews the differing positions concerning the history and development of African American Language (AAL), the impact of each position, and conclusions about the direction of these positions for future research in AAL and the communities involved. The positions discussed are: (1) Anglicist (aka Dialectologist), which purports that Africans in America learned regional varieties of British English dialects from British overseers with little to no influence from their own native African languages and cultures; (2) Creolist, which purports that AAL developed from a prior US creole developed by slaves that was widespread across the colonies and slave-holding areas (though Neo-Creolists acknowledge there likely was not a widespread creole but one that emerged in conditions favorable to creole development); (3) Substratist, which purports that distinctive patterns of AAL are those that occur in Niger-Congo languages such as Kikongo, Mande, and Kwa; (4) Ecological and Restructuralist, which is a perspective within the Anglicist position that acknowledges the difficulty of knowing the origins of AAL but proposes that we can say something useful about Earlier AAL (not nascent AAL) given settlement and migration patterns as well as socio-ecological issues; (5) Divergence/Convergence, which purports that AAL diverges and converges to White varieties over the course of its history with respect to changes in and degrees of racism, segregation, inequalities, and inequities that fluctuate across time and differ regionally; and (6) Deficit, which purports that AAL is based on the assumption that Africans in America and their culture are inferior to whites and their language learning as a result was imperfect and bastardized. Though the substance of and support for each position varies, ideological and epistemological perspectives of their originators and supporters cannot go unexamined.
The Oxford Handbook of African American Language, 2015
This chapter provides readers with an overview of analyses of traditional and contemporary work o... more This chapter provides readers with an overview of analyses of traditional and contemporary work on language use in African American communities in the Oxford Handbook of African American Language (OHAAL). This introduction provides a justification for the need to provide a variety of scholarly perspectives on African American Language (AAL) with respect to sociohistorical origins and perspectives, regional variation, structure and description, child language acquisition and development, education and pedagogy, social and cultural contexts, attitudes and beliefs, and identity. In addition, this Introduction serves to provide a discussion on clarity and specificity in discussions about naming and defining AAL (or African American English) as well as about what it is and is not. Finally, this Introduction serves to highlight a need for collaborative perspectives and innovative thinking while reasserting the need for better research and communication on AAL within and outside the linguistic community in general and sociolinguistics in particular.
The Oxford Handbook of African American Language, 2015
In this chapter, I define and discuss difficult terms related to language and identity in the Afr... more In this chapter, I define and discuss difficult terms related to language and identity in the African American community. In doing so, I discuss the contradictions we find in studying the language and identity of people in the African American community that arise from within and without, as well as conundrums resulting from these contradictions. In examining these contradictions and conundrums, I discuss identity and community of African Americans through their language attitudes, beliefs, practices, and ideologies via linguistic pride and acceptance, linguistic prejudice, and linguistic shame and denial of African American Language. I conclude with some observations about language and identity in the African American community as well as suggestions for future research.
Approaches to Teaching the History of the English Language: Pedagogy in Practice, 2017
This chapter discusses teaching the History of the English Language (HEL) as a sociolinguist and ... more This chapter discusses teaching the History of the English Language (HEL) as a sociolinguist and being guided by three areas in learning sciences: goals, self-regulated learning, and interest, particularly social and personal. Specifically, this chapter addresses the age-old student question, “How is this relevant to me?” Part of our job as college teachers involves getting students to realize the practicality of a course for their needs (e.g., “I need to take this class in order to graduate”), and another part is to acknowledge (or awaken in some cases) their intellectual curiosity (e.g., “I’ve always wondered why “knight” is spelled with letters that aren’t even pronounced”). This chapter provides examples of instruction and assignments that correspond to research literature on goals and interest with respect to teaching and self-regulated learning more broadly and teaching HEL from the perspective of a sociolinguist more specifically.
Language Variety in the New South: Contemporary Perspectives on Change and Variation, 2018
The human activity of language, the social construction of race, and the concept of identity are ... more The human activity of language, the social construction of race, and the concept of identity are complicated. The ideologies surrounding language and race are even more complicated when they are examined along with identity. In this chapter, we want to parse each of these elements—language, race, and identity—among African American teenagers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a majority Black city. We do not aim to put words in the participants’ mouths, but instead to let participants explain their own attitudes and beliefs about language, race, and identity. In short, our goal is to let participants tell us their stories instead of us, the researchers, trying to “discover” them. In so doing as the basis of this ongoing research study, we explicate the complexity of language, race, and identity that inevitably leads us to even more complex and complicating views about racial identity and attitudes and beliefs about one’s own language and projections about that language onto others to pursue further. After presenting the analysis of our data, we conclude with future directions for research on African American Language (AAL) and identity generally, as well as specifically with regard to this ongoing research project, to gain a better understanding of the interplay of language, race, and identity of African Americans across generations.
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participants explain their own attitudes and beliefs about language, race, and identity. In short, our goal is to let participants tell us their stories instead of us, the researchers, trying to “discover” them. In so doing as the basis of this ongoing research study, we explicate the complexity of language, race, and identity that inevitably leads us to even more complex and complicating views about racial identity and attitudes and beliefs about one’s own language and projections about that language onto others to pursue further. After presenting the analysis of our
data, we conclude with future directions for research on African American Language (AAL) and identity generally, as well as specifically with regard to this ongoing research project, to gain a better understanding of the interplay of language, race, and identity of African Americans across generations.