Ebonics
Greetings. The following materials are intended to provide an introduction to Ebonics. They were assembled from the World Wide Web, ERIC Database, and a variety of other bibliographic resources. Instructions for acquiring the full text of the ERIC records are presented at the end of this file.
Sibel Tatar
Reference Specialist
Alphabetically arranged listing of bibliographies
Categorically arranged listing of bibliographies
Internet Sites
Ebonics Information Page
Linguistic Society of America Resolution on the Oakland "Ebonics" Issue
The Ebonics controversy in my backyard:A sociolinguist's experiences and reflections
African American Vernacular English (Ebonics) from Language Varieties website
Vernacular Dialects in U.S. Schools. ERIC Digest.
Citations From the ERIC Database
AN: EJ637176
AU: Pollock,-Karen-E.; Meredith,-Linette-Hinton
TI: Phonetic Transcription of African American Vernacular English.
PY: 2001
SO: Communication-Disorders-Quarterly; v23 n1 p47-53 Fall 2001
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *Blacks-; *Communication-Disorders; *Disability-Identification; *Phonology-
DER: Adults-; Children-; Consonants-; Regional-Dialects; Vowels-
AB: This article summarizes African American Vernacular English (AAVE) phonological features from the perspective of phonetic transcription. Relevant International Phonetic Alphabet symbols and diacritics are discussed, as well as the importance of transcription detail when differentiating dialect variation from phonological delay or disorder. A chart of common phonological characteristics is provided. (Contains references.) (CR)
AN: ED459624
AU: Mufwene,-Salikoko-S.
TI: The Ecology of Language Evolution. Cambridge Approaches to Language Contact.
PY: 2001
AV: Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211 (paperbound: ISBN-0-521-79475-7, $21.95; hardbound: ISBN-0-521-79138-3, $59.95). Tel: 212-924-3900; Web site: http://www.cambridge.org.
PR: Document Not Available from EDRS.
DEM: *Creoles-; *Diachronic-Linguistics; *Linguistic-Borrowing
DER: Black-Dialects; English-; Foreign-Countries; Genetics-; Linguistic-Theory; Social-Bias
AB: This book explores the development of creoles and other new languages, highlighting conceptual and methodological issues for genetic linguistics and discussing the significance of ecologies that influence language evolution. It presents examples of changes in the structure, function, and vitality of languages, suggesting that similar ecologies have played similar roles in all cases of language evolution. Using theories of language formation, macroecology, and population genetics, it proposes a common approach to creole and other new language development. Eight chapters discuss the following: (1) "Introduction" (e.g., pidgins, creoles, and koines); (2) "The Founder Principle in the Development of Creoles"; (3) "The Development of American Englishes: Factoring Contact in and the Social Bias Out" (e.g., the development of African American English and white English vernaculars); (4) "The Legitimate and Illegitimate Offspring of English" (e.g., mutual intelligibility); (5) "What Research on the Development of Creoles Can Contribute to Genetic Linguistics" (e.g., creolization as a social process); (6) "Language Contact, Evolution, and Death: How Ecology Rolls the Dice"; (7) "Past and Recent Population Movements in Africa: Their Impact on its Linguistic Landscape" (e.g., the linguistic impact of European colonization); and (8) "Conclusion: The Big Picture." (Contains approximately 400 references.) (SM)
AN: ED458811
AU: Orr,-J.-Evelyn
TI: Linguistic Perspectives on African American Vernacular English and Implications for the Language Arts Classroom.
PY: 2000
PR: EDRS Price MF01/PC02 Plus Postage.
DL: http://www.edrs.com/members/sp.cfm?AN=ED458811
DEM: *Bidialectalism-; *Black-Dialects; *Sociolinguistics-
DER: Classroom-Environment; High-Stakes-Tests; Higher-Education; Nonstandard-Dialects
AB: This article outlines some basic linguistic principles that provide a foundation for the recognition of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) as a legitimate language system that is not only an asset to its speakers, but has also made valuable contributions to American society in terms of artistic expression of identity and community. The way in which teachers approach AAVE in the classroom can have a profound impact on the academic success of their students. Viewing AAVE as an asset to be built upon fosters a classroom culture that affirms students' identity and intellectual ability and increases the likelihood that students will see school and literacy as relevant to their lives. An extensive literature review is provided to bolster the argument that bilingual models applied to the case of bidialectalism point to the usefulness of both Standard English and AAVE. (Contains 42 references.) (KFT)
AN: ED458802
AU: Pardi,-Marco-M.
