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JournalAmerican Educational Research

DOI: 10.3102/000283120360021471999; 36; 147Am Educ Res J

John U. OgbuBlack-American Speech Community

Beyond Language: Ebonics, Proper English, and Identity in a

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A m e r i c a n E d u c a t i o n a l R e s ea r ch J o u r n a lSu m m er 1999, vol. 36 , No . 2 , pp . 14 7-1 84

Beyond Language: Ebonics , Proper Eng l i sh ,a nd I dent i t y i n a B l a ck- A m er i ca n SpeechC o m m u n i t yJ o h n U . O g b u

U n i v e r s it y o f C a l i fo r n i a , B e r k e l e y

The d i scourse on the ebon ics reso lu t ion passed in December 1996 by theB o a r d o f E d u c a t i o n i n O a k l a n d , C A, h a s i n c r ea s e d n a t i o n a l a w a r e n e s s o ft h e la n g u a g e p r o b le m s f a c e d b y A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n c h i ld r e n i n t h e p u b l i cschool . The d iscourse foc us ed a lmost exclusively on d ia lect d i f ference s pe r sebe tween the s tan da rd English o f t he pub l i c schoo l a nd the ch i ldren 's ho m ed ia lec t o r e b o n i c s . T h i s art icle has three object ives: (a) to contribute tosoc io lingu is t ic s tud ies o f speech co mm uni t i e s; (b ) t o descr ibe a nd exp la insocio l inguis tic fac tors (be yo nd language~dialect) that a f fec t B lack chi ldren 'sp e r f o r m a n c e o n s t a n d a r d E n glis h; a n d ( c ) to s h o w a c o n n e c t i o n b e t w e e n t h echi ldren 's d ia lect beliefs, a t t itudes , a n d behaviors in school w i th those o f theirpare n t s a nd com m uni t y . Th is a r ti c le is based on a 2 -year e thnograph ic s tu dyo f a B lack speech co m m un i t y in Oak land , CA, charac ter i zed by b id ia lec ta li sma n d d ig loss ia . However , t he co m m un i t y a nd its ch i ldren fa ce a d i l em m a fnl earn ing a n d us ing prop er Eng lish because o f t he i r i ncomp at ib l e belie fs a bou ts tandard Engl ish .

JOHNU. OGBO is Chance l lo r ' s P ro fesso r in t he D epar tm en t o f An th rop o logy ,Univers i ty of Cal ifornia, Be rkeley 94720. H is special izat ions are e duca t ional anthro -po logy , educ a t ion and cu l tu re , a nd m inor ity educa t ion .

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O g b u

B a si c r e s e ar c h , e v a l u a t io n o f in t e r v e n t io n p r o g r a m s , a n d c o m m o n s e n s eo b s e r v a t i o n s c o n t i n u e t o s h o w t h a t B l a c k c h i l d r e n d o n o t d o w e l l i ns c h oo l . 1 In O a k l a n d , C a l i fo rn i a , a s i n o t h e r c i t ie s i n t h e U .S ., t h e y s till l a gb e h i n d W h i t e a n d o t h e r m i n o r i t y c h i l d r e n . In 1 9 9 5 - 19 9 6 th e i r G P A w a s 1 .8 ,t h e l o w e s t o f a ll m a j o r e th n i c g r o u p s .

A t a s k f o r c e e s t a b l i s h e d b y O a k l a n d U n i f i e d S c h o o l D i s tr ic t 2 i n 1 9 96c o n c l u d e d t h a t d i f f e re n c e s b e t w e e n B l a ck c h i ld r e n ' s h o m e E n g l is h a n d t h es c h o o l s t a n d a r d E n g l is h w e r e a t t h e h e a r t o f t h e p r o b l e m . I t n o t e d t h at , o ft h e e i g h t m a j o r l a n g u a g e g r o u p s i n O a k l a n d , B l a c k s t u d e n ts h a d t h e l o w e s ts c o r e s i n t h e 1 9 9 5 - 1 9 9 6 L a n g u a g e C a l i f o r n i a T e s t o f B a s i c Sk ill s ( C T B S ) . T h et a s k f o r c e a l s o a t tr i b u t e d t h e i r o v e r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n sp e c i a l e d u c a t i o n ( 7 1 % )t o t h e i r p e r f o r m a n c e i n l a n g u a g e a s s e s s m e n t t e st s. F o r t h e s e r e a s o n s , t h et a s k f o r c e i n c l u d e d a m o n g i t s n i n e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s t h e " e b o n i c s r e s o l u -t io n " a d o p t e d b y t h e O a k l a n d S c h o o l B o a r d o n D e c e m b e r 1 8, 19 96 .

T h e r e s o l u t i o n u n e x p e c t e d l y g e n e r a t e d a n a t io n a l d i s c o u r s e o n B l a c kA m e r i c a n E n g l i s h d i a l e c t a n d e d u c a t i o n . T h e d i s c o u r s e f o c u s e d a l m o s te x c l u s i v e l y o n d i f f e r e n c e s i n d i a le c t s p e r s e. S o m e p e o p l e a g r e e d w i t h t h eT a s k F o r c e t h a t t h e a c a d e m i c p r o b l e m s a r e c a u s e d b y l a r g e d i f f e r e n c e sb e t w e e n B l a ck st u d e n t s ' h o m e d i a l ec t a n d s c h o o l s ta n d a r d E n g lis h . O t h e r sc o n t e n d e d t h at t h e d if f e r e n c e s a r e n o t l a rg e e n o u g h t o c a u s e p r o b l e m s . T h et w o g r o u p s , h o w e v e r , m i ss e d th e p o in t : I t is n o t o n l y t h e d e g r e e o f d i f f e r e n c e si n d i a l e c t s p e r se th a t c o u n t s . W b a t a ls o s e e m s to c o u n t is t h e c u l t u r a lm e a n i n g s o f t h o se d i a l e c t d i ff e re n c e s .O n e r e a s o n f o r q u e s t i o n i n g t h e e m p h a s i s o n d i f f e r e n c e s in d ia le c ts o rl a n g u a g e s i s t h a t t h e r e a r e m o r e t h a n 6 0 l a n g u a g e g r o u p s i n O a k l a n ds c h o o l s . S t u d e n t s fr o m m a n y o f t h e s e l a n g u a g e g r o u p s a r e d o i n g b e t t e r th a nB l a c k A m e r ic a n s . T h e l a n g u a g e g r o u p s i n c l u d e s p e a k e r s o f W e s t A fr ic a nl a n g u a g e s ( e . g . , I g b o , K r i o , L i n g u l a , a n d Y o r u b a ) w h i c h , s o m e s a y , h a v ei n f l u e n c e d B l a c k - A m e r i c a n E n g l is h t o b e d i f f e re n t f r o m s t a n d a r d E n g l is h . A sf a r a s I c a n d e t e r m i n e , t h e l a n g u a g e p r o b l e m s o f W e s t A f r ic a n i m m i g r a n t sw h o s p e a k t h e ir n at iv e l a n g u a g e s in O a k l a n d s c h o o l s a r e s im i la r to t h o s e o fC h i n e s e i m m i g r an t s p e a k e r s o f C a n t o n e s e a n d t o th o s e o f F i li p in o i m m i g r a n ts p e a k e r s o f T a g a l o g , r a th e r th a n t o t h e l a n g u a g e p r o b l e m s o f s p e a k e r s o fB l a c k A m e r i c a n E n g l is h . L ik e C a n t o n e s e a n d T a g a l o g s p e a k e r s , W e s t A f r i c anl a n g u a g e s p e a k e r s a r e t e s t e d a n d c l as s if ie d a s e i t h e r F E P ( F l u e n t E n g l i shP r o f i c i e n 0 o r L EP (L i m i t e d E n g li sh P r o f ic i e n O st u d e n t s. B l a c k A m e r i c a n s , o nt h e o t h e r h a n d , a r e t e s t e d a n d c l as s if ie d as e i t h e r F E P ( F l u e n t E n g l i shP r o f i c i e n t ) o r SI ( S p e e c h I m p a i r e d ) s t u d e n t s . F u r t h e r m o r e , s t u d e n t s i nO a k l a n d ( i n c lu d i n g B l a ck A m e r ic a n s ) w h o s e m o t h e r t o n g u e i s n o t s t a n d a r dE n g l i s h e n c o u n t e r l e x i c a l , p h o n o l o g i c a l , s y n t a c t i c , a n d p r o s o d i c p r o b l e m sw i t h s t a n d a r d E n g li sh . B u t m o s t o f t h e s e l a n g u a g e g r o u p s a p p e a r t o b e m o r es u c c e s sf u l i n o v e r c o m i n g t h e l a n g u a g e d i f f er e n c e s t h a n B l ac k A m e r i ca n s .

