African American Vernacular English Substantified 1

African American Vernacular English Substantified

Love Newkirk

Post University

Dr. Virginia Metaxas

June 12, 2023

African American Vernacular English Substantified 2

Introduction

American educational systems are responsible for supplying attending students with a

viable future. However, achievement is not possible as long as educators remain biased against

individuals based on their vernacular, social status, and culture. To ensure equitable and equal

chances for academic and social success for historically marginalized African American students

educators should recognize African American Vernacular English (AAVE) as a valid language.

The determining factor for success is respecting AAVE as a mother tongue for many learners

and presenting standard English (SE) as an alternative method of communication.

The issue has been hotly debated for decades, with some groups holding that intelligence

is predetermined and that the achievement gap will not close by teaching English as a second

language. Conversely, others claim that historically systemic social injustices against Blacks are

the culprit of the disadvantaged, and if education offered equitable teaching methods, the

students would receive the essential tools to succeed. This paper will discuss the findings of the

opposing viewpoints, explore past, present, and future implications concerning AAVE in the

classroom and society at large, and present demographics that may affect the widening

achievement gap of African American learners compared to their White classmates.

The background of AAVE lays a groundwork for understanding the overwhelming

attention this form of verbal communication has received. Historically, numerous sociologists have

studied various versions of non-SE including discourses about “uplifting” what many people

considered “bad” nonstandard varieties of English, and there have been many social and

educational debates about "elevating" what some persons regard as "broken English" and "sloppy

talk" to the level of a bona fide social dialect with systematic rules (Todd, 1997 as cited in Baxter

& Holland, 2007). In fact, “the debate has raged about whether to legitimize a nonstandard social
African American Vernacular English Substantified 3

dialect and make it a pedagogic tool for classroom instruction in the acquisition of Standard

English, the result of which would be to encourage students to become dialectical, or proficient in

both Standard English and their nonstandard dialect” (Filmer, 2003; Seymour, Abdulkarim, &

Johnson, 1999 as cited in Baxter & Holland, 2007 p. 145).

Pros and Cons of AAVE

Considering teaching SE as a second language to speakers of AAVE and other English

dialects has similar debate topics as advocacy for foreign language learning (FFL) in public

schools. The following section of this paper discusses the pros and cons of teaching SE as a

second language and compares the resistance with FLL disputes.

Historical research by Berenstein (1961), Engleman (1966), and Jensen (1969) speculated

that learning deficits of some cultural groups based on their use of non-SE were deviations from

SE and were due partly because of intelligence (or lack thereof) (Roye-Gill, 2011 p. 7). Further

opposition came from media broadcasters and policymakers who starkly opposed efforts to

provide bilingual education for some groups based on the belief that such education was

“counter-intuitive on the grounds that less instruction through English must surely mean less

opportunity to acquire English” (Cummins, 2021 p.133). Comparative pushback against FLL in

the United States was directly after WWII when the nation was seeking unity and claimed FLL

was futile (Hellmich, 2018). Learning new languages was considered unnatural and caused

deleterious results that could arise at any time in the life of the bilingual or multilingual person

(Kroll, 2017).

The following statements explain the pros of AAVE use in the classroom and compare

the advantages of such bilingualism with bilingualism concerning learning new languages other

than English.
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According to Cummins (1967) degrees of competency students gain in their two

languages (here, native tongue and SE) could determine their comprehension of directions and

attain an extra form of bilingualism that enhances cognitive, linguistic, and academic advantages

(Cummins, 1976 as cited in Cummins, 2021). “Instructional practice is also evolving to

acknowledge the feasibility and legitimacy of multilingual approaches that mobilize students’

entire linguistic repertoire for learning even in highly diverse classroom contexts where teachers

do not speak the multiple languages of their students” (Cummings, 2021 p. xxxiii). Including the

students vernacular to teach SE could enhance the learner’s linguistic choices, reduce the

frustrations affiliated “with current culturally exclusionary practices that impact teacher

perceptions, and possibly improve performance and expectations of the students” (Roye-Gill,

2011 p. 14).

Advocates of FLL record similar benefits. Three researchers Kroll (2017), Stein-Smith

(2016), and Hellmich (2018) pose that bilingualism and multilingualism improve economic

benefits, social perception, and employment opportunities. Dolean (2015) poses that exposure to

other languages has social and cognitive advantages throughout an individual's life.