TI: Focus Groups with Linguistically Marginalized Populations.
PY: 2001
PR: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
DL: http://www.edrs.com/members/sp.cfm?AN=ED458802
DEM: *English-Second-Language; *Focus-Groups; *Language-Minorities; *Public-Health
DER: American-Indians; Black-Dialects; Blacks-; Cultural-Education; Ethnic-Groups; Immigrants-; Interviews-; Limited-English-Speaking; Mexican-Americans; Nonstandard-Dialects; Qualitative-Research
AB: The focus group method has rapidly gained credibility among researchers in many fields, including public health researchers. The increased use of focus groups by public health researchers has underscored the demonstrable need for the capacity to apply this method of research among populations with limited abilities in or cultural resistance to conversing in Standard American English (SAE). This paper addresses the issues fundamental to the use of the focus group method among such populations. It discusses the rationale, methodology, and interpretation of focus group research among nonnative English speaking populations and the U.S.-born populations inhibited by poor education or differential linguistic patters. The paper employs research examples looking at American Indian, Mexican and Central American immigrants using several dialects of New World Spanish, low-income African Americans, and aging Appalachian coal miners. The current scarcity of linguistically and culturally competent group moderators or facilitators makes research in this area difficult, as do methodological issues including recruitment, intra-group social ranking, and outcome interpretation. It is demonstrated that valid focus group research with linguistically marginalized groups is possible, but the difficulties are many. (KFT)
AN: EJ632712
AU: Walker,-James-A.
TI: Using the Past To Explain the Present: Tense and Temporal Reference in Early African American English.
PY: 2001
SO: Language-Variation-and-Change; v13 n1 p1-35 2001
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *Language-Variation; *Morphology-Languages; *Syntax-; *Tenses-Grammar
DER: Diachronic-Linguistics; Nonstandard-Dialects; Semantics-
AB: Reconstructs the present temporal reference system of Early African American English by investigating the aspectual conditioning of a morphosyntactic construction within the domain of present temporal reference in three representative varieties. (Author/VWL)
AN: EJ632328
AU: Marback,-Richard
TI: Ebonics: Theorizing in Public Our Attitudes toward Literacy.
PY: 2001
SO: College-Composition-and-Communication; v53 n1 p11-32 Sep 2001
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *Democratic-Values; *Individual-Differences; *Literacy-; *Racial-Attitudes; *Racial-Differences
DER: Higher-Education
AB: Argues that the responses to the Oakland, California ebonics resolution miss what made the resolution so significant while also making debate about it so intractable. Proposes that compositionists who acknowledge attitudes that made the resolution so significant can productively engage the larger public regarding literacy education in a racially divided democracy. (SG)
AN: ED456643
AU: Newell,-Kavatus-R.
TI: Respecting Black English as a Style of Discourse.
PY: 2000
NT: In: National Association of African American Studies & National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies: 2000 Literature Monograph Series. Proceedings (Language Section) (Houston, TX, February 21-26, 2000).
PR: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
DL: http://www.edrs.com/members/sp.cfm?AN=ED456643
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *Sociolinguistics-
DER: Bidialectalism-; Black-Culture; Blacks-; Diachronic-Linguistics; Elementary-Secondary-Education; English-; Linguistics-; Standard-Spoken-Usage; Urban-Language
AB: This paper offers a brief but comprehensive overview of various issues pertaining to the use and origins of Black English. The purpose of the paper is to help educators understand Black English and celebrate this dialect in class while facilitating the acquisition of Standard English. It holds that Ebonics is a dialect of English with its own set of rules, and is not inferior to Standard English but merely different. Origins are uncertain, but contending theories assert that it is derivative of lower class southern white speech or that it is a creolization of English. (Contains 10 references.) (KFT)
AN: EJ629403
AU: Rodekohr,-Rachel-K.; Haynes,-William-O.
TI: Differentiating Dialect from Disorder: A Comparison of Two Processing Tasks and a Standardized Language Test.
PY: 2001
SO: Journal-of-Communication-Disorders; v34 n3 p255-72 May-Jun 2001
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *Blacks-; *Language-Acquisition; *Language-Impairments; *Language-Processing; *Test-Bias
DER: Cognitive-Processes; Cultural-Differences; Elementary-Education; Evaluation-Methods; Receptive-Language; Speech-Tests; Student-Evaluation; Whites-
AB: A study divided 40 children (age 7) into groups consisting of white normal language and language impaired and African American normal language and language impaired. African American English speakers with normal language scored significantly lower on the Test of Language Development-2P compared to white normal-language subjects, but did not differ on processing tasks. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)
AN: EJ628856
AU: Sulentic,-Margaret-Mary
TI: Black English in a Place Called Waterloo.
