DW4b Part 1

Report: Five Steps to Incorporate AAVE into Your Lessons
Released April 2009
African American Vernacular Enligsh (AAVE) has been widely discriminated against in the United States. In order to become the nation we are perceived to be, we must learn to acknowledge other dialects other than Standard English, the only dialect deemed to be appropriate. And it starts in the schools, which is where we must learn to teach and understand AAVE. Kids speak their home language with their friends, then they struggle in school and often times fail out. Only 56% of African American students graduate from high school due to the discriminating of AAVE and their lack of code switching. This statistic demands that we change the status quo. We need to revamp our vision of AAVE and also learn how to accept it starting with educational policy.
Educational policy can take several forms, it can be in the form of writings, such as literature and scholarly essays, or it can be teaching K-12 students, or it can go as far as college classes such as an Ebonics class. Teaching the development of AAVE and appreciating it in the high school years may prove to be very effective, as most kids are easily persuaded by their teachers at this point. The first step is educating the teacher, one of the biggest obstacles teachers face while dealing with AAVE is ignorance. People tend to make bad judgments about linguistic features associated with AAVE. Teachers should educated themselves about the apparent stereotypes of AAVE and then learn to combat them by working in the students home language, which will in turn help them achieve academic success. This is the first step in attempting to change the status quo of only 56% of African Americans graduating from high school.
The second step is incorporating multiculturalism into the classroom, In order to have AAVE in the classroom; we must first create a learning environment which emphasizes diversity in language, experiences, and culture. Kim Brian Lovejoy integrated this into his classroom by allowing his students to bring in nonmainstream varieties of writings and speech. This allowed for in depth class discussion, as well as cultural and linguistic learning. Multiculturalism makes school more relevant and effective for minority students, thus increasing their ability to succeed and have successful lives and careers. Educators must not give their students a one-sided view of the world as they are doing now, and that they should be given more cultural opportunities.
The third step is to create a learning environment rich in oral language, reading texts aloud to students can help immerse them into a learning environment that is rich in oral language. The way a student speaks and is spoken to is very closely related to the way a student writes, so if one can illustrate that AAVE is a natural way to speak, then the student will feel more comfortable using AAVE in the classroom. In-class debates, readings, and discussions can help integrate the students into the oral classroom environment and puts an emphasis on the home language. Knowing the structural differences between AAVE and Standard English is a very useful concept to teach students, as discussed in the fourth step of this plan; emphasizing and demonstrating code switching in the classroom.
It is true that not every language type is useful in every situation, some situations call for more formal speaking while others have a more laid back setting. And it is important to know when and how to do this. When teachers work with students to contrast the differences between non-Standard English and Standard English, students are less likely to use AAVE in their academic writing. And research by Rickford’s proves this, when students were taught the structural differences, their writing in Standard English improved by 59%. This 59% increase in writing is something that is at the core of getting African Americans a higher graduation rate and thus changing the status quo.
The fifth and final step of the plan is to allow students to write like real writers, educators need to teach students how to write to different audiences. Different audiences react differently to each writing techniques and each is effective in a different way. When students are aware of their intended audience, they can critically reflect on their choice of words. Educators should make students aware of how to change their writing based on who they are trying to write to. This would help in many facets of revamping our views on AAVE, this will help African American kids get into college with better writing skills, it will help them get scholarships that require essays because they can write better, it will help them gets jobs, and overall help them earn a better lifestyle. This five step plan is a good start to revamping our educational policy and helping our African American students with AAVE, and also helping our teachers teach and deal with AAVE more effectively.