African-American Vernacular English and education facts for kids
African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is a way of speaking English used by many African Americans. It has been at the center of many discussions about how African-American young people are taught in schools. People have debated what role AAVE should play in public schools and in society.
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Understanding AAVE in Education
AAVE is a type of English called a vernacular dialect. This means it's a common way people speak in a certain community, but it's not considered the "standard" way. Because of this, many people wrongly thought AAVE was a less proper or "bad" form of English. However, language experts have shown that AAVE has its own clear rules and grammar, just like any other dialect.
For a long time, many teachers and thinkers believed AAVE should not be used in schools. Some thought it was simply wrong. Others worried that using AAVE would make it harder for students to succeed in society, because it was often looked down upon. Even some African Americans have criticized AAVE, like Bill Cosby who once spoke about how some people talked.
In 1974, a group called the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) made an important statement. They said that students have a right to use their own language styles and dialects. They explained that saying one dialect is "wrong" is often just one group trying to control another. They believed that teachers should respect different ways of speaking.
Around this time, some educators tried new ways to teach English to AAVE speakers. One idea was to use "dialect readers." These were books that had stories written in both AAVE and standard English. The goal was for children to learn to read in their own dialect first, then slowly move to standard English. But these ideas, often called "Standard English as a Second Dialect" (SESD) programs, faced a lot of pushback from parents and others.
A big step happened in 1979 with the "Ann Arbor Decision". A judge ruled that schools teaching Black children to read must consider the children's home dialect. The judge said that ignoring a student's language could make it harder for them to learn to read and use mainstream English well.
Later, in 1996, the school board in Oakland, California caused a big discussion. They passed a resolution about "Ebonics" (another name for AAVE). They wanted to recognize Ebonics as a language system used by African Americans. The idea was to use methods similar to those in Los Angeles, which helped students learn standard English by building on their existing language.
Many people misunderstood the Oakland plan. They thought it meant schools would teach AAVE instead of standard English. Famous leaders like Jesse Jackson and Kweisi Mfume criticized it, thinking it was about teaching slang. The original resolution also used a confusing phrase, "genetically based," which made people think it meant African Americans were born with a certain language. This phrase was later changed to explain that African American language systems come from West African languages, not that they are a biological trait.
The Oakland proposal was meant to help students. It suggested that if teachers used AAVE in their lessons, black students would learn standard American English more easily. It aimed to stop teachers from thinking that non-standard English was "bad" English.
More recently, studies have looked at why more African American students are placed in special education. Some believe it's because AAVE speech patterns are sometimes mistaken for speech problems. This can lead teachers to send children to speech therapists when there isn't a problem.
According to a scholar named Smitherman, the debates about AAVE in schools show deeper ideas about the African-American community. She believes it reflects how some powerful groups might not value African-American language and culture. She also suggests that African Americans are often pressured to speak like European Americans to succeed. This pressure to be "bi-dialectal" (speaking both AAVE and standard English) can be difficult. Some feel it creates a split in their identity.
Ann Arbor Decision
The case of Martin Luther King Junior Elementary School Children et al. v. Ann Arbor School District is often called the Ann Arbor Decision. It set an important example for how schools should teach poor African American students who speak Black English.
Judge Charles W. Joiner made the decision on July 12, 1979. The lawsuit was brought by lawyers representing poor Black students at the school. They argued that the school district was not treating these students fairly. The judge agreed with one main point: the school district had not considered the children's home language when teaching them.
The judge ordered the school district to find a way to identify students who spoke Black English. Then, the school had to use this knowledge to help these students learn to read standard English.
Cases that led to the Ann Arbor Decision
Before this decision, schools in the United States were often separated by race. This was allowed by a court case in 1896 called Plessy v. Ferguson. It said that "separate but equal" schools were legal.
However, in the mid-1900s, civil rights groups fought against this. A very important case was Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. This case argued that separate schools were not equal and went against the 14th Amendment. The Brown v. Board of Education decision helped end racial segregation in many public schools. But even after integration, Black students still faced challenges, which the Ann Arbor Decision later addressed.
Oakland Ebonics resolution
On December 18, 1996, the Oakland Unified School District in California passed a resolution that caused a lot of debate. It recognized "Ebonics" (which language experts often call African American English or AAE) as an African language system. This decision led to a huge amount of criticism in the media and a national discussion.
The Oakland resolution suggested that for students whose main language was Ebonics, some teaching should happen in this language. This was meant to show the value of the language and help students learn and master English skills. The plan also included raising salaries for teachers who were good at both Ebonics and Standard English. It also proposed using public money to help teachers learn AAE themselves.
Amended resolution
The first resolution caused a lot of anger and confusion. So, on January 15, 1997, the Oakland school board passed an updated resolution. The original resolution had used the phrase "genetically based." This made many people think it meant African Americans had a biological reason for speaking a certain way. However, the people who wrote the resolution meant "linguistic genetics," which refers to how languages develop over time.
In the updated resolution, the confusing phrase was removed. It was replaced with a clearer statement. This new wording said that African American language systems "have origins in West and Niger-Congo languages and are not just dialects of English."
See Also
- African-American Vernacular English and education
- Ann Arbor Decision
- Oakland Ebonics controversy
