Attitudes Belie Teacher Motive in Bidialectal Classrooms (original) (raw)
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International Journal of Learning and Development, 2012
This study compares and contrasts the language attitudes of teachers of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and West Indian Creole English (CE) speakers over the last fifty years, to determine if there have been any significant changes, to draw out the implications of these findings and offer reasons for the results. Teachers" attitudes towards these languages were generally negative over the decades, but I noticed that as the number of teachers of colour increased in the USA, there was a slight shift in attitude towards AAVE in a positive direction. I conclude that though language attitudes are very difficult to change, teacher education which specifically targets and challenges teacher language attitudes will be a major step in helping to shift these attitudes further for the benefit of teacher and student.
Future Educators' Perceptions of African American Vernacular English (AAVE)
Teachers are responsible for educating students'. Unfortunately, many teachers, however, are not prepared to meet the increasing need of the students' population that they encounter in the classroom. One area in which teachers do not receive adequate training is language diversity. In particular, African American Vernacular English is often an unfamiliar language for many educators. This study employed a language attitude scale to assess the attitudes toward African American Vernacular English of pre-service teachers in a multicultural, undergraduate education course. The findings revealed that European American students expressed a belief that African American Vernacular English is a negative and inferior dialect of English, while African American and Hispanic students expressed more favorable views of African American Vernacular English. The study suggests that pre-service teachers should receive training on the different dialects of English that students may speak in the ...
Language and Linguistics Compass, 2010
This article outlines one linguistically based approach -contrastive analysis and code-switchingfor teachers of students who speak African American Vernacular English (AAVE). I discuss obstacles to bringing these linguistic insights and strategies to teachers in training and in the classroom. Across four scenarios from a teacher education program and from middle school classrooms, I describe (i) a grammatical construction or a linguistic insight covered in classes or professional development sessions with pre-service and in-service teachers and (ii) teachers' work products (e.g. code-switching charts) implementing their new knowledge. Analyzing the mismatch between (i) and (ii), I unpack teachers' knowledge and ways of thinking about grammar, AAVE and Standard American English (SAE). This analysis reveals that teachers' dominant language ideology and prior lack of training in the structure of English stand as limiting factors in the classroom, constraining their ability to implement a linguistically informed approach to stigmatized dialects, and constraining the linguist's ability to communicate core linguistic principles. Finally, I show how this analysis led to adapting the core graphic organizer, the code-switching chart, and to increasing the specificity of grammatical explanations to help teachers take steps toward building a linguistically informed language arts classroom. Joni (2nd grade teacher): Melinda, do you have a minute? I wanted to ask you about Tamisha -she can't read and she can't write. She's nowhere near second grade level. What happened last year? Melinda (1st grade teacher): Tamisha? Why, you can't do anything with that child. Haven't you heard how she talks? Joni: Well, what did you do with her last year? Melinda: Oh, I put her in the corner with a coloring book. Joni: All year? Melinda: Yes. All year. This story is not fiction. Because Tamisha, an elementary student in an urban school in Tidewater Virginia, spoke African American Vernacular English (AAVE) (also known recently as African American English, Ebonics, Black English, Black Communications, or African American Language), her teacher believed her uneducable and treated her as such. While surely an extreme example, Tamisha's story suggests the dire consequences of dominant language ideology, the 'ingrained, unquestioned beliefs about the way the world is, the way it should be, and the way it has to be with respect to language' (Rickford and Wolfram 2009: 14). Dominant language ideology in the US 'assume[s] that Standard [American] English [(SAE)] is the only legitimate dialect of English and view[s] other dialects such as African American English as incorrect' (Godley et al. 2007: 104; see Language and Linguistics Compass 4/10 (2010): 954
African-American English: Teacher Beliefs, Teacher Needs and Teacher Preparation Programs
Reading Matrix an International Online Journal, 2010
The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate elementary school teachers' selfperceived beliefs regarding African-American English (AAE), and their professional preparedness to address linguistic needs of AA students in the classrooms. The findings revealed three central issues: (1) teachers had limited understanding of the linguistic features of AAE, (2) teachers believed they had limited pedagogical skills to address issues related to AAE, and (3) teachers indicated that teacher education programs at the pre-service level were inadequate in preparing them for teaching students who spoke AAE in the classrooms. The study has implications for teachers' in-service training needs regarding culturally responsive education, as well as for teacher educators in teacher preparation programs to revisit the curricula as part of education reform. Implications and recommendations for teacher preparation and program implementation are provided.
International Journal of Multicultural Education, 2021
This study explored Midwestern US teachers’ raciolinguistic attitudes toward English learners. Two research questions guided the study: “How did teachers perceive racism and linguicism” and “How did a professional training influence teachers’ awareness of them?” Critical race theory was used to examine how racism evolved into racialized linguicism. Data analysis demonstrated that teachers tended to conflate the experiences of African American students and English learners, even though they are linguistically and culturally distinct. They also tended to understand the racism and linguicism encountered by the two groups in Black/White and Standard-English/Nonstandard-English binaries. Implications consider the future direction of TESOL teacher education.
School Principals’ Perceptions on Ebonics and Black English in Houston, TX
Journal of Education & Social Policy
This study investigated school principals' individual and aggregate perceptions of students who use African American Vernacular English in Houston, TX. Using the African American English Teacher Attitude Scale (AAETAS), the study seeks to describe the relationship between principals' demographic characteristics and their perceptions of African American Vernacular English. The study used raw scores from the AAETAS instrument created by Hoover, McNair-Knox, Lewis and Politzer (1997) and coded the principals' perceptions of AAVE. Principals' demographic information was gathered on the following categories: race, gender, age, language and dialect use of subjects, school enrollment, years teaching, years as an administrator, total employment years, and the aggregate mean of all principals' scores. These categories assist in highlighting perceptions and expectations among demographics. The results show an overall attitude of difference and mild acceptance. Four of the 44 principals (9.1%) had a negative or deficit attitude toward AAVE. Thirty-two principals (72.7%) were in the "Difference" category, meaning that listeners view AAVE as different and not necessarily negative. "Excellence" is a strong positive attitude towards AAVE. Eight out of 44 (18.2%) principals were in this category. Because this is a qualitative study, the principals' responses have been explained through narrative. About 18% of school principals in this study indicated that the dialect could be harmful to one's academic career, and they perceived AAVE as a dialect they would prefer students not use.
Preservice Teachers' Changes in Attitudes about Issues of Language
International Journal of Progressive Education, 2009
Given the overwhelming body of research addressing the cultural gap between preservice teachers and the students they will ultimately teach, the research concerned the examination of preservice teachers' attitudes toward to issues of language in college classes so as to improve the multicultural aspect of educational courses. We used statistical analyses of survey results filled out by two hundred seventy four preservice teachers as sources of data for addressing students' changes of attitudes related to language issues. Statistical analyses of the data indicate the closing gap between students who had lower scores and higher scores on the pre surveys. The implications for multicultural education and, professional development are discussed.