T h e w o r k o f s o m e s o c i o li n g u is ts p r o v i d e s s o m e c l u e t o t h e p r o b l e m .T h e y n o t e t h a t t h e d i f fi cu l ti es e x p e r i e n c e d b y " d i s a d v a n t a g e d c h i l d re n w i ths t a n d a r d E n g l i sh a r e c a u s e d n o t o n l y b y d i f f e r e n c e s in d i al e c ts p e r s e b u t a l s ob y n o n l a n g u a g e f a c t o r s, i n c l u d i n g l a n g u a g e i d e n t i t y a n d c u l tu r a l r u l e s o f1 4 8

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Beyond Languagelanguage use. In the case of Black Americans, the problem lies partly inmiscommunication because students differ from their teachers in socialmeanings and usage of English. These sociolinguists remind us that Blackchildren and their teachers learn differe nt structural rules for their respectiveEnglish dialects (i.e., grammar, phonology, and vocabulary of Black Englishand standard English) as well as different cultural rules for using thosedialects in their respective speech communities. They point out that withintheir own speech community Black children do not have the kind oflanguage problems associated with them at school, where they have tocommunicate with people from a standard English speech community.

Sociolinguistic studies have convincingly demonstrated that differencesbetween minority students and their teachers in cultural rules of languageuse affect to a large extent the children 's success in learning to read s tandardEnglish. But these studies have remained classroom discourse analysis. Theyhave not examined the historical, societal, and cultural factors outside schoolthat shape the social perceptions and interpretations of students andteachers observed in the classroom. The perceptions and interpretations ofminority students are determined partly by how the history of a minoritygroup has shaped the dialect beliefs, attitudes, and behavior of their speechcommunities. Of particular importance in the history of minority groups iswheth er peopl e became a minority group voluntarily through immigrationor involuntarily through conquest, slavery, and so forth. As we shall see, thefolk history of a minority speech community provides some clue as to thenature of the people's dialect beliefs and behaviors.

Another problem with sociolinguistic studies is that, with few excep-tions, researchers have not tried to connect students' classroom dialectattitudes and behaviors with the dialect attitudes and behaviors of theirspeech community. 3 This failure to examine the relationship be twe en thestudents' classroom dialect attitudes and those of their speech communityhas led some to think that they can fix the dialect problems by changingclassroom dialect attitudes and behaviors of teachers and students. And thisapproach has not proved successful.Sociolinguists have convincingly argued that the difficulty of Blackstudents with the standard English lies partly in the differences in socialmeanings and use of the dialects. But we need to identify the factors whichdetermine the social meanings and use of dialects of minority speechcommunities, and this calls for research beyond analysis of classroomdiscourse. The study I will report in this article is intended to contribute tothis direction of research. It examines the cultural rules and use of twoEnglish dialects by adults and children in a Black speech community. Itattempts to discover why and how the social meanings and cultural rules ofusing the two dialects in this community make it difficult for Black studentsto learn in standard English in school. From a comparative perspective,Blacks are not the only students who differ from their teachers in discoursestyle and social perceptions. Students from all the 60 non-English languagegroups in Oakland probably differ from their teachers in discourse styles and

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O g b us o c i a l p e r c e p t i o n s . T h e r e a l is s u e is, w h y a r e s o m e o f t h e l a n g u a g e g r o u p s ,e s p e c i a l l y m i n o r i t ie s , i n s p i te o f th e i r d i st in c t iv e l a n g u a g e f e a t u r e s a n dd i s c o u r s e s ty l es , m o r e s u c c e s s f u l i n le a r n i n g a n d u s i n g s t a n d a r d E n g l i sh t h a nB l a c k A m e r i c a n s ?

S o m e T h e o r e t i c a l C o n s i d e r a t i o n sS p e e c h C o m m u n i t yD e l l H y m e s p u b l i s h e d s e v er a l im p o r t a n t w o r k s i n t h e 1 96 0s a n d 1 97 0sa r g u i n g t h a t t h e s pe ec h c o m m u n i t y i s a n a p p r o p r i a t e s o c i a l u n i t t o s t u d yc o m m u n i c a t i v e i n te r a c ti o n in a s o c ie t y . A s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y i s a p o p u l a t i o nt h a t s h a r e s b o t h a c o m m o n l a n g u a g e o r l i n g u i s t i c c o d e s a n d a c o m m o nt h e o r y o f s p e a k i n g o r c u l tu r a l r u le s f o r t h e c o n d u c t a n d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o fs p e e c h a cts . 4 A s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y m a y b e c h a r ac t e ri z e d b y m o r e t h a n o n el a n g u a g e o r d i a le c t. I n t h a t c a s e, e a c h l a n g u a g e o r d i a le c t is a s s o c i a t e d w i t hits o w n c u l tu r a l r u l e s o f u s a g e .

A p e r s o n is c o n s i d e r e d a c o m p e t e n t s p e a k e r in a s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y ifh e o r s h e k n o w s b o t h t h e l a n g u a g e ( i.e ., v o c a b u la r y , g r a m m a r a n d p h o n o l -o g y ) a n d t h e c u lt u ra l ru l es o f s p e a k i n g - - w h e n t o s p e a k ( s p e e c h s i tu a ti o ns ),w h i c h s p e e c h e v e n t i s a p p r o p r i a t e ( e . g . , c o n v e r s a t i o n , l e c t u r e , o r d e b a t e ) ,w h i c h c o m m u n i c a t i v e c o d e ( v e r b a l o r f in g e r - p o in t in g ) , a n d w h a t s t y le (e .g . ,c o n f r o n t a t i o n a l o r c o n c i li a to r y , e tc .) . T o b e c o m e a c o m p e t e n t s p e a k e r o f h iso r h e r l a n g u a g e , a c h il d d u r i n g l a n g u a g e s o c i a li z a ti o n m u s t l e a r n b o t h t h el a n g u a g e a n d t h e c u l tu r a l r u le s o f s p e a k i n g t h e l a n g u a g e o f its s p e e c hc o m m u n i t y .B i l i n g u a l i s m a n d D i g l o s s i aB a t n g u a l t s m 5A w h o l e s o c i e t y o r s o m e s e g m e n t s o f it m a y b e a b il in g u a l s p e e c hc o m m u n i t y . S o m e s e g m e n t s o f t h e U.S . s o c i e ty m a y b e m o r e a p p r o p r i a t e l yc o n s i d e r e d b i d ia le c ti c al s p e e c h c o m m u n i t i e s b e c a u s e o f t h e e x i s t e n c e o f t w ov a r ia n t s o f t h e E n g l is h l a n g u a g e . I n n e r c i ty B la c k - A m e r i ca n n e i g h b o r h o o d si n O a k l a n d , C a l if o r n ia , q u a l if y as s u c h b i d ia l ec t ic a l s p e e c h c o m m u n i t i e s . I nt h e s e m i n o r i t y s p e e c h c o m m u n i t ie s , t h e r e a r e s e p a r a t e c u l tu r al r u l es g o v e r n -i n g t h e u s e o f m i n o r i t y d i a l e ct s a n d s t a n d a r d E n g li sh . D u r i n g t h e i r l a n g u a g es o c i a li z a ti o n , m i n o r i t y c h i l d r e n in t h e s e c o m m u n i t i e s l e a r n t h e i r o w n d i a l ec t sa s t h e i r m o t h e r t o n g u e s a n d t h e c u l tu r a l r u l es o f u s i n g t h e m ; t h e y a l s o l e a r nt h e s t a n d a r d E n g li sh a n d t h e ir s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y ' s ru l es o f u s a g e o f t h es t a n d a r d E n g l is h . T h e r u l e s f o r u s i n g s t a n d a r d E n g l i sh i n m i n o r i t y s p e e c hc o m m u n i t i e s a r e n o t n e c e s s a r i l y t h e s a m e a s th e r u l e s f o r u s i n g i t i n s c h o o lo r i n m a i n s t r e a m W h i t e s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y .D l g l o s s t aDig loss ia i s t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t w o d i a l e c t s o r t w o l a n g u a g e s t h a t a r eu s e d f o r d i f fe r e n t p u r p o s e s w i t h in a s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y . M e m b e r s o f th e1 5 0



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Be y o n d La n g u a g espeech community recognize and accept the separate functions of thedialects.6 Although the relationship between the co-existing dialects isrelatively stable, the dialects can change. There may be mutual borrowingof codes, speech events, and so forth. For instance, in the United States,standard English has borrowed many elements from Black English.

