EBONICS

BLACK ENGLISH

AFRICAN AMERICAN

VERNACULAR ENGLISH

Tamika HutchinsonLoretta Kelly

Meg Delaney

WHAT IS EBONICSAfrican American English

A non-standard variety of English spoken by African American in the United States, specifically in urban and rural communities.

EBONICS ORGIN

Ebony (black)+

Phonics (sound, the study of sound)=

Ebonics (Black Speech)

EBONICS ORIGIN CONT.Ebonics is a term that comes from African

slaves, particularly in West Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. Some linguists believe, that the development of AAVE is closely connected to that of Southern White English.

THE EVOLUTION OF AAVE Nonstandard Negro English (1960s) In 1973 the term, "Ebonics" was created by

psychologist Robert Williams and a group of black scholars at a conference in St. Louis, Missouri, on "Cognitive and Language Development of the Black Child.”

In 1975, the term appeared within the title and text of a book edited and co-written by Williams, Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWIbIA9BltQ

WHAT’S IN A NAME??? In 1996, Oakland, California School

Board recognized Ebonics as the 'primary' language of its majority African American students and decided to teach them standard or academic English.

The School Board decided African American Vernacular English was a more appropriate term because it puts emphasis on its origin from African roots and independence from English

EBONICS GRAMMAR RULES

Produce sentences without present tense “is” and “are” "John trippin" or "They allright (aight)".

Don't omit present tense am. "Ah walkin", “Ahm walkin." Omission of the

final consonant in words like 'past' (pas' ) and 'hand' (han')

Pronounce “th” in 'bath' as t or fbat or baf

Pronounce vowels in words like 'my' and 'ride' as a long ah Mah rahd.

WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK OF EBONICS

Positive Allows African

Americans to express themselves

Individuality

Negative Sign of limited

education or sophistication

Legacy of slavery

Impediment to socioeconomic mobility

DO YOU SPEAK EBONICS?? What up Finna Homey BLING BLING Crib Holla at me Hater Omelet Dime Hood Salty

Thirsty Fa real Lame Whip On ma mama Steady Ride My bad Thick Raw Tweakin

WHO USES EBONICS Black preachers Comedianshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZkdcYlOn5M

Singers Rappers EVERY CULTURE!!!!

*The use of Ebonics is for a dramatic or a more realistic effect.

WHEN DOES USING  AAVE BECOME  AN ACADEMIC ISSUE?

According to Gallas et al. (as cited in Power

B. & Hubbard, R., 2002, p.131), “For those children  whose home based ways of

talking are not similar  to school based

ways of talking, or for whom the rules 

of language are not clear, moving into the multiple  discourses that schools 

present will be more difficult.” 

IN PLAIN ENGLISH,  PLEASE! 

Essentially, if  the language students are using  outside  of school does not match rules of the academic language being used in instruction and assessment, the student may have a hard time decoding and adjusting their language to match that of the classroom. When the two don’t match, there is a disconnect and students may find themselves struggling.

HERE IS A  COMMON EXAMPLE… 

Standard  American English (SAE):“That is John’s book.” – The possession is implied by the

apostrophe + s.

African-American  Vernacular English (AAVE):“That John book.” – The possession is implied by

whatever comes in front of the noun.

The  Issue:To the teacher grading  the AAVE version appearsgrammatically wrong and  the student would be markeddown. To the student  to grew up using AAVE, that response  is rule based and seems correct.

HOW  DO WE HELP OUR  SUCCESSFULLY STUDENTS  NAVIGATE  BETWEEN AAVE AND 

SAE?  According to Coffey (2009)  ““[Code-switching] caninvolve the alternation  between two different languages,two tonal registers, or  a dialectical shift within the samelanguage such as Standard  English and Black English.”[Others] also argue that  code-switching is “a

linguistic tool and a  sign of the participants’ awareness ofalternative communicative conventions.”  Furthermore,code-switching has been  described as “a strategy at negotiating power for  the speaker” and “reflects culture andidentity and promotes  solidarity.” (Code-Switching withdialects of African American  or Black English section,para.2.)