Demographics

This section of the paper reveals some demographics of African American children and

the potential adverse effects of these conditions. According to The Program Leaders Working

Group (2023), 18.3 percent of the Black population comprises African American youth from five

to seventeen years of age, approximately 41 million children. As of 2014, 75 percent of these

children experienced their lives in “‘high disadvantaged’ neighborhoods” (Program Leaders

Working Group, 2023). 43 percent of African American children from birth to age

five comprise families living below the federal poverty line (Lloyd et al., 2021). Single parent
African American Vernacular English Substantified 5

families are the homes of 64 percent of Black children. Theories for the decreased number of

marriages of Black women primarily focus on economics, namely, the potential and availability

of employment for Black men. With only one income, the chances of advancement to wealth are

slim. “In 2019, the poverty rate for Black Americans was 28.8 percent, in comparison to

15.7 percent for Hispanics and 7.3 percent for both Asians and Whites, and Black female-

headed households had a poverty rate of 31.7 percent” (Lloyd et al., 2021). Bias against this

population increased when they spoke in their native AAVE. In 2004, 35 years of research

showed that in most cases, adverse convictions were “expressed toward speech samples of

AAVE, especially by European American listeners” (George, 2004). The predominately White

female teachers of America must consider their relationship to persons speaking AAVE in the

classroom.

Identity matters

An educator’s instructional decisions in the classroom significantly affect minoritized

learners and their ability to emerge from an “identity cocoon defined by their assumed

limitations (e.g. English language learner) to an interpersonal space defined by their talents and

accomplishments, both linguistic and intellectual” (Cummins, 2001a p. xxxiv). Improved teacher

effectiveness is achieved by teachers seeking methods for student success which includes

utilizing AAVE, and understanding that “students’ home languages represent important thinking

tools, family communication, and future economic and personal opportunities” (p. 130).

Supplemental teaching practices include engaging multilingual repertoires, sufficient literacy

activities, and incorporating culturally uplifting pedagogy that “creates interactional spaces that

affirm and expand student identities” (p. 5). Moreover, to ensure positive individual, cultural,
African American Vernacular English Substantified 6

cognitive, and social identities educators must promote linguistically and culturally enduring

instruction for academic success (p. 131).

Societal Implications

America’s increasingly multicultural societies face challenges the actions of which will

decide the fate of the country and its future multicultural educational processes. Globalization

demands that society welcomes other perspectives. This openness can reap peaceful

communication locally and communally concerning respect for AAVE and other dialects and

internationally concerning languages other than English. According to Jawad (2021), humanity is

uplifted, and understanding is widened when people regard native speakers positively (Jawad,

2021, as cited in Dolean, 2015). The author of this paper firmly concurs with the following quote

that defines a just educational system for all: “Democratic education involves individually

determined cognitive growth and development for the purpose of reaching one’s optimum level of

social competence and thereby being of increased benefit to the society at large” (Roye-Gill, 2011

p. 32). Despite historical atrocities and innumerable setbacks, African Americans continuously add

to society's well-being, contributing to the sciences and medical fields, the arts, and technological

and societal endeavors.

Conclusion
African American Vernacular English Substantified 7

The Black experience remains distinctive, entering the United States as forced

immigrants facing the exploitation and persecution of enslavement for over two centuries. “The

vestiges of these social acts account for the uninterrupted, if vacillating, conflict between blacks

and whites throughout American history and the agonizing nature of the adjustment of blacks to

a predominantly white society” (George, 2004 p. 228). The impassioned conversation between

these often diametrically opposed communities and their chosen languages, AAVE, the topic of

this presentation, and the dialect many consider conventional, SE continues.

AAVE remains a fierce topic in multicultural educational arenas. Despite decades of

linguistic research professing AAVE “as both systematic and rule-governed” (Labov, 1972;

Smitherman, 1977, 2006; Wolfram & Fasold, 1974 as cited in Lee & Handsfield, 2018) negative

societal perspectives of Blackness and African heritage cultures perpetuate the emotional,

educational, and social detriment of Black students.

In search for the roots of discourse concerning Black lingo, this paper discussed historical

attitudes about AAVE, its pros and cons, and presented the demographics of marginalized African

Americans that may have affected the achievement gap between them and their more fortunate

White classmates. Considered is the imbalance of wealth between the White majority and Black

minority populations implying that access to equal and equitable education is extremely unlikely.