The dialects of a diglossia relationship are not of equal status. Usuallyone ranks higher than the other on political or other grounds. In the caseof a minority speech community in the U.S., White-American proper English(i.e., the standard English) is the high d ia lec t which is approved foreducation, jobs, and communication with "outsiders." The mother tongue ofthe minorities (e.g., Black English) is the low d ia lec t for everyday life in thefamily and community.Fishman has proposed four types of diglossia relationships in a speechcommunity . For the purpose of this essay, I will add a fifth. Brief descriptionsof the five types of speech community follow. (See Figure 1 below.)Both d ig lossia a nd b i l ingual ism 7 One is a speech community with bothdiglossia and bilingualism (Fig. 1, box 1). This type of speech communityoften originates from colonization, conquest, or enslavement, whereby thesuperior power imposes its language and communication pattern on thesubordinate population. For example, when the British colonized Nigeriathey imposed the English language on Nigerian language groups; whenWhite people enslaved Black people from Africa, they imposed the Englishlanguage on Blacks who previously spoke various African languages; and,

1 . B O T HD I G L O S S I AA N DB I L I N G U A L I S M

3. DIGLOSS IAWITHOUT

BIL INGUALISM

2 . B I L I N G U A L I S MW I T H O U TD I G L O S S I A

4 . N E I T H E RD I G L O S S I A N O RB I L I N G U A L I S M

5 . D I G L O S S I A , B I L IN G U A L I S MA N D C O L L E C T I V E ID E N T I T Y

F i g u r e 1 . B i U n g u a l i s m a n d d i g lo s s i a in a s p e e c h c o m m u n i t yN ot e . Fro m "Bi lingualism and Diglossia," by Jo shua A. F ishm an, 1967, J o u r n a l o fS o c i a l I s s u e s , 2 3 (2) , p . 30. C opyr ight 1967 by Blackw el l Pub l icat ions. Ada pted wi th

permission.151

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Ogbuwhen the U.S. conquered and annexed the American Southwest, theconquering Anglos (see Fig. 1) imposed English on the Spanish-speakingand various Indian language populations in the region.Bi l ingua l i sm w i thou t d ig lossia (Fig. 1, box 2). This situation exists in aformerly diglossia speech community undergoing rapid social change.Although the author does not know a specific case, he speculates that thelast phase of a hypothetical colonialism is a good example. At such a per iodof nationalist political struggle, the native elites may split over the status ofthe colonizers' language that had existed in a diglossia with the indigenouslanguage. Before now, almost all the native elites had embraced thecolonizers' language and used it to achieve their elite status. Now, however,some of these elites are rejecting the colonizers' language because it is thelanguage of their oppressors and a symbol of the colonizers' identity. Theyquestion its appropriateness for their political identity. Some nationalistsbegin to emphasize the importance of their indigenous language. Othernative elites continue to emphasize the importance and appropriateness ofthe colonizers' language. A point may be reached eventually when, inpractice, there is no consensus about the status of the languages and noclearly established functional separation between the mother tongue and thecolonizers' language. Fishman believes that bilingualism without digiossiamay be a transitional situation. In the hypothetical colonial situation,digiossia may return in the postcolonial future.Diglossfa wi thout b i l ingual ism (Fig. 1, box 3). This occurs whenformerly separate speech communities are brought together (not necessarilyvoluntarily) into a common political boundary. An example is Calabar,Nigeria, where the author grew up. The British colonial rule brought severallanguage groups to settle alongside the native Efik population. Each immi-grant group became a bilingual or multilingual speech community. Itsmembers used their indigenous language for everyday life in their commu-nity; they learned and used Efik, the language of the indigenous populationfor local economic transactions and for communication with other "strang-ers," or immigrants. The indigenous Efiks and the immigrant Hausas, lbibios,Igbos and Yoruba learned and used English for education, colonial admin-istration, commerce, and, for some, Christian religion. The indigenous Efikswere not bilingual with respect to the immigrant language groups; theimmigrant groups did not learn or use one another's language; and thecolonizing British were not bilingual because they did not learn or use anyof the colonized groups' language.Nei ther b i l ingua l i sm no r d ig lossia: Th e fourth type is really a monolin-gual speech community with neither bilingualism nor diglossia present (Fig.1, box 4). This type is rare and occurs among isolated peoples.Diglossia , b i lingual ism, a n d lang uag e f r am es o f re ference (Fig. 1, box5). The fifth type added by the author is a speech community with bothdiglossia and bilingualism but the frames of reference of the two languagesor two dialects are oppositional. Although members of the speech commu-nity accept the co-existing languages or dialects for different functions, they152



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Beyond Languagea r e u n w i l li n g o r a m b i v a l e n t t o le a r n a n d u s e o n e o f t h e l a n g u a g e s o r d ia l ec t s,u s u a l ly t h e d o m i n a n t g r o u p ' s d i a le c t p a r tl y b e c a u s e o f its p e r c e i v e d m e a n i n gf o r t h e i r c o ll e c t iv e i d e n ti ty . T h i s s it u a t io n e x i s ts i n t h e B l a c k s p e e c h c o m m u -n i ty d e s c r i b e d b y t h e a u t h o r . I t is d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h o s e o f th e f o u r t y p e sd e s c r i b e d b y F i s h m a n . I w i ll e x p l a i n h o w t h e f if th t y p e a r i se s a n d w h a td i s t i n g u i s h e s i t f r o m t h e o t h e r s b y d e s c r i b i n g s o m e o f it s d i s t i n c t iv e f e a tu r e s :t y p e o f m i n o r i t i e s i n v o l v e d , c o l l e c t i v e i d e n t i t y , a n d d i a l e c t f r a m e o f r e f e r -e n c e .M inority s tatus. T h e p r e s e n c e o f o p p o s i t i o n b e t w e e n c o - e x i st in g d i a-le cts o r la n g u a g e s i n a m i n o r it y s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y d e p e n d s o n w h e t h e r t h em i n o r i t y g r o u p is v o l u n t a r y (i .e ., i m m i g r a n 0 o r i n v o l u n t a r y ( i. e. , n o n i m m i -g r a n t ) . Voluntary minorities a r e p e o p l e w h o h a v e c o m e t o s e t t l e i n t h eU n i t e d S ta te s m o r e o r l e ss v o l u n ta r il y b e c a u s e t h e y e x p e c t e d b e t t e r o p p o r -t u n it ie s ( b e t t e r j ob s , m o r e p o l i ti c al o r r e li g io u s f r e e d o m ) th a n t h e y h a d i nt h e i r p la c e s o f o r ig i n . P e o p l e i n t h is c a t e g o r y m a y b e d i f f e r e n t i n r a c e,e t h n i c i t y , r e l i g i o n , o r l a n g u a g e . T h e i m p o r t a n t d i s t i n g u i s h i n g f e a t u r e s o fv o l u n t a r y m i n o r i t i e s a r e t h a t ( a ) t h e y c h o s e t o m o v e t o t h e U . S . s o c i e t y i nt h e h o p e o f a b e t t e r f u t u re a n d t h a t Co) t h e y d o n o t i n t e r p r e t th e i r p r e s e n c ei n th e U n i t e d S ta te s as f o r c e d o n t h e m b y t h e U .S . g o v e r n m e n t o r b y W h i t eA m e r i c a n s. I m m i g r a n t m i n o r i t ie s in t h e U .S . i n c l u d e p e o p l e f r o m A f ri ca ,C h i n a , J a p a n , K o r e a , t h e C a r i b b e a n , C e n t r a l a n d S o u t h A m e r ic a , a n d M e x i c o .N o n i m m i g r a n t ( o r i n v o l u n t a r y m i n o r it ie s ) a r e p e o p l e w h o h a v e b e e nm a d e a p a r t o f t h e U n i t e d S t a te s p e r m a n e n t l y a g a i n s t t h e i r w i ll t h r o u g hc o n q u e s t , c o l o n i z a t i o n , o r s l a v e ry . T h e i r d i s ti n g u i s h i n g f e a t u r e s a r e t h a t ( a )t h e y d i d n o t c h o o s e b u t w e r e f o r c e d a g a in s t th e i r w i ll to b e c o m e a p a r t o ft h e U n i t e d S t a t e s a n d t h a t ( b ) t h e y t h e m s e l v e s u s u a l l y i n t e r p r e t t h e i rp r e s e n c e i n th e U .S . a s f o r c e d o n t h e m b y W h i t e A m e r i c a n s. A g a in , p e o p l ei n t h i s c a t e g o r y m a y b e d i f f e r e n t i n r a c e , e t h n i c i t y , r e l i g i o n , o r l a n g u a g e .N o n i m m i g r a n t m i n o r i t ie s in th e U .S . a r e N a t i v e A m e r i c a n s a n d A l a s k a nN a ti ve s, t h e o r ig i n al o w n e r s o f t h e l a n d w h o w e r e c o n q u e r e d ; e a r ly M e x i c a nA m e r i ca n s i n t h e S o u t h w e s t w h o w e r e a l so c o n q u e r e d ; N a t iv e H a w a i i an sw h o w e r e c o l o n iz e d ; P u e r t o R ic an s w h o c o n s i d e r t h e m s e lv e s a c o l o n i z e dp e o p l e ; a n d B l a c k A m e r ic a n s w h o w e r e b r o u g h t t o t h e U .S. a s sl av e s.