CODE-SWITCHING IN  ACTION… 

There are 2 approaches  that linguists go

about when code switching: 

The  correctionist approach

The  contrastivist approach

THE CORRECTIONIST  APPROACH 

“The correctionist approach to language response‘diagnoses the child’s home speech as ‘poor English’ or‘bad grammar,’ finding that the child does not know how

toshow plurality, possession,  and tense,’ or the child ‘hasproblems’ with these.’  This approach assumes that‘Standard English’ is the only proper form of language andtries to do away  with the child’s home language. Becauseclassrooms are not culturally 

or linguistically monolithic, thisapproach tends to exclude  those students who are notfluent in ‘Standard 

English’” (Coffee, 2009, Code Switchingin Practice section, para.1). 

CORRECTIONIST EXAMPLE 

Student  says:“We was walking to  school today.”

Correctionist  says:“Wrong.” We is plural and was walking issingular. This violates Standard-AmericanEnglish rules of subject-verb agreement,which all American-English speakers must follow.The correct answer is:

“We were walking to schooltoday.” 

THE CONTRASTIVIST  APPROACH 

“The primary principle of the contrastivist approach is that‘language comes in diverse varieties.’ This ‘linguisticallyinformed model’ recognizes  that the student’s homelanguage is not any  more deficient in structure than theschool language. In this  approach, teachers ‘help childrenbecome explicitly aware  of the grammatical differences’between the formal ‘Standard  English’ and the informalhome language. ‘Knowing  this, children learn to code-switchbetween the language of  the home and the language of theschool as appropriate  to the time, place, audience, andcommunicative purpose.” When  an educator prepares astudent to code-switch,  the student becomes explicitly awareof how to select  the appropriate language to use in the  givenContext” (Coffee, Code 

Switching in Practice section, para. 2). 

CONTRASTIVIST EXAMPLE 

Student  says:“He go to the store yesterday.” Contrastivist  says:“That’s very good. Tell me what part of the

sentence tells us when that happened?”(Yesterday.)“Now tell me if we took out the word‘yesterday,’ how we could

say that sentence and still know it happened in the past?(He went to the store.) 

WHAT’S BEST? 

Most linguists recommend  moving away from the correctionist approach. Coffee (2009) suggests  following these steps: Recognize the vernacular patterns in writing and use this to teach a

whole class lesson on the differences between the “Standard English” version and the home language. Maybe use a chart to show the differences.

Initiate conversations about how people speak differently in diverse settings.

Engage students in a role-playing activity where they imitate different people they know within the community, and have students examine the differences in the way these people speak.

Demonstrate how to self-correct written work for a formal purpose, and when students feel more comfortable, encourage them to read their work aloud.

Try to be more accepting of the fact that everyone code-switches. Remember the way we respond to a friend’s question might be completely different than how we would answer the principal or superintendent’s queries.

Introduce dialectical language through literature. Culturally rich literature is available at every grade level.

TEENAGERS VIEW OF EBONICS?

www.ebonics-translator.com/ebonics_dictionary.php

Not Bad/Not Good- It Just Is! Black Slang/Speech Be Cool/Express Themselves Urban Dialect/Many Cultures

Slang Dictionary Black English Links

CODE SWITCHING WEBSITE:

http://www.learner.org/workshops/hswriting/workshops/workshop5/codeswitching.html

Rebecca Wheeler/Expert In Code Switching

Language Varieties/Contrastive Analysis

“Flossie and the Fox” by: Patricia McKissack

Flossie/AAVE Fox/Standard English * Support Materials

CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIShttp

://www.ascd.org/publications/classroom_leadership/apr1999/Using_Ebonics_or_Black_English_as_a_Bridge_to_Teaching_Standard_English.aspx

Using Ebonics to Teach Standard English 1. Word Discrimination Drill 2. Home/School Drill 3. Response Drills

OTHER TEACHING RESOURCES

http://books.google.com/books?id=3bdbxPpzexQC&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=How+can+teachers+help+african+american+children/ebonics+learn+

Drama Role-Play Tape Record/Playback

Cartoon/Superhero Role-Play

POSITION STATEMENT BY NCTE

http://www.ncte.org/cee/positions/diverselearnersinee

NCTE/National Council of Teachers of English

8 Beliefs for Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Learners in English Education

Each Belief Provides Suggestions for

Lessons