PY: 2001
SO: Multicultural-Education; v8 n4 p24-30 Sum 2001
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *Black-Students; *Cultural-Differences
DER: Black-Culture; Cultural-Awareness; Diversity-Student; Elementary-Secondary-Education; English-Second-Language; Sociolinguistics-; Teacher-Attitudes
AB: For many black students, the school language differs significantly from the home language, but preservice education rarely examines this issue. This article examines implications for teaching children who use two different forms of language to navigate the demands of their contrasting sociolinguistic speech communities, discussing: how teacher attitudes and knowledge affect practice; dual language demands; ebonics; and language as power. (SM)
AN: EJ622805
AU: Hollie,-Sharroky
TI: Acknowledging the Language of African American Students: Instructional Strategies.
PY: 2001
SO: English-Journal; v90 n4 p54-59 Mar 2001
NT: Theme: And Language for All.
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *English-Instruction; *Language-Attitudes; *Linguistics-; *Nonstandard-Dialects; *Standard-Spoken-Usage
DER: Access-to-Education; Elementary-Secondary-Education; Instructional-Effectiveness; Language-Arts; Teacher-Attitudes; Teaching-Methods
AB: Describes the Linguistic Affirmation Program (LAP), a comprehensive nonstandard language awareness program for students not proficient in Standard American English, that facilitates the acquisition of Standard American English without devaluing students' home language and culture. Notes its six research-based critical instructional approaches. Outlines four linguistic schools of thought regarding nonstandard language forms. Notes classroom applications for success in the LAP. (SR)
AN: EJ622804
AU: Jonsberg,-Sara-Dalmas
TI: What's a (White) Teacher To Do about Black English?
PY: 2001
SO: English-Journal; v90 n4 p51-53 Mar 2001
NT: Theme: And Language for All.
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *English-Instruction; *Language-Attitudes; *Standard-Spoken-Usage; *Teacher-Attitudes
DER: Access-to-Education; Bidialectalism-; Code-Switching-Language; Elementary-Secondary-Education; Higher-Education; Multicultural-Education; Student-Attitudes
AB: Argues that it is important for Black students and for all students to understand that Black English is indeed a language with rules, beauty, and power so that they come to respect it, respect its history, and respect their own bilingualism. (SR)
AN: EJ622775
AU: Payne,-Kay; Downing,-Joe; Fleming,-John-Christopher
TI: Speaking Ebonics in a Professional Context: The Role of Ethos/Source Credibility and Perceived Sociability of the Speaker.
PY: 2000
SO: Journal-of-Technical-Writing-and-Communication; v30 n4 p367-83 2000
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *Black-Students; *Credibility-; *Interpersonal-Competence; *Speech-Communication; *Student-Attitudes
DER: College-Students; Communication-Research; Higher-Education
AB: Reports results of a study in which 72 African-American college students listened to and evaluated a tape-recorded excerpt of a speech in two versions, one in Ebonics and one in Standard English. Finds students rated the speaker who used Standard English as more credible (i.e. , more competent and having a strong character) and more sociable than the Ebonics speaker. (SR)
AN: EJ621255
AU: Blake,-Mary-E.; Sickle,-Meta-Van
TI: Helping Linguistically Diverse Students Share What They Know.
PY: 2001
SO: Journal-of-Adolescent-and-Adult-Literacy; v44 n5 p468-75 Feb 2001
DEM: *Academic-Achievement; *Code-Switching-Language; *Mathematics-Achievement; *Science-Achievement; *Student-Attitudes; *Student-Improvement
DER: Black-Dialects; Language-Acquisition; Secondary-Education; Teacher-Education
AB: Suggests that when students improve their ability to code-switch from the local dialect (African American English) to Standard English, they improved their academic achievement, particularly in science and math. Indicates that future teachers need to be exposed to many different cultures and dialects in terms of teacher preparation. (SG)
AN: ED451296
AU: Paul,-Dierdre-Glenn
TI: Raising Black Children Who Love Reading and Writing: A Guide from Birth through Grade 6
PY: 2000
AV: Bergin & Garvey/Greenwood Publishing Group, 88 Post Road West, P.O. Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881-5007 ($35). Tel: 800-225-5800 (Toll Free); Web site: http://www.greenwood.com.