B o t h v o l u n t a r y a n d i n v o l u n t a r y m i n o ri ti es c o n s i d e r t h e s t a n d a r d E n g l is ha s " W h i te ," b u t t h e y a ls o k n o w t h a t in o r d e r t o s u c c e e d i n s c h o o l a n d t o g e tg o o d j o b s it is n e c e s s a r y t o k n o w a n d u s e t h e s t a n d a r d " W h i t e E n g l is h ."H o w e v e r , t h e t w o m i n o r i t ie s d i f fe r i n t h e i r a b il it y a n d w i l l in g n e s s t oa c c o m m o d a t e t h e W h i te E n g li sh , p a r tl y b e c a u s e o f th e i r c o ll e c ti v e id e n t it ya n d d i a le c t o r l a n g u a g e f r a m e s o f r e f e r e n c e .Collectfve identity r e f e r s t o a p e o p l e ' s ( e . g. , m e m b e r s o f a m i n o r i t yg r o u p ) s e n s e o f w h o t h e y a re , o f " w e - f ee l in g , " o r " b e l o n g i n g n e s s ." M e m b e r so f a m i n o r i t y g r o u p c o n s t r u c t t h e i r c o l le c t i v e i d e n t i ty o u t o f th e i r c o l l e c t iv eh i s t o r i c a l e x p e r i e n c e . T h e c o l l e c t i v e i d e n t i t y o f m i n o r i t y g r o u p s i s e i t h e rd i f f e r e n t f r o m o r o p p o s i t i o n a l t o t h e c o l l e c ti v e id e n t i ty o f W h i t e A m e r i c a n s ,d e p e n d i n g o n h o w a n d w h y a g r o u p b e c a m e m i n o ri t ie s. Im m i g r an t m in o ri -t ie s w h o b r i n g w i th t h e m a p r e -e x i st in g s e n s e o f w h o t h e y w e r e b e f o r e

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Ogbua r r i v i ng i n t he U . S . , a t l e a s t i n i t i a l l y , ha ve a c o l l e c t i ve i de n t i t y t ha t i s ma i n l yd i f f e r e n t f r o m , r a t h e r t h a n o p p o s i t i o n a l t o, W h i t e - A m e r i c a n c o l l e c t iv e id e n -tity . N o n i m m i g r a n t m i n o r i t ie s c o n s t r u c t e d a n o p p o s i t i o n a l c o l l e ct i v e i d e n t i tya f t e r W h i t e A m e r i c a n s f o r c e d t h e m i n t o m i n o r i t y s ta t u s a n d m i s t r e a t m e n t .

F o r b o t h i m m i g r a n t a n d n o n i m m i g r a n t m i n o r i ti e s, c o l le c t i v e i d e n t i ty isc l o s e l y t ie d t o d i a l e c t f r a m e s o f r e f e r e n c e . A langu agefrarne o f referencer e f er s to t h e c o r r e c t o r i d e al w a y t o ta lk b y m e m b e r s o f a g r o u p o rc o m m u n i t y . T h e l a n g u a g e f r a m e o f r e f e r e n c e o f i m m i g r a n t m i n o r i ti e s u su a l lyp r e d a t e s t h e i r a r ri v a l i n t h e U .S . a n d is p e r c e i v e d b y t h e m a s d i f fe r e n t f r o mt h e f r a m e o f r e f e r e n c e o f W h i t e s p e a k e r s o f s ta n d a r d E n g li sh . F o r e x a m p l e ,s o m e C h i n e s e i m m i g r a n t s in O a k l a n d , C a l i fo r n ia , b r o u g h t th e i r C a n t o n e s el a n g u a g e a s w e l l a s th e i r p r e - e x i s t in g n o t i o n o f t h e c o r r e c t w a y t o s p e a k it( i. e. , th e i r l a n g u a g e f r a m e o r r e f e r e n c e ) f r o m I -l on g K o n g . L i k e w i se , I g b o a n dY o r u b a i m m i g r a n t s i n O a k l a n d b r o u g h t w i t h t h e m I g b o a n d Y o r u b a l a n -g u a g e s a n d t h e ir o w n l a n g u a g e f r a m e s o f r e f e r e n c e .T h e r e l a t io n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e d i al e ct fr a m e o f r e f e r e n c e o f n o n i m m i -g r a n t m i n o ri ti e s a n d t h e f r a m e o f r e f e r e n c e o f W h i te s p e a k e r s o f s t a n d a r dE n g l i s h i s d i f f e r e n t . I n v o l u n t a r y m i n o r i t i e s l i k e B l a c k A m e r i c a n s d e v e l o p e dt h e i r E n g l is h d i a l e c ts a f t e r b e i n g d e p r i v e d o f t h e i r o r i g in a l l a n g u a g e s . O t h e r sw h o r e t ai n t h e i r o r i g in a l l a n g u a g e s r e i n t e r p r e t t h e f r a m e s o f r e f e r e n c e a f t e rt h e y h a v e b e e n f o r c e d i n to i n v o l u n t a r y m i n o r i t y s ta tu s . I n d e e d , t h e c r e a t i o no f o p p o s i t i o n a l d i a l e c t o r l a n g u a g e f r a m e o f r e f e r e n c e is a p a r t o f t h e o v e r a l le f f o r t o f t h e s e m i n o r i ti e s to s o l v e t h e s ta t u s p r o b l e m s c a u s e d b y f o r c e di n c o r p o r a t i o n i n t o U .S . s o c i e ty . O n e n e c e s s a r y s t e p i n c o p i n g w i t h t h e s t at u sp r o b l e m s i s t o c r e a t e m u t u a l l y a c c e p t a b l e c r it er ia fo r d e t e r m i n i n g w h o is ab o n a f i d e m e m b e r o f t h e g r o u p . T h e c r e a t i o n o f a l a n g u a g e / d i a l e c t f r a m eo f r e f e r e n c e o r t h e c o r r e c t w a y f o r m e m b e r s t o ta lk s e r v e s th is p u r p o s e . T h ef r a m e o f r e f e r e n c e b e c o m e s a n i m p o r t a n t s y m b o l o f t h e ir c o ll e c ti v e i d en t it y .

T o r e t u r n t o F i g u r e 1 , b o x 5 , i n b o t h i m m i g r a n t a n d n o n i m m i g r a n tm i n o r i t y s p e e c h c o m m u n i t i e s, t h e m i n o r i ty di a le c ts o r i n d i g e n o u s l a n g u a g e sc o - e x i s t w i t h t h e s t a n d a r d E n g l is h i n a d i g l o ss i a r e la t io n s h i p . A s n o t e de a r l i e r , b o t h v o l u n t a r y a n d i n v o l u n t a r y m i n o r i t i e s c o n s i d e r s t a n d a r d E n g l i s ht o b e " W h i t e la n g u a g e " a n d a s y m b o l o f W h i t e id e n t it y . T h e y a r e f u ll y a w a r et h a t s t a n d a r d E n g l i s h o r W h i t e E n g l i s h / s required f o r s c h o o l s u c c e s s a n dg o o d jo b s. H o w e v e r , p a rt ly b e c a u s e o f h o w a n d w h y t h e y b e c a m e m i n or it ie si m m i g r a n t a n d n o n i m m i g r a n t m i n o ri ti e s i n t er p r e t a n d r e s p o n d d i f fe r e n tl y t ot h e r e q u i r e m e n t o f m a s t e ri n g t h e s t a n d a r d E n g lis h.