The writer suggested ways to pave the road to reducing the achievement gap by

encouraging teachers to take an active part in creating opportunities to overcome linguistic

obstacles. Valuing each student and “affirming students’ personal, cultural, intellectual, and

academic identities by means of linguistically and culturally sustaining instruction promotes

academic engagement and achievement” (Cummins, 2021 p. 131).

African American Vernacular English Substantified 8

The ongoing debate about AAVE inclusion in schools directly affects the future of

multicultural education. Including AAVE in classrooms justifies the language and culture of those

children who possess it as their principal language. Doing so provides educators with tools for

more effective educational practices (Roye-Gill, 2011) while incorporating AAVE during SE

lessons.

This paper sheds light on the dark crevices of ignorance about the validity of AAVE and

the academic, social, and behavioral advantages of including this dialect in the classroom which

has proven benefits.

Lastly, the author stresse that perspective and conditioning determine which form of verbal

communication is standard. In other words, “‘standard’ has more to do with who is speaking (them)

than the relative value of specific grammatical structures for communicative and cognitive

purposes” (Lee et al., 2018 p. 160).

African American Vernacular English Substantified 9
African American Vernacular English Substantified 10

References
African American Vernacular English Substantified 11
African American Vernacular English Substantified 12
African American Vernacular English Substantified 13

Baxter, M. & Holland, R. (2007). Addressing the Needs of Students Who Speak a Nonstandard

English Dialect. Adult Basic Education & Literacy Journal, 1(3), 145-153.

Cummins, J. (2021). Rethinking the Education of Multilingual Learners: A Critical Analysis of

Theoretical Concepts. Multilingual Matters.

Dolean, D. D. (2015). How early can we efficiently start teaching a foreign language? European

Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 23(5), 706–719.

https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293x.2015.1104047

George, R. (2004). Language Attitudes and African American Vernacular English: New

Directions for Research. Communication & Mass Media.

Jawad, N. A. M. M. (2021). Bilingual Education: Features & Advantages. Journal of Language

Teaching and Research, 12(5), 735–740. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1205.12

Labov, W. (1972). Language in the inner city: Studies in the Black English

vernacular. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Lee, A. Y., & Handsfield, L. J. (2018). Code-Meshing and Writing Instruction in Multilingual

Classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 72(2), 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1688

Lloyd, C., Alvira-Hammond, M., Carlson, J., & Logan, D. (2021, March 5). Family, Economic,

and Geographic Characteristics of Black Families with Children. Child Trends.

https://www.childtrends.org/publications/family-economic-and-geographic-

characteristics-of-black-families-with-children

Program Leaders Working Group. (2023). African American Youth – Access, Equity and

Belonging Committee. Access-Equity-Belonging.extension.org. https://access-equity-

belonging.extension.org/about/racial-and-ethnic-youth/african-american-

youth/#:~:text=Population%3A
African American Vernacular English Substantified 14

Roye-Gill, C. (2011). Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the Classroom.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1521&context=etd

Smitherman, G. (1977). Talkin and testifyin: The language of black America. Boston, MA:

Houghton Mifflin.

Stein-Smith, K. (2016). The Role of Multilingualism in Effectively Addressing Global Issues:

The Sustainable Development Goals and Beyond. Theory and Practice in Language

Studies, 6(12), 2254. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0612.03

Wolfram, W., & Fasold, R.W. (1974). The study of social dialects in American

English. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

African American Vernacular English Substantified 15

References
African American Vernacular English Substantified 16

Cummins, J. (2021). Rethinking the Education of Multilingual Learners: A Critical Analysis of

Theoretical Concepts. Multilingual Matte

African American Vernacular English Substantified 17
African American Vernacular English Substantified 18
African American Vernacular English Substantified 19

References
African American Vernacular English Substantified 20
African American Vernacular English Substantified 21
African American Vernacular English Substantified 22

Baxter, M. & Holland, R. (2007). Addressing the Needs of Students Who Speak a Nonstandard

English Dialect. Adult Basic Education & Literacy Journal, 1(3), 145-153.

Cummins, J. (2021). Rethinking the Education of Multilingual Learners: A Critical Analysis of

Theoretical Concepts. Multilingual Matters.

Dolean, D. D. (2015). How early can we efficiently start teaching a foreign language? European

Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 23(5), 706–719.

https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293x.2015.1104047

George, R. (2004). Language Attitudes and African American Vernacular English: New

Directions for Research. Communication & Mass Media.