NT: Foreword by Catherine Dorsey-Gaines.
PR: Document Not Available from EDRS.
DEM: *Black-Students; *Emergent-Literacy; *Reading-Attitudes; *Reading-Skills; *Writing-Attitudes; *Writing-Skills
DER: Black-Dialects; Culturally-Relevant-Education; Elementary-Education; Equal-Education; Language-Acquisition; Parents-as-Teachers; Preschool-Education; Racial-Bias
AB: This book provides tools that black parents can use to make their children lifelong lovers of reading and writing. It is geared specifically to black children from the perspective of an educator and parent. The book stresses the need for early involvement in the learning process, challenging the traditional notion that issues surrounding child development and parent education are apolitical and neutral. It provides an historical framework that gives a firm foundation upon which to build an understanding of literacy as potentially emancipatory and empowering. The nine chapters are: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "Black Child/U.S. School System"; (3) "Comprehending Language and Culture"; (4) "Infants, Toddlers, and Emergent Literacy"; (5) "The Preschool Reader and Writer"; (6) "Selecting a School"; (7) "Early Elementary School Readers and Writers"; (8) "The Older Child and Literacy Development"; and (9) "Of Special Concern: Reading Disability." Appended are: an annotated bibliography featuring exemplary adolescent and children's literature; the selection process for the list of suggested books; and a stereotypes worksheet. (Contains 56 bibliographic references.) (SM)
AN: EJ620867
AU: Koch,-Lisa-M.; Gross,-Alan-M.; Kolts,-Russell
TI: Attitudes toward Black English and Code Switching.
PY: 2001
SO: Journal-of-Black-Psychology; v27 n1 p29-42 Feb 2001
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *Black-Students; *Code-Switching-Language; *Language-Usage
DER: College-Students; Higher-Education; Student-Attitudes
AB: Examined African Americans college students' perceptions of audiotaped people using: Black English (BE), Standard English (SE), and appropriate or inappropriate code switching (CS). Surveys indicated that participants rated SE and appropriate CS speakers more favorably than BE and inappropriate CS speakers, and they wanted to get to know and work with SE and appropriate CS speakers. (SM)
AN: EJ619034
AU: Coleman,-Robin-R.-Means; Daniel,-Jack-L.
TI: Mediating Ebonics.
PY: 2000
SO: Journal-of-Black-Studies; v31 n1 p74-95 Sep 2000
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *Mass-Media-Effects; *Racial-Bias
DER: Black-Culture; Linguistics-
AB: Suggests that Ebonics has been mediated in ways that clearly reveal American racial politics, which remain hostile to African Americans, describing the dominant strategies used to mediate Ebonics and locating those media strategies within the cultural context of racist circumstances, the racist political history of African Americans, and African Americans' linguistic heritage in America. (SM)
AN: EJ617736
AU: Palacas,-Arthur-L.
TI: Liberating American Ebonics from Euro-English.
PY: 2001
SO: College-English; v63 n3 p326-52 Jan 2001
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *Cultural-Differences; *Grammar-
DER: Communication-Research; Higher-Education; Language-Classification; Language-Patterns; Language-Research
AB: Considers if American Ebonics is a different language from English or if it is a dialect of English. Discusses how American Ebonics relates to the larger Ebonics picture. Focuses on the grammatical patterns of Ebonics that diverge the most from standard English. Addresses pedagogical implications. (SC)
AN: ED446432
AU: Blackburn,-Mollie; Stern,-Deborah
TI: Analyzing the Role of the Vernacular in Student Writing: A Social Literacies Approach.
PY: 2000
SO: Working-Papers-in-Educational-Linguistics; v16 n1 p53-69 Spr 2000
PR: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
DL: http://orders.edrs.com/members/sp.cfm?AN=ED446432
DEM: *Language-Usage; *Nonstandard-Dialects; *Student-Role; *Teaching-Methods; *Writing-Composition; *Writing-Instruction
DER: Black-Dialects; Black-Students; Classroom-Environment; Classroom-Techniques; Discourse-Analysis; High-School-Students; High-Schools; Sociolinguistics-; Standard-Spoken-Usage; Student-Attitudes; Student-Subcultures; Teacher-Student-Relationship; Urban-Areas
AB: A social literacies perspective is used to analyze a rap written by a high school student. The article begins with an examination of the student's uses of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and standard English. The student writing sample and the researcher's analysis are subjected to review by two other African American teenagers, and these students' insights are used to interrogate the assumptions of analysis and research into language use. The article ends by claiming that teachers and researchers must engage students' literacy practices in order to enrich classroom life and conduct meaningful and socially just research. The study reinforces the need to continue the scholarly debate about the wisdom and efficacy of trying to impose standard English on all speakers and writers and argues that new ways to validate alternative literacies should be found that can be used as a means of helping students to become proficient users of dominant literacies. Twenty-four references are included. (KFT)
AN: ED443128
AU: Gupta,-Abha
TI: What's Up wif Ebonics, Y'all?