I m m i g r a n t m i n o r i t i e s a r e m o r e w i l l i n g a n d m o r e a b l e t o l e a r n s t a n d a r dE n g l is h o r a d o p t W h i t e w a y s o f t a lk i n g f o r t w o r e a s o n s . O n e is t h a t beforet h e y l ef t t h e i r p l a c e s o f o r i g in t h e y g e n e r a l l y expected t o l e a r n E n g l i sh a s t h el a n g u a g e w o u l d t h e y n e e d t o s u c c e e d o r " b e c o m e s o m e b o d y " i n th e U .S.T h e o t h e r r e a s o n is t h a t t h e d i f fe r e n c e s b e t w e e n t h e ir l a n g u a g e f r a m e s a n dt h e f r a m e o f r e f e r e n c e o f W h i te A m e r i c a n s p e a k e r s o f s ta n d a r d E n g li sh a r en o t o p p o s i t i o n a l . T h e r e f o r e , th e i m m i g ra n t s d o n o t th i n k t h a t a c c o m m o d a t -i n g W h i t e A m e r i c a n w a y s o f t a lk i n g t h r e a t e n s t h e i r l a n g u a g e i d e n ti ty . T h e yd o n o t i m a g i n e t h a t it r e q u i re s t h e m t o g iv e u p t h e ir o w n l a n g u a g e s o r1 5 4

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Beyond Languaged i a l e c t s t o b e a b l e t o l e a r n t h e s t a n d a r d E n g l i s h . I n s t e a d , t h e y i n t e r p r e tl e a r n i n g E n g l is h as a c q u i ri n g a n e w l a n g u a g e t o a d d t o th e o n e s t h e y a l r e a d yh a v e in o r d e r t o a c h i e v e t h e ir em i g r a t i o n g oa ls . S o m e i m m i g r a n ts m o r e o rl e ss a s s u m e t h a t i t is t h e i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o l e a r n t o s p e a k E n g l i s h t h e w a yW h i t e A m e r i c a n s d o - - - w h i c h is, t o s p e a k it w i t h o u t a f o r e i g n a c c e n t .

N o n i m m i g r a n t m i n o r it ie s a r e l es s w i l li n g a n d l e ss a b l e to a c c o m m o d a t eW h i t e - A m e r i c a n w a y s o f ta l k in g f o r s e v e r a l r e a s o n s . F i rs t, t h e y a r e n o tf o r e ig n e r s w h o e x p e c t t o l e ar n a n e w l a n g u a g e . S e c o n d , a f te r m a n yg e n e r a t i o n s o f d i s c ri m i n a t io n , t h e y h a v e c o m e t o b e l i e v e t h a t m a s t e r i n gp r o p e r E n g l is h d o e s n o t n e c e s s a r i ly l e a d t o g o a l s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h a t sk ill.A s a r e s u l t , t h e r e i s n o s t r o n g i n c e n t i v e m o t i v a t i o n f o r m a s t e r i n g p r o p e rE n g li sh . T h i r d , th e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e i r d i a le c t o r l a n g u a g e f r a m e s a n dt h a t o f s ta n d a r d E n g l is h s p e a k e r s is o p p o s i t io n a l . I n t h i s c a s e , t h e l a n g u a g eo r d ia l ec t d i f fe r e n c e s s e rv e a s b o u n d a r y - m a i n t e n a n c e m e c h a n i s m s a n dp r o v i d e t h e m i n o r it i es w i t h a s e n s e o f s el f -w o r t h . As a re s u lt , n o n i m m i g r a n tm i n o r i t ie s d o n o t i n t e r p r e t le a r n i n g t o t a lk l ik e W h i t e A m e r i c a n s a s a c q u i r in ga n e w d i a l e c t o r s k il l t o a d d t o t h e i r o w n f o r a c h i e v i n g a g o a l . O n t h ec o n t r a ry , t h e y s e e m t o th i n k t h at t h e y a re r e q u i r e d t o g i v e u p t h e ir o w n w a yo f ta l k in g t o b e a b l e t o ta lk l ik e W h i t e A m e r i c an s . A c c o m m o d a t i n g W h i t e -A m e r i c a n w a y s o f ta l k in g s e e m s t o t h r e a t e n t h e i r s e n s e o f d i a le c t i d e n ti ty .F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e y m o r e o r l es s h o l d W h i t e A m e r i c a n s r e s p o n s i b l e f o re l im i n a t in g t h e p r o b l e m s c a u s e d b y t h e d i a le c t d i f fe r e n c es , b e c a u s e W h i tep e o p l e c r e a t e d t h e p r o b l e m s b y d e p r i v i n g t h e m o f th e i r o r ig i na l la n g u a g e s .

T h u s , w h i l e m i n o r i t y s p e e c h c o m m u n i t i e s i n t h e U .S . m a y b e c h a r a c t e r -i z e d b y b o t h b i d i a l e c t a l i s m a n d d i g l o s s i a , i n s o m e t h e r e a l s o e x i s t s a no p p o s i t i o n a l r e la t io n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e f r a m e s o f r e fe r e n c e o f t h e m i n o r it yd i a l ec t o r l a n g u a g e a n d t h e s t a n d a r d E n g li sh . T h e p r e s e n c e o f a n o p p o s i -t io n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p h a s s e r i o u s i m p l i c a ti o n s f o r l e a r n i n g a n d u s i n g t h es t a n d a r d E n g l i s h .I n t h e n e x t s e c t i o n , I w il l il lu s t ra t e t h e o p p o s i t i o n a l s i t u a t i o n i n t h e f i f tht y p e w i t h m y s t u d y i n L a f a y e t t e , a B l a c k s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y i n O a k l a n d ,C a l i f o rn i a . A t t h e t i m e o f t h e s t u d y ( 1 9 8 8 - 1 9 9 0 ) , L a f a y e t t e p e o p l e d i d n o t c a l lt h e i r d i a l e c t ebonics. 8N o r d i d I a n d m y r e s e a r c h e r a s si st an t s u s e t h is c o n c e p tin o u r s t u d y w h i c h w a s c o m p l e t e d s o m e 5 y e a r s b e f o r e t h e " e b o n i c sc o n t r o v e r s y . " L a f a y e tt e p e o p l e r e f e r r e d t o t h e i r d i a le c ts a s " s l an g " o r " s la n gE n g l i s h " a n d , o c c a s i o n a l l y , as " o u r r e g u l a r E n g l i sh , " " B l a c k E n g l i s h ," o r" r a p ." I n m y p r e s e n t a t i o n b e l o w I w i ll u s e t h e i r f o lk te r m i n o l o g i e s i n te r -c h a n g e a b l y .A l t h o u g h t h e r e is s o m e d i v e r s i t y i n w a y s o f t a lk i n g i n L a f a y e t t e , I w i l lf o c u s m y a n a l y s i s o n t h e d o m i n a n t p a t t e rn s o f d ia l e c t b e l ie f s, a t ti tu d e s , a n db e h a v i o r s o f t h e m e m b e r s o f th e s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y - - a d u l t s a n d c h il d re n .M y p r e s e n t a t i o n i s n o t a b o u t i n d i v i d u a l o r s u b g r o u p d i f f e r e n c e s . C e r t a i n l y ,n o t e v e r y o n e in L a f a y e tt e t al k s sl a n g E n g l is h th e s a m e w a y o r b e l i e v e s t h es a m e t h i n g a b o u t i t o r a b o u t p r o p e r ( s t a n d a r d ) E n g l is h . M o r e o v e r , th e f a c tt h a t t h e t w o d i a l e c ts o f E n g l is h c o - e x i s t m e a n s t h a t L a f a y e t t e B l a c k s c a ns p e a k s l a n g E n g l i s h a s w e l l a s p r o p e r E n g l i s h .

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O g b uA n o t h e r p o i n t t o b e a r i n m i n d is t h a t th e c a s e s t u d y i s n o t a b o u t d i a l ec t

f o r m s o r s t r u c t u r e s . T h a t i s, it i s n o t a l i n g u i st ic s t u d y o f g r a m m a r , p h o n o l -o g y , v o c a b u l a r y , a n d s y n t a x o f s l a n g E n g l is h o r p r o p e r E n g l i s h in t h isc o m m u n i t y . R a t h e r, i t is a s t u d y o f th e d o m i n a n t b e l i e f s a n d a t t it u d e s o fL a f a y e t t e B l a c k s t o w a r d t h e i r s l a n g E n g li sh a n d p r o p e r E n g l i s h a n d t h e i rb e h a v i o r s . I t i s a l s o a b o u t t h e f o l k h i s t o r i e s o f t h e s e d i a l e c ts , r a t h e r t h a n t h e i rs c i e n t i f i c h i s t o r i e s .