Jawad, N. A. M. M. (2021). Bilingual Education: Features & Advantages. Journal of Language

Teaching and Research, 12(5), 735–740. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1205.12

Labov, W. (1972). Language in the inner city: Studies in the Black English

vernacular. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Lee, A. Y., & Handsfield, L. J. (2018). Code-Meshing and Writing Instruction in Multilingual

Classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 72(2), 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1688

Lloyd, C., Alvira-Hammond, M., Carlson, J., & Logan, D. (2021, March 5). Family, Economic,

and Geographic Characteristics of Black Families with Children. Child Trends.

https://www.childtrends.org/publications/family-economic-and-geographic-

characteristics-of-black-families-with-children

Program Leaders Working Group. (2023). African American Youth – Access, Equity and

Belonging Committee. Access-Equity-Belonging.extension.org. https://access-equity-

belonging.extension.org/about/racial-and-ethnic-youth/african-american-

youth/#:~:text=Population%3A
African American Vernacular English Substantified 23

Roye-Gill, C. (2011). Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the Classroom.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1521&context=etd

Smitherman, G. (1977). Talkin and testifyin: The language of black America. Boston, MA:

Houghton Mifflin.

Stein-Smith, K. (2016). The Role of Multilingualism in Effectively Addressing Global Issues:

The Sustainable Development Goals and Beyond. Theory and Practice in Language

Studies, 6(12), 2254. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0612.03

Wolfram, W., & Fasold, R.W. (1974). The study of social dialects in American

English. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

African American Vernacular English Substantified 24

References
African American Vernacular English Substantified 25

Cummins, J. (2021). Rethinking the Education of Multilingual Learners: A Critical Analysis of

Theoretical Concepts. Multilingual Matters.

George, R. (2004). Language Attitudes and African American Vernacular English: New

Directions for Research. Communication & Mass Media.

Jawad, N. A. M. M. (2021). Bilingual Education: Features & Advantages. Journal of Language

Teaching and Research, 12(5), 735–740. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1205.12

Lee, A. Y., & Handsfield, L. J. (2018). Code-Meshing and Writing Instruction in Multilingual

Classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 72(2), 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1688

Lloyd, C., Alvira-Hammond, M., Carlson, J., & Logan, D. (2021, March 5). Family, Economic,

and Geographic Characteristics of Black Families with Children. Child Trends.

https://www.childtrends.org/publications/family-economic-and-geographic-

characteristics-of-black-families-with-children

Program Leaders Working Group. (2023). African American Youth – Access, Equity and

Belonging Committee. Access-Equity-Belonging.extension.org. https://access-equity-

belonging.extension.org/about/racial-and-ethnic-youth/african-american-

youth/#:~:text=Population%3A

Roye-Gill, C. (2011). Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the Classroom.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1521&context=etd

Roye-Gill, C. (2011). Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the Classroom.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1521&context=etd
African American Vernacular English Substantified 26
African American Vernacular English Substantified 27
African American Vernacular English Substantified 28

References
African American Vernacular English Substantified 29
African American Vernacular English Substantified 30

Cummins, J. (2021). Rethinking the Education of Multilingual Learners: A Critical Analysis of

Theoretical Concepts. Multilingual Matters.

George, R. (2004). Language Attitudes and African American Vernacular English: New

Directions for Research. Communication & Mass Media.

Jawad, N. A. M. M. (2021). Bilingual Education: Features & Advantages. Journal of Language

Teaching and Research, 12(5), 735–740. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1205.12

Lee, A. Y., & Handsfield, L. J. (2018). Code-Meshing and Writing Instruction in Multilingual

Classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 72(2), 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1688

Lloyd, C., Alvira-Hammond, M., Carlson, J., & Logan, D. (2021, March 5). Family, Economic,

and Geographic Characteristics of Black Families with Children. Child Trends.

https://www.childtrends.org/publications/family-economic-and-geographic-

characteristics-of-black-families-with-children

Program Leaders Working Group. (2023). African American Youth – Access, Equity and

Belonging Committee. Access-Equity-Belonging.extension.org. https://access-equity-

belonging.extension.org/about/racial-and-ethnic-youth/african-american-

youth/#:~:text=Population%3A

Roye-Gill, C. (2011). Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the Classroom.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1521&context=etd

Roye-Gill, C. (2011). Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the Classroom.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1521&context=etd
African American Vernacular English Substantified 31
African American Vernacular English Substantified 32
African American Vernacular English Substantified 33
African American Vernacular English Substantified 34

Cummins, J. (2021). Rethinking the Education of Multilingual Learners: A Critical Analysis of

Theoretical Concepts. Multilingual Matters.

