Language and Literacy with African American Young Men

Django Paris

Michigan State University

Anchoring Our Work

Why am I committed to the African American young men?

Why am I committed to their achievement through language and literacy?

“How does it feel to be a problem?”

Dubois “This double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.”

Baldwin “A child cannot be taught by anyone who despises him…”

Approaches to (Literacy) Education

Deficit Approach: Student heritage and youth languages, literacies, histories, and cultural practices are a deficit, show deficiency, the goal is to correct the deficiency with better language, literacy, history, and culture

Difference Approach: Student heritage and youth languages, literacies, histories, and cultural practices are equal, but different, though the goal remains largely to get students to use and understand DAE language, traditional DAE print literacies, and dominant cultural practices and histories

Asset-Based Approach: Student heritage and youth languages, literacies, histories, and cultural practices are assets and resources from which to build dominant skills and knowledge, critical understanding, and provide a space for sustaining heritage and youth ways

What is the Purpose of (Literacy) Education?

• Cultural and linguistic mainstreaming, transitioning toward dominant language, literacy, history, and cultural practices (access and assimilation the main goal)

(majority of L&L and general curricula, much of traditional ELD and bilingual)

• Acquisition of dominant practices while explicitly fostering and/or honoring the sustaining of marginalized practices and histories (cultural pluralism and access the main goals)

(asset pedagogies, funds of knowledge & third spaces, dual immersion)

Language, Literacy, and Culture

When we ask ourselves how we can meet the language and literacy needs of young Black men, we need to first ask ourselves, what are the languages and literacies young Black men are already engaged in and how can we join those in the project of school learning?

We must understand the connection between oral and written language and the Black cultural community to adopt asset-based school climate and teaching and learning…

African American Language

AAL is a systematic English spoken as at least one of the Englishes of many African Americans.

AAL has a history that is intimately connected with oppression and resistance, as well as the rich linguistic, spiritual, and literary achievements of African Americans.

Like any language, AAL is learned and used in social interaction, so only people engaged in sustained interaction and communication in a community of AAL speakers will have reason to learn and use AAL.

AAL Grammar, Phonology, & Lexicon

Some Systematic AAL features:

Absence of 3rd person singular “s”/ Zero Copula Every time he wake up, he ø always turning it on

Habitual be Cause they be trippin about that too

Preverbal marker stressed “been”Rashida BEEN left

Multiple negation I can't spit no rhymes

AAL Features in Text Messages

Phonology

Consonant Replacements ing to in (ŋ to n): goin, doin th to d (ð to d): da {the}, diz {this} Th to t (θ to t): tanx {thanks}

Monopthongization ma {my} Chillin wit ma friends

R and L vocalization fo sho {for sure}, skoo {school}

GrammarZero Copula we ø da champz

Regularized agreement the tickets is 10

Immediate future tense markers We Fnah {getting ready to} Ima leave {I’m going to}

  

AAL in Literature, Hip Hop, Popular Media

We know Hip Hop is laden with AAL grammar, phonology, and lexicon and is a crucial resource for classroom learning (Hill, Alim)

Literature, too, is an excellent source for the study of AAL that can (and must) honor Black culture and language within the study of English (Carol Lee, June Jordan)

Zora Neale HurstonAlice WalkerToni MorrisonJames BaldwinJunot Diaz  

Toward Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies

How can we foster pluralism (multilingualism andmulticulturalism) in education for African American boysand young men?

How can we sustain the histories and practices of ourcultural communities while simultaneously gaining accessto dominant opportunity structures?

What languages, literacies, and knowledges are needed to gain access to dominant opportunity structures? Are they changing?

Contrastive Analysis with AAL and DAE

 -Does this classroom honor and value AAL—does it take

an asset-based approach?

-What knowledge did this teacher need to facilitate this learning?

- What additional activities, information about AAL, and conversations would you would want a teacher to share with young AAL speakers?

AAL and Linguistic Flexibility: The Case of Obama

How might linguistic flexibility be seen as an asset

rather than a deficiency or problem in society and

education? What is the future of language, race, and

ethnicity in this country and how will AAL and other

languages be part of this future?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MckdodXl85A

Knowledge for Asset-Based Schools and Classrooms

Knowledge of AAL, including the past and present literary, cultural, and spiritual history of African America

We all must be committed to the outcome of cultural, linguistic, and literate pluralism

If we do not join our African American boys and young men in understanding, honoring, and extending their languages and literacies we know what the outcomes will be… Let us choose a path of respect and pluralism in language and literacy learning…