L a f a y e t t e : A B l a c k S p e e c h C o m m u n i t yP u r p o s e o f th e S tu d yO v e r t h e y ea r s, I h a v e d e v e l o p e d a n e x p l a n a t io n o f s c h o o l p e r f o r m a n c e o fm i n o r i t y g r o u p s , w h i c h I c a ll cu l tura l -eco log ica l theory . T h i s e x p l a n a t i o np o s i ts t h a t t h e r e a r e t w o s e ts o f fa c t o r s i n f l u e n c i n g m i n o r i t y s c h o o l p e r f o r -m a n c e : h o w s o c i e t y at l a rg e a n d t h e s c h o o l tr e a t m i n o r i t ie s ( th e s y s t e m ) a n dh o w m i n o r i t y g r o u p s r e s p o n d t o t h o s e t re a t m e n t s a n d t o s c h o o l i n g ( c o m -m u n i t y f o r c e s ) . T h e t h e o r y f u r t h e r p o s i t s t h a t d i f f e r e n c e s i n s c h o o l p e r f o r -m a n c e b e t w e e n i m m i g r a n t a n d n o n i m m i g r a n t m i n o ri ti e s a r e p a r tl y d u e t od i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e i r c o m m u n i t y f o r c e s .

T h i s c a s e s t u d y is a p a r t o f a la r g e r c o m p a r a t i v e s t u d y w h i c h e x a m i n e dt h e c o m m u n i t y f o r c e s o f i m m i g r a n t C h i n es e - A m e r i ca n , n o n i m m i g r a n t B l a ck -A m e r ic a n , a n d s e m i - i m m i g r a n t M e x i c a n - A m e r i c a n m i n o r it ie s in O a k l a n d a n dU n i o n C i ty , C a l if o rn i a . M y r e s e a r c h a s si st an t s a n d I u s e d a n e t h n o g r a p h i ca p p r o a c h t o d i s c o v e r h o w t h e s e m i n o r i t i e s p e r c e i v e a n d r e s p o n d t o t h e i rh i s to r i es , t r e a t m e n t s , a n d s c h o o l i n g . T h i s a r ti cl e f o c u s e s o n d i a l e c t p e r c e p -t i o n s , b e l i e f s , a n d r e s p o n s e s .T h e r e a r e s e v e r a l r e a s o n s f o r u s i n g t h e c a s e s t u d y t o i l l u s t r a t e t h e f i f t ht y p e o f s p e e c h c o m m u n i t i e s. O n e is t o s h o w t h a t i n t his i n n e r c i ty B l a c ks p e e c h c o m m u n i t y s l an g E n g l is h a n d p r o p e r E n g l is h c o - e x is t i n a d ig l o ss iar e l a t i o n s h i p b u t i n o p p o s i t i o n a l f r a m e s o f r e fe r e n c e . S e c o n d , t h e s t u d y w i lls h o w t h a t t h e d i a l e c t b e l ie f s, a t ti tu d e s , a n d b e h a v i o r s o f L a f a y e tt e s t u d e n t sa t s c h o o l a r e t h e s a m e a s th o s e o f t h e i r p a r e n t s a n d o t h e r a d u l ts . T h ec h i l d r e n ' s d i a l e c t a tt i tu d e s a n d b e h a v i o r s a r e n o t m e r e l y t h o s e o f th e " s tr e e t. "T h e t h i r d o b j e c t i v e is t o s h o w t h a t L a f a y et te p a r e nt s d o n o t a n d c a n n o t t ea c ht h e i r c h i l d r e n s t a n d a r d E n g l is h b e c a u s e t h e y t h e m s e l v e s d o n o t s p e a k it a ta ll o r s p e a k i t w e l l . F o u r t h , t h e c a s e s t u d y w il l s h o w t h a t t h e p e r s i s t i n gd i f f ic u l ty o f L a f a y e t t e p e o p l e w i t h s t a n d a r d E n g l is h i s d u e , i n p a r t, t o t h e i ri n c o m p a t i b l e b e l i e f s a b o u t p r o p e r E n g l i s h . F i n a l l y , I h o p e t h a t t h e o v e r a l lp r e s e n t a t i o n w i l l s h e d s o m e l i g h t o n t h e d i a l e c t b e l i e f s , a t t i t u d e s , a n db e h a v i o r s o f L a f a y e t te p a r e n t s a n d o t h e r a d u lt s. T h e l as t o b j e c t i v e isp a r t i c u l a r l y i m p o r t a n t , c o n s i d e r i n g t h e r o l e t h a t e d u c a t o r s a n d r e s e a r c h e r su s u a l l y a s s i g n t o p a r e n t s i n t e a c h i n g t h e i r c h i l d r e n s t a n d a r d E n g l is h .M e t h o d o l o g yTh e S e t t in gM y r e s e a r c h a s si st a n ts a n d I s t u d i e d t w o B l a c k s p e e c h c o m m u n i t i e s , b u t th i sa r ti c le i s a b o u t o n l y o n e , L a f a y e t t e ? L a f a y e t te is a l o w - i n c o m e B l a c k1 5 6

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B e y o n d L a n g u a g eneig hborhood in West Oakland. By cornrnuniCy I mean the attendance areaof an elementary school.Part ic ipants in the s tudy . We (from now on, my research assistants andI will be referred to as we or the researcbers), observed many more people,speech events, and situations but formally interviewed 33 parents andgrandparents as well as seven other adults. The adults we interviewed werepeople we met at various events during the participant observation phase.We also interviewed 76 students: 12 elementary, 28 junior, and 36 seniorhigh students; these included 40 females and 36 males, tResearch assistants. , recrui tment and training. I was assisted by threeethnographers: a senior researcher with a doctoral degree in linguistics andtwo junior ethnographers. My senior assistant served as my associate directorof the Lafayette study, was responsible for adult study, and supervised thejunior assistants. A male junior ethnographer studied male students, and afemale junior ethnographer focused on female students. The male ethnog-rapher had some college education and worked extensively with adoles-cents; the female assistant had completed college. All the research assistantswere Black Americans who had either grown up or lived for many years inOakland. I deliberately selected my assistants with this background becauseI believed that it would enhance the study. For example, they both broughtto the study indigenous knowledge and informants through personal net-works.The researchers received an intensive training in ethnographic researchfor 3 months. The training was divided into four parts: (a) a study of theresearch problems, which involved reading and discussion. (b) Severalmonths of a 2-hour weekly works hop on how to do ethnographic research.The trainees read some past ethnographic research accounts for discussionat the workshop. (c) The associate director supervised a weekly fleldworkpractice. (d) Each week a 1-hour weekly feedback session with me or theassociate director was conducted to discuss the practice fieldwork.Procedures and data co l lec t ion . The researchers spent about 2 years(1988-1990) collecting ethnographic data in the community. The long periodof fieldwork enabled us to become "members" of Lafayette communitythrough both informal and formal interaction with the people. We att endedcommunity events, including religious services, meetings on special issues,informal gatherings, weddings, funeral services; we hung out in barbershops and salons and visited families. These participant observations helpedus to learn about community forces from actual behaviors, to learn whatfurther questions to ask besides the ones we started with, and to learn whatto emphasize in ethnographic interviews. Furthermore, participant observa-tions allowed us to compare what we were told in interviews with what wesaw the people actually do.We developed our interview questions partly from the theoreticalframework of the study and partly from the what we learned throughparticipant observation. Our phrasing of the questions was influenced byour dialect exper ience during participant observation phase.

