African American Vernacular English CodeSwitching and the K12

African American Vernacular English, Code-Switching and the K-12 Inclusive, Multi-Literate Classroom Drs. Victoria Deneroff, Rebecca C. Mc. Mullen, and Nicholas Helfric. K Georgia College Third Annual Middle GA Student Diversity Conference, Atlanta GA

Outline of Presentation • • • Significance of AAVE in the classroom What does the Literature say? What should teachers do? A few Strategies for You Results and Implications Discussed

Introduction Today’s world demands a new way of teaching that is grounded in an understanding of the role of culture and language in learning (Villegas & Lucas, 2007). http: //www. ncte. org/positions/statements/righ ttoownlanguage All students are enriched by learning about the variety of language expressions.

English Dialects of the U. S. American English (Am. E, Am. Eng, USEng) Cultural • African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) • Chicano English • General American • New York Latino English • Pennsylvania Dutchified English • Yeshivish • Yinglish

English Dialects of the Southern English • • • • Tidewater accent Virginia Piedmont Virginia Tidewater [3] Coastal Southeastern (Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia area) Cajun English Harkers Island English (North Carolina) Ozark English Piedmont Dialect Southern Highland English Florida Cracker Dialect Gullah or Geechee Tampanian English Texan Yat (New Orleans) Ocracoke

Code Switching In linguistics, code-switching is the concurrent use of more than one language, or language variety, in conversation. Multilinguals—people who speak more than one language— sometimes use elements of multiple languages in conversing with each other. Thus, code-switching is the use of more than one linguistic variety in a manner consistent with the syntax and phonology of each variety.

What is African-American Vernacular English? • AAVE does not have a vocabulary separate from other varieties of English. However AAVE speakers do use some words which are not found in other varieties and furthermore use some English words in ways that differ from the standard dialects. • AAVE has a complex grammar, which includes rules

Significance of the Code-Switching and Multi-Literacies Problem: Teachers often underrate the reading, writing, and speaking performances (Wheeler, 2008). Problems may stem from • the traditional Language Arts Lens. • less than adequate teacher prep programs.

Cultural Responsiveness to Teaching Language Arts: Trends in Research • Linguistic Insight – Traditional correction methods (Adger, Wolfram, & Christian, 2007). – Teachers’ negative attitudes (Godley et al. , 2006) – Teachers’ lower expectations – Students’ lower academic achievement – Trend: Students are following correct language patterns in their communities (Wheeler & Swords, 2006)

AAVE is a Grammatical Language Words Directly from African Languages banana (Mandingo) yam (Mandingo) okra (Akan) gumbo (Western Bantu) West African Form + West African Meaning: • • bogus 'fake/fraudulent' cf. Hausa boko, or boko-boko 'deceit, fraud'. hep, hip 'well informed, up-to-date' cf. Wolof hepi, hipi 'to open one's eyes, be aware of what is going on'. English Form + West African Meaning: • • • cat 'a friend, a fellow, etc. ' cf. Wolof -kat (a suffix denoting a person) cool 'calm, controlled' cf. Mandingo suma 'slow' (literally 'cool') dig 'to understand, appreciate, pay attention' cf. Wolof deg, dega 'to understand, appreciate' bad 'really good' bad-eye 'nasty look', cf. Mandingo, ny. E-jugu 'hateful glance' (lit. 'bad-eye') big-eye 'greedy', cf. Ibo. anya uku 'covetous' (literally 'big-eye').

What is Code Switching? Code switching is • the practice of moving between variations of language in different contexts (Smith 2002). • “Latinos are learning English, ” he says. “That doesn’t mean that they should sacrifice their original language or that they should give up this in-betweeness that is Spanglish is a creative way also of saying, ‘I am an American and I have my own style, my own taste, my own tongue. ’” (from: Spanglish, A New American Language : NPR) • <embed src="http: //www. npr. org/v 2/? i=1438900& m=1440675& t= audio" height="386" wmode="opaque" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" base="http: //www. npr. org" type="application/xshockwave-flash"></embed>

Three important Elements for Teaching Code Switching How should we help students understand apply the rules of Standard English? • Scientific Inquiry • Comparison and Contrast • Code Switching as Metacognition

Grammar Standard English uses a conjugated be verb (called a copula) in a number of different sentences. (This may occur as is, 's, are, 're, etc. ) In AAVE this verb is often not included. The frequency of inclusion has been shown to depend on a variety of factors. In future sentences with gonna or gon (see below): • I don't care what he say, you __ gon laugh. . as long as is kids around he's gon play rough or however they're playing. Before verbs with the -ing or -in ending(progressive): • I tell him to be quiet because he don't know what he __ talking about. I mean, he may something's out of place but he __ cleaning up behind it and you can't get mad at him. Before adjectives and expressions of location: • He __ all right. And Alvin, he __ kind of big, you know? • She __ at home. The club __ on one corner, the Bock is on the other. Before nouns (or phrases with nouns) • He __ the one who had to go try to pick up the peacock. I say, you __ the one jumping up to leave, not me.

Grammar 2 Agreement • SE agreement between the subject and predicate in the present tense. • In AAVE the verb is rarely marked in this way. When regular verbs occur with such -s marking, they often carry special emphasis. Standard English also has agreement in a number of irregular and frequently used verbs such as has vs have and is vs are and was vs were. In AAVE these distinctions are not always made. Tense and aspect • The verb in AAVE is often used without any ending. As is the case with the English creoles, there are some separate words that come before the verb which show when or how something happens. These are called "tense/aspect markers". Verb Nuances Ricky Bell be steady steppin in them number nines. She be working all the time.

Grammar 3 Standard English present perfect: He has been married. AAVE been: He been married. • "He has eaten his dinner" can be expressed as He done eat his dinner. “Ain’t for didn’t” • I ain't step on no line. I said, "I ain't run the stop sign, " and he said, "you ran it!" • I ain't believe you that day, man.

Double Negatives Pilate they remembered as a pretty woods-wild girl "that couldn't nobody put shoes on. “ (Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon)

A Five-Step Process to Code Switching • Informed teachers Step 1: ask are common error patterns observed (Aldger et al. , 2007). Step 2: don’t view these as errors. Step 3: create a code switching chart Step 4: ask students to compare and contrast the informal and formal. Step 5: teach students to assess the needs of the setting through metacognition.

Code Switching Chart Informal English • Taylor cat is black. • The boy coat is torn. • Did you see the teacher pen? The Pattern Owner+ what is owned Noun + noun Formal English • Taylor’s cat is black. • The boy’s coat is torn. • Did you see the teacher’s pen? The Pattern Owner + ‘s what is owned Noun + ‘s + noun

Small Group Interactive Activities • Presented with short oral passages using AA vernacular English, please interpret them using formal English. • Ask students to spend about ten minutes brainstorming a response to this prompt: What are the different "languages" you use? When and why? Consider both reading and writing, and don't forget about email! If you speak another language, include it (or possibly them if you know more than one).

Lesson Plans http: //www. learnnc. org/lp/pages/4558 Lesson Plans from Rebecca Wheeler http: //www. readwritethink. org/classroomresources/lesson-plans/exploring-languageidentity-mother-910. html

References Gee, J. P. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses. Critical perspectives on literacy and education. 2 d. London: Falmer Press. Gee. J. P. (2004). Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415317764 Labov, W. (1972). Academic ignorance and black intelligence. The Atlantic Online. http: //www. theatlantic. com/past/docs/issues/95 sep/ets/la bo. htm http: //www. hawaii. edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/aave. html. Helfrick Literature Review