Geneva Smitherman, ed., Black English and the Education of Black Children and Youth: Proceedings of the National Invitational Symposium on the King Decision

1982 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-248
1976 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Baran ◽  
Harry N. Seymour

Minimal word pairs that are presumed to be perceptually difficult to differentiate when spoken in black English were examined relative to (1) black children’s performance in differentiating the meanings of their own word pair productions and those of other blacks and whites and (2) white children’s performance in differentiating the meanings of word pairs produced by black children. Perceptual errors were significantly greater for whites listening to word pairs produced by blacks than for blacks listening to themselves, other blacks, or whites. No significant differences were found among blacks listening to themselves, other blacks, and whites. Perceptual errors followed predictable patterns that were influenced by three phonological rules of black English. Also, the data suggest that there are phonemic cues that are imperceptible to non-black-English speakers which allow black-English speakers to differentiate word pairs.


1976 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol W. Pfaff

Pfaff (1973, 1975) reports on 81 low- and middle-income first-grade Black children who produced multiple instances of linguistic variables by answering questions about a set of pictures and telling the story of Goldilocks and the three bears. No models were given of the linguistic variables under investigation, which included a number of third person singular present-tense verb forms: -s inflection of regular verbs, auxiliary and main verb be, auxiliary and main verb have, auxiliary do and possessive marking on nouns. Standard marking of all of these linguistic variables has been shown by previous studies of free conversation to be variably lacking in Black English (Labov, Cohen, Robins & Lewis 1968; Fasold 1972).


1981 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geneva Smitherman

The children are the future and hope of black America. Therefore, it is fitting and proper to begin with the words of those children who brought the federal lawsuit in the nationally prominent but widely misunderstood case of Martin Luther King Junior Elementary School Children v. Ann Arbor School District Board. Although this case has come to be known as the "Black English Case," it was as much a case about black children as about Black English. As Judge Charles W. Joiner himself said: "It is a straightforward effort to require the court to intervene on the children's behalf to require the defendant School District Board to take appropriate action to teach them to read in the standard English of the school, the commercial world, the arts, science and professions. This action is a cry for judicial help in opening the doors to the establishment. . . . It is an action to keep another generation from becoming functionally illiterate" (Note 1).


1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Bailey ◽  
Natalie Maynor

ABSTRACTAs scholars have begun to reach a consensus on the Black English Vernacular (BEV) over the last decade, three important assumptions about that variety have emerged: (a) the grammars of children and adults are essentially alike, (b) BEV is decreolizing, and (c) most differences between BEV and white speech are the result of the persistence of creole features. However, these assumptions are largely based on comparisons of the speech of North American black children to that of Caribbean creole speakers, with no real attempt to establish the direction of grammatical change in BEV. Our work with black children and elderly adults in Texas tries to determine the direction of grammatical change in black English. This work suggests that all three of the assumptions listed above are unwarranted. The grammars of elderly adults and children are structurally, not just quantitatively different. The differences between the two varieties indicate that BEV is not decreolizing but is actually diverging from white speech. Finally, the differences suggest that differences between black and white speech are sometimes the result of contemporary developments rather than of the persistence of creole features. (Black English, decreolization, divergence, language change, reanalysis, sociolinguistics)


INYI Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Kikulwe ◽  
Christa Sato ◽  
Juliet Agyei

This article focuses on the Ontario Assessment and Action Record (AAR), used in child welfare to understand how this documentation supports (and fails to support) Black youth-in-care and their academic needs. We applied a critical review and analysis of three distinct but interconnected sources of data: 1) the AAR-C2-2016; 2) literature on the education of Black youth-in-care in Ontario; 3) policy and agency documents concerning how this group is faring. In our analysis of the AAR and its education dimension, findings suggest the AAR has been a race-neutral tool, which has implications in terms of how we conceptualize structural barriers faced by Black children and youth-in-care. We identified gaps and potential practice dilemmas for child welfare workers when using AAR documentation procedures. Using Critical Race Theory and the United Nations human rights framework, we argue that the AAR can be a tool to identify, monitor, and challenge oppression for Black children and youth-in-care who experience a continual negotiation of racialization alongside being a foster child. The AAR recordings can be harmful if they are simply a collection of information on the key areas of a child’s life. Prioritizing the academic needs of Black children in care is critical to social work and aligns with the commitments of One Vision, One Voice, Ontario’s Anti-Racism Strategic Plan as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly in relation to the right to education.


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