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OgbuThe principal investigator drafted the initial interview questions and hadthe assistants review them. The final version was the result of team

discussions, testing, and revisions. Adults and students were asked the samequestions, but the questions were phrased to elicit adult or student perspec-tives. The questions were open-ended and informants' responses wereaudiotaped. We encouraged our informants to elaborate in their answers toquestions.Interviews were scheduled at the convenience of the informants. Theinterview usually took place in the informant's home. Before the interviewbegan, the researcher explained the purpose of the study and answeredquestions the informant might have about the study. After the interview, theresearcher might continue talking with the informant, asking for clarificationor elaboration of some points made in the interview.We also conducted the research in school. During the participantobservation phase, researchers served as teacher aides, assisted with schoolplays and other programs, and supervised children's activities on the schoolgrounds and during field trips, school sports, and so forth. We attendedschoolboard meetings, collected documents and statistics on school atten-dance, disciplines, academic performance, and partidpa tion in extracurricu-lar activities. For classroom observations, we made charts of students' sittingarrangements and observed and recorded students' interactions with oneanother and with the teacher. We interviewed some teachers, counselors,and other school personnel. Only the student interviews are used in thisarticle. Permission was obtained from parents and school officials to inter-view students.T r a n sc r ip io n a n d c o d i n g . T h e audiotaped interviews were transcribedby trained transcribers. After their training, transcribers followed specificwritten instructions on how to transcribe the interviews, including when andhow to make insertions in the transcripts. They met weekly with theirsupervisor to discuss specific or general problems encountered in thetranscription.I developed a coding system for the ethnographic interviews, partici-pant observational descriptions, and other qualitative data. My codingcategories were derived both from the conceptual framework of the studyand from new categories that emerged during the fieldwork. The associatedirector of the entire comparative study went for a special training inco mp ut er cod ing of ethnographic data. She then trained and supervised fivecoders using the T e x t b a s e A l p h a program. The coders had a reliability ofover 80%.D a t a a n a l y s i s a n d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n . In the coding system, each topic wasassigned a code. For example, "Dialect Differences and Dialect Frames ofReference" (see Table 1) was assigned the P code. This was further dividedinto 15 subcodes. Thus, the subcode P06, "How Black People Talk," is theperception o f Black parents and Black students of the differences betweenhow speakers o f Black English talk and the way speakers of standard Englishtalk. n Code DD (Table 2) contains categories on dialect and identity. The158



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Beyo nd LanguageTable 1P C o d e : D i a l e c t D i f fe r e n c e s a n d D i a le c t F r a m e s o f R e f e r e n c e

Subcodes Parents StudentsPOl. Dialect differences between group and WhitesP02. Educated Blacks and White talkPO3. Educated Blacks and Black talkP04. Communication problems with White peopleP05. How White people talkP06. How Black people talkP07. Interpretations of dialect differences (see PO1)P08. Pressures to speak standard EnglishP09. Pressures against speaking standard EnglishP10. Group's dialect at homePl l. Group's dialect at schoolP12. No perceptions of class differences in dialectP13. Asian language barrierP14. Learning EnglishP15. Speaking Spanish

36 6513 03 012 09 68 70 00 08 162 03 31 02 20 00 0

coding and organization of this category are similar to the procedurefollowed in Category P. The procedure for data analysis was trend analysis .Thus, for analysis of Code P for Lafayette parents, the first thing was tosumm ariz e the entry for each subcode; then the entries for the entire P cod e

Table 2D D C o d e : D i a le c t D i f f e r e n c e s /F r a m e s o f R e f e r e n c e a n d S c h o o l i n gSubcodes Parents StudentsDD01.DD02.DD03.DD04.DD05.DD06.DD07.DD08.DD09.DD10.DDll.DD12.DD13.DD14.DD15.DD16.DD17.DD18.N04.

Dialect differences and school adjustment and performance 17 16Dialect differences between group and the schools 23 4How group's students feel about English courses 14 41Parents' communication problems with teachers 10 0Group's English at school 0 3Reactions to dialect denigration 0 2Perceptions and reactions to dialect differences 24 22Code switching 7 9No perceptions of dialect differences 14 3Multiple views of dialect differences 3 0How to overcome dialect differences in school 12 8No perceptions of dialect differences causing problems 23 14Parents see need for basics 3 0Parents' opinions of English courses 15 0How dialect differences affected informants 0 13Learning and using standard English 7 25Learning English for a non-native speaker 0 0Speaking Spanish at school 0 0Group members "acting White" 44 106

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O g b uw e r e s u m m a r iz e d . D u r in g t h e s u m m a r y o f a s u b c o d e o r th e e n t ir e c o d e ,d o m i n a n t p a t t e r n s o f b e l ie f s, a tt it u d e s, o r b e h a v i o r s i n t h e d a t a w e r e n o t e d .T h e s e a r c h f o r t r e n d s o r p a t te r n s w a s g u i d e d b y t h e t h e o r e ti c a l f r a m e w o r k .T h e s a m e p r o c e d u r e w a s f o l l o w e d i n t h e a n al y si s o f t h e st u d e n t s ' c o d e . T h et r e n d s f o r t h e t w o s u b p o p u l a t i o n s ( e. g. , p a r e n t s a n d s t u d e n t s) w e r e s u b s e -q u e n t l y c o m p a r e d .T h e c o m p a r i s o n o f t h e t re n d s a l l o w e d t h e r e s e a r c h e rs to r e a c h s o m ec o n c l u s i o n s a b o u t t h e d i a le c t b e li e fs , a t ti tu d e s , a n d b e h a v i o r s o f p e o p l e i nt h e L a f a y e tt e s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y . B u t t h e c o n c l u s i o n s w e r e a l so b a s e d o n t h er e s e a r c h e r s ' c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e b i g p i c t u r e o f th e d i a l e c t s i tu a t i o n i nL a f a y e tt e . T h i s c o n s t r u c t i o n , i n t u rn , w a s b a s e d p a r t ly o n t h e L a f a y e tt ep e o p l e ' s p o i n t o f v i e w a n d p a rt ly o n t h e i m p r e ss io n s t h e y g a in e d a b o u td i a le c t o v e r t h e l o n g p e r i o d o f p a r ti c ip a n t o b s e r v a t i o n . T h e r e s e a r c h e r s 'u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f th e L a f a ye tt e p e o p l e ' s b e l i ef s a n d a t ti tu d e s c a m e f r o mp a y i n g a t t e n ti o n t o t h e c o g n i t iv e d is ti n ct io n s t h e p e o p l e t h e m s e l v e s m a d ea b o u t t h e i r o w n a n d W h i t e p e o p l e ' s a t t it u d e s, b e li e fs , a n d b e h a v i o r s . I n th isa rt ic le , I a m p r e s e n t i n g t h e r e s e a r c h e r s ' ( a n d m y ) u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f th ed i a l e c t b e l i e f s a n d a t t i t u d e s o f L a f a y e t t e a d u l t s a n d s t u d e n t s .

F i n d i n g sT h e r e a r e t h r e e f i n d in g s 12 i n t h e L a f a y e tt e s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y t h a t w i l l s h o wh o w t h e T y p e 5 s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y d i ff e rs f r o m o th e r s . T h e f ir st is h o w t h ep e o p l e p e r c e i v e t h e d i g lo s si a r e l a ti o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e s ta n d a r d E n g li sh a n dt h e i r E n g l is h d i a le c t; t h e s e c o n d is th e d i a l e c t d i l e m m a o f th e L a f a y e t t ep e o p l e d u e t o t h e i r i n c o m p a t i b l e b e li e fs a b o u t p r o p e r E n g lis h ; a n d t h e t h i rdis t h e i r e q u i v o c a l a t ti t u d e t o w a r d m a s t e r i n g a n d u s i n g p r o p e r E n g l is h .B i d i a l e c t a l i s m a n d D i g l o s s i a i n L a f a y e t t eIt is c o m m o n k n o w l e d g e a m o n g a d u l ts a n d c h i l d r e n in L a f a y et te ~3 th at th er ea r e t w o E n g l i s h d i a l e c t s i n t h e c o m m u n i t y : s l a n g E n g l i s h a n d p r o p e r E n g l i s h( F i g u re 2 ). B o t h p a r e n ts a n d s t u d e n t s a g r e e t h a t s o m e m e m b e r s , a s p a r e n t9 L n o t e s , c a n s p e a k p r o p e r E n g l is h ; o t h e r s c a n s p e a k o n l y s la n g E n g l is h :

Parent 9L: W e , s o m e . . . I me a n , I gue s s it's oka y . S ome pe op l es pe a ks p rope r , a nd s om e pe op l e u s e t he i r ow n r e gu la rEnglish.W h i t e T a l k V e r su s B l a c k T a l kA d u l t s a n d c h i l d r e n a l ik e d e s c r i b e t h e w a y W h i t e p e o p l e t a lk ~4 a s p r o p e rE n g l i s h o r c o r r e c t E n g li sh a n d t h e w a y B l a c k p e o p l e t al k as s la n g , s l a n gE n g l i s h , B l a c k E n g l i s h , a n d s o f o r t h . W h i t e p e o p l e ' s p r o p e r E n g l i s h d i f f e r sf r o m B l a c k p e o p l e ' s s l a n g i n v o c a b u l a r y , a c c e n t , a n d a t t i t u d e s . F u r t h e r m o r e ,W h i t e s a n d B l a c k s t e n d t o i n t e r p r e t t h e s a m e s t a t e m e n t s d i f f e r e n t l y . F o re x a m p l e , a B l a c k p e r s o n m a y s a y s o m e t h i n g t h a t s o u n d s h a r sh , b u t B l a c ksw i ll n o t f e e l t h r e a t e n e d , w h e r e a s , i f a W h i t e p e r s o n u t t er s t h e s a m e1 6 0