CS: International Reading Association, Newark, DE.
PY: 1999
AV: http://www.readingonline.org.
PR: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
DL: http://orders.edrs.com/members/sp.cfm?AN=ED443128
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *Black-Students; *Language-Role
DER: Classroom-Techniques; Elementary-Secondary-Education; English-Instruction; Standard-Spoken-Usage
AB: This paper examines the controversy surrounding the use of Ebonics among African American students in schools in the United States, with a twofold purpose: (1) to focus on the primary function of language as a tool of communication that varies in its use according to the social context; and (2) to provide suggestions to teachers of ways to support students' acquisition of standard English without devaluing the nonstandard variants they may have learned in their homes and communities. The discussion is highlighted in the paper with classroom stories, anecdotes, and vignettes. The paper contains the following sections: Introduction; The Ebonics Controversy; Black English: A Dangerous Label; Focus on Function, Not Form; Strategies for Teaching "Conventional" English; A Balanced View of Language; and Useful Links on the Subject of English Variants. Contains 12 references. (Author/NKA)
AN: EJ609205
AU: Huber,-Tonya; Anderson,-Peggy; Baergen,-Julie-Franklin; Bakken,-Linda; Crumpler,-Thomas-P.; Van-Boening,-Matt-F.
TI: Our Souls To Keep: From Surface to Deep in Literary Representations Regarding Race.
PY: 2000
SO: Multicultural-Education; v7 n4 p36-43 Sum 2000
DEM: *Cultural-Differences; *Racial-Bias; *Racial-Relations
DER: Black-Dialects; Black-Students; Child-Rearing; Cultural-Awareness; Elementary-Secondary-Education; Mothers-; Racial-Discrimination; Slavery-
AB: Presents literary reviews that reveal deeper issues to consider when exploring beyond the surface and reflecting on the racial schisms pervading the United States. The literature examines: a conference on the relationship of education and African American self-concept; the role of black mothers in raising their sons; slave novels; a critical review of speaking; and the Ebonics debate in education. (SM)
AN: EJ608154
AU: Pandey,-Anita
TI: TOEFL to the Test: Are Monodialectal AAL-Speakes Similar to ESL Students?
PY: 2000
SO: World-Englishes; v19 n1 p89-106 Mar 2000
NT: Symposium on the Ebonics Debate and African American Language.
DEM: *Black-Dialects; *English-Second-Language; *Teaching-Methods
DER: Comparative-Analysis; Language-Tests; Second-Language-Instruction; Standard-Spoken-Usage; Testing-
AB: Draws attention to the validity of the Oakland School Board's resolution on Ebonics and to the value of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL)-based approaches to teaching standard American English to speakers of other dialects. Demonstrates validity of comparisons made between monodialectal speakers of African-American language/Ebonics and ESL through the Test of English as a Foreign Language. (Author/VWL)
 Quiet Children And The Classroom Teacher |
Other Resources (available either for sale on via interlibrary loan)
Title: Talkin that talk : language, culture, and education in African America
Author: Smitherman, Geneva, 1940-
Year:2000
Publisher: New York : Routledge
Title:Losing the race : self-sabotage in Black America
Author: McWhorter, John H.
Year:2000
Publisher: New York : Free Press
Title: Beyond ebonics : linguistic pride and racial prejudice
Author: Baugh, John, 1949-
Year:2000
Publisher: Oxford : New York ; Oxford University Press
Title: Spoken soul : the story of Black English
Author: Rickford, John R., 1949- ; Rickford, Russell John.
Year:2000
Publisher: New York: Wiley.
Title: The real ebonics debate : power, language, and the education of African-American children
Author: Perry, Theresa. ; Delpit, Lisa D.
Year:1998
Publisher: Boston : Beacon Press
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