scholarly journals Editorial

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Lauren Hall-Lew
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
American English ◽  
African American English ◽  
The Other ◽  
Previous Issue ◽  
Dialect Acquisition

Welcome to the second issue of Volume 7 of Lifespans & Styles: Undergraduate Papers in Sociolinguistics. This issue includes five papers that continue the journal’s mission of showcasing excellence in undergraduate research in sociolinguistics. This issue’s papers are thematically similar to one another in very interesting ways – more so than any set of paper published in any previous issue. The first two focus on language and race, racism, and African American English; the other three are all about lifespan change and second language/dialect acquisition.

Talking back through ‘talking Black’: African American English and agency in Walter Mosley’s Devil In a Blue Dress

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genie Giaimo
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Detective Fiction ◽  
American English ◽  
White Male ◽  
African American English ◽  
The Other ◽  
Invariant Form ◽  
Black African ◽  
Detective Novels

With the rise in the number of ethnic detective novels published yearly it is important to consider how this new genre deviates from its predecessor, hard-boiled detective fiction; language is a place where this deviation is most apparent. Authors of ethnic detective fiction use marked varieties of English to call attention to the ethnicity of protagonists but, more important to this discussion, to highlight the complex ways in which they position themselves against White male hegemony. Ethnic detective fiction highlights the struggles, complications, dangers, and joys of the Other, a character who is typically marked by sexual, racial, or ethnic marginality, as he or she moves towards autonomy. This article examines how Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress upends stereotypical assumptions about the legitimacy and complexity of African American English (AAE) and demonstrates how the protagonist, Easy Rawlins, utilizes certain aspects of AAE, such as signifying, multiple negatives, and the invariant form of the verb ‘be’ at key moments in the text to assert himself and shape his identity as an ethnic detective.

Addressing African American English in Early Literacy Assessment and Instruction

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Patton Terry
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
American English ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
African American English ◽  
Literacy Assessment ◽  
Learning To Read ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Early Literacy Assessment

Abstract Determining how best to address young children's African American English use in formal literacy assessment and instruction is a challenge. Evidence is not yet available to discern which theory best accounts for the relation between AAE use and literacy skills or to delineate which dialect-informed educational practices are most effective for children in preschool and the primary grades. Nonetheless, consistent observations of an educationally significant relation between AAE use and various early literacy skills suggest that dialect variation should be considered in assessment and instruction practices involving children who are learning to read and write. The speech-language pathologist can play a critical role in instituting such practices in schools.

Zero Marking of Past Tense in Child African American English

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 173-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Lee ◽  
Janna B. Oetting
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
American English ◽  
African American English ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Grammatical Function

Zero marking of the simple past is often listed as a common feature of child African American English (AAE). In the current paper, we review the literature and present new data to help clinicians better understand zero marking of the simple past in child AAE. Specifically, we provide information to support the following statements: (a) By six years of age, the simple past is infrequently zero marked by typically developing AAE-speaking children; (b) There are important differences between the simple past and participle morphemes that affect AAE-speaking children's marking options; and (c) In addition to a verb's grammatical function, its phonetic properties help determine whether an AAE-speaking child will produce a zero marked form.

Complex Syntax Production of African American Preschoolers

2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 1083-1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra C. Jackson ◽  
Joanne E. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Home Environment ◽  
American English ◽  
African American English ◽  
Environment Factors ◽  
Complex Syntax ◽  
The Mean ◽  
American Children ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance

This study examined changes in the complex syntax production of 85 3- and 4-year-old African American children and the role of child (i.e., gender, age, African American English) and family (i.e., home environment) factors. The mean percentage of utterances containing one or more complex syntax forms was 6.2% at 3 years and 11.7% at 4 years. Girls produced more complex syntax forms than did boys. Complex syntax production increased significantly between age 3 and age 4 and correlated positively with mean length of utterance in words. Children from more responsive and stimulating home environments produced more complex syntax at 4 years. African American English was not related to the amount of complex syntax used.

Eighteenth-Century Sierra Leone English

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
African American ◽  
Nova Scotia ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
American English ◽  
African American English ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nova Scotian

This essay examines the language of an expatriate community as found in letters and petitions written by African Americans who migrated to Sierra Leone by way of Nova Scotia in 1792. These documents provide some of the earliest first-hand evidence of African American English and contribute to debates about the history of that variety. The paper compares selected grammatical features in that variety to modern-day African Nova Scotian English for insights to the history of African American English and develops a case for the principled use of manuscript documents for reconstructing earlier stages of colloquial English.

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