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Beyond LanguageB I D I A L E C T A L I S M A N D D I G L O S S I A

IALIAS:"SLANGENGLISH""BLACKENGLISH" +"RAPTALK"]"PLAINENGLISH","B_LACK_~___~__~_~__G_LJS_H_'L_ +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .T H E D I A L E C T D I L E M M A

I INCOMPATIBLEBELIEFS IABOUT PROPER ENGLISH

[ I n s t r u m e n ~ m b o l i cEndorsement I I Rejectin I\ fEquivocal About Learning I& Using ProperEnglish ]

I

"FOREIGN" HIGHERLANGUAGE:W HITE MOTHER-TONGUEENGLISHOR"PROPER ENGLISH""CORRECTENGLISH""STANDARDENGLISH". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J

F i g u r e 2 . B i d i a l e c t a l i s m , d i g l o s s i a , a n d c o l le c t i v e i d e n t i t y i n t h eL a f a y e tt e s p e e c h c o m m u n i tys t a t e m e n t , a W h i t e a u d i e n c e i s l i k e ly t o a s s u m e t h a t t h e r e i s a r e a l t h r e a t o fh a r m . P a r e n t 2 8 K il lu s tr a te s t h is d i f f e r e n c e w i t h t h e f o l l o w i n g h y p o t h e t i c a le x a m p l e . W e ' r e " s i t t i n g , a n d w e ' r e t a l k i n ' [ w i t h ] m y f r i e n d s ; w e ' r e t a l k i n ' ,a n d , s a y , w e l l, I c a ll s o m e b o d y u p , 'A h , m a n , y o u t e ll t h a t o1 ' m o t h e r f u c k e rto g o t o h e l l . . . . ,,,]5

T h e d i ff e re n c e m o s t c o m m o n l y m e n t i o n e d is t ha t W h i te - A m e r i c a nE n g l i sh i s m o r e p r o p e r o r m o r e c o r re c t : .6

Parent 24L: T h ey ' r e . . . m ore p rop er lin the i r speech l . Wi th [u s] , youknow , and no t a ll o f u s bu t a lo t [of f u s . . . jus t be p la intalkin ' English . . . Plain talkin ' . I t makes you feelcom fo r tab le , I guess , jus t ta lk the wa y you f ee l com fo r t -ab le. 1~

W h e n L a f a y e tt e p e o p l e s a y t h at W h i t e A m e r i c a n s t a lk m o r e p r o p e r t h e y d on o t m e a n o n l y th a t W h i te s p e e c h is m o r e f o rm a l . L ik e w i se , w h e n t h e y s a yt h a t t h e i r o w n s p e e c h i s " j u s t p l a i n t a l k i n ' , " t h e y d o n ' t m e a n o n l y t h a t t h e i rs p e e c h i s m o r e i n f or m a l a n d n o n s t a n d ar d . W h a t t h e y m e a n b y t h e ses t a t e m e n t s is t h a t p r o p e r E n g l i sh i s W h i t e - A m e r i c a n E n g l i s h d i a l e c t a n d" p l a i n E n g l i s h " i s B l a c k - A m e r i c a n E n g l i s h d i a l e c t o r m o t h e r t o n g u e .

L a f a y e t t e c h i l d r e n , l i ke t h e i r p a r e n t s , b e l i e v e th a t th e r e a r e d i f f e r e n c e sb e t w e e n W h i t e - A m e r i c a n E n g l is h a n d B l a c k E ng li sh . O n l y i n 3 o f t h e 6 5e x c e r p t s d i d L a f a y e t t e c h i l d r e n d e n y t h a t t h e t w o d i a l e c ts a r e d i f fe r e n t . L i ket h e i r p a r e n t s , t h e y b e l i e v e t h a t th e m o s t i m p o r t a n t d i f f e r e n c e i s t h a t W h i t e

1 6 1

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O g b uA m e r i c a n s s p e a k p r o p e r o r c o r r e c t E n g li sh , w h e r e a s B l a c k s s p e a k s l a n gE n g l is h . L a f a y e t t e c h i l d r e n e x p l i c i t l y d i s g u i s h e d s t a n d a r d E n g l i s h f r o m s l a n gE n g l i s h i n 1 7 o f t h e 6 5 e x c e r p t s , a s c a n b e s e e n i n t h e f o l l o w i n g e x c e r p t .

In te rv iewer :Student 446:

Um-hm. I s the re a d i f f e r ence in d ia lec t o r ways o fspeak ing?Yes, they speak , you know, cor rect English , andthey speak po l i te , and Blacks , you know, they ta lkslang dialect.

T h e m o s t d i s t i n g u i s h i n g f e a t u r e o f B l a c k E n g l i s h i s t h a t i t is " s la n g i e r. "F i v e s t u d e n t s a n d s e v e r a l a d u l t s e x p l i c i tl y c a l l e d B l a c k E n g l i s h s la n g . S t u d e n t4 34 p r o v i d e s a g o o d e x a m p l e o f h o w L a f a ye t te c h i l d re n p e r c e i v e B l a c kd i a l e c t i n t h e i r s p e e c h c o m m u n i t y :

In te rv iewer : Ho w abou t d ia lec t and way s o f speak ing?Student 4 3 4 : Dialect? Slang .In terv iewer : Yeah?S tuden t 4 3 4 : S lang . The re ' s a lo tta s lang .

I n n o n e o f t h e 6 5 s t u d e n t i n t e r v ie w e x c e r p t s o n d i a le c t d i ff e r e n c e s d ida n y o n e m e n t i o n t h at L a fa y e tt e B l a c k s u s e p r o p e r E n g li sh i n t he c o m m u n i t y .

L a f a y e t t e p e o p l e f e e l t h a t t h e i r s l a n g E n g l i s h i s " n a t u r a l t o t h e m , "w h e r e a s W h i t e p r o p e r E n g l is h is " na t ur a l" t o W h i te A m e r i c an s . A c c o r d i n g t oP a r e n t 2 8L , " W h i t e p e o p l e a r e b o r n t o t a lk p r o p e r E n g li s h, " w h e r e a s " B l a c kp e o p l e h a v e t o l e a r n i t . "

P a r e n t 2 8L : U m . . . s o m e B la ck p e o p l e t h e y w a s b o r n w i th t h a tway, the s lang when they ta lk , bu t I d id . Whitepeop le ju s t seem to be bo rn wi th tha t cu l tu re babytalk. I t ' s just their natural w ay. Th ey ' re n o t pu t t in ' on .And I be l ieve tha t co lo red was b o rn w i th a more , al it tle lower form of you kno w, spe ec h [ i .e ., s lang]. Asthey grew, they learned to use their d ia lect bet ter .Blacks , uh-huh. I t ' s jus t a way , w he re they co m ef r o m . . . B u t w e g ro w , w e ' v e g r ow n , y ou k no w , tolea rn h ow to be t te r it, wh ereas I do be l ieve , eve n theoldes t White person , was born ta lk in ' l ike that .

U S . S o c i e ty R a n k s t h e T w o E n g l i s h D i a l e c t sT h e m a j o r i t y o f L a f a y e t t e a d u l ts a n d c h i l d r e n t h i n k t h a t s o c i e t y a c c o r d s W h i t ep r o p e r E n g l i s h a h i g h e r s o c i a l v a l u e t h a n B l a c k sl a n g . S t u d e n t 4 2 0 isr e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f t h is c a t e g o r y . A c c o r d i n g t o h im , s l a n g E n g l is h a n d p r o p e rE n g l i s h a r e ju s t d i f f e r e n t w a y s o f t a lk i n g , b u t p r o p e r E n g l i s h h a s c o m e t o b es e e n a s a b e t t e r d ia l e c t t o w h i c h p e o p l e s h o u l d a s p i r e t o s p e a k :1 6 2

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In te rv iewer :S tudent 420:In te rv iewer :S tudent 420:

B e y o n d L a n g u a g eH o w ' b o u t d i al ec t o r w a y s o f s p e a k i n g , y o u k n o w ?Black peop le a re more s lang .Yeah?And I th ink that ' s , i t ' s not , I can ' t say i t ' s good, andI 'm no t go nn a say tha t 's bad . But I th ink i f B lackp e o p l e w o u l d , l i k e , s p e a k b e t t e r o r s p e a k w i t h ab e t t e r v o c a b u l a r y , t h e n w e w o u l d r e l a t e t o w h a tWhi te peop le a re t a lk in ' abou t .

A l t h o u g h s o m e W h i t e p e o p l e a l s o s p e a k s l a n g E n g l i s h ,

obgu article

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