George, R. (2004). Language Attitudes and African American Vernacular English: New

Directions for Research. Communication & Mass Media.

Jawad, N. A. M. M. (2021). Bilingual Education: Features & Advantages. Journal of Language

Teaching and Research, 12(5), 735–740. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1205.12

Lee, A. Y., & Handsfield, L. J. (2018). Code-Meshing and Writing Instruction in Multilingual

Classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 72(2), 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1688

Lloyd, C., Alvira-Hammond, M., Carlson, J., & Logan, D. (2021, March 5). Family, Economic,

and Geographic Characteristics of Black Families with Children. Child Trends.

https://www.childtrends.org/publications/family-economic-and-geographic-

characteristics-of-black-families-with-children

Program Leaders Working Group. (2023). African American Youth – Access, Equity and

Belonging Committee. Access-Equity-Belonging.extension.org. https://access-equity-

belonging.extension.org/about/racial-and-ethnic-youth/african-american-

youth/#:~:text=Population%3A

Roye-Gill, C. (2011). Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the Classroom.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1521&context=etd

Roye-Gill, C. (2011). Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the Classroom.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1521&context=etd
African American Vernacular English Substantified 35
African American Vernacular English Substantified 36
African American Vernacular English Substantified 37

References
African American Vernacular English Substantified 38

Cummins, J. (2021). Rethinking the Education of Multilingual Learners: A Critical Analysis of

Theoretical Concepts. Multilingual Matters.

George, R. (2004). Language Attitudes and African American Vernacular English: New

Directions for Research. Communication & Mass Media.

Jawad, N. A. M. M. (2021). Bilingual Education: Features & Advantages. Journal of Language

Teaching and Research, 12(5), 735–740. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1205.12

Lee, A. Y., & Handsfield, L. J. (2018). Code-Meshing and Writing Instruction in Multilingual

Classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 72(2), 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1688

Lloyd, C., Alvira-Hammond, M., Carlson, J., & Logan, D. (2021, March 5). Family, Economic,

and Geographic Characteristics of Black Families with Children. Child Trends.

https://www.childtrends.org/publications/family-economic-and-geographic-

characteristics-of-black-families-with-children

Program Leaders Working Group. (2023). African American Youth – Access, Equity and

Belonging Committee. Access-Equity-Belonging.extension.org. https://access-equity-

belonging.extension.org/about/racial-and-ethnic-youth/african-american-

youth/#:~:text=Population%3A

Roye-Gill, C. (2011). Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the Classroom.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1521&context=etd

Roye-Gill, C. (2011). Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the Classroom.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1521&context=etd
African American Vernacular English Substantified 39
African American Vernacular English Substantified 40
African American Vernacular English Substantified 41

References
African American Vernacular English Substantified 42

Cummins, J. (2021). Rethinking the Education of Multilingual Learners: A Critical Analysis of

Theoretical Concepts. Multilingual Matters.

George, R. (2004). Language Attitudes and African American Vernacular English: New

Directions for Research. Communication & Mass Media.

Jawad, N. A. M. M. (2021). Bilingual Education: Features & Advantages. Journal of Language

Teaching and Research, 12(5), 735–740. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1205.12

Lee, A. Y., & Handsfield, L. J. (2018). Code-Meshing and Writing Instruction in Multilingual

Classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 72(2), 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1688

Lloyd, C., Alvira-Hammond, M., Carlson, J., & Logan, D. (2021, March 5). Family, Economic,

and Geographic Characteristics of Black Families with Children. Child Trends.

https://www.childtrends.org/publications/family-economic-and-geographic-

characteristics-of-black-families-with-children

Program Leaders Working Group. (2023). African American Youth – Access, Equity and

Belonging Committee. Access-Equity-Belonging.extension.org. https://access-equity-

belonging.extension.org/about/racial-and-ethnic-youth/african-american-

youth/#:~:text=Population%3A

Roye-Gill, C. (2011). Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the Classroom.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1521&context=etd

Roye-Gill, C. (2011). Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the Classroom.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1521&context=etd
African American Vernacular English Substantified 43