Walking the Tightrope Between Advocacy and Knowledge: An Appeal From Teacher Educators to Speech-Language Pathologists Regarding African American English

Gibson, Simone; Shockley, Ebony Terrell

doi:10.1044/persp3.sig1.147

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 28 publications

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“…We matched by race due to the sensitive nature of the attitude questions to promote candor (Schaeffer, 1980). We reasoned that participants would be more willing to share perspectives that have a connection to race with someone they considered an insider (Buford May, 2014; Davis, 1997; DeVault, 1995; Gibson & Terrell Shockley, 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple Approaches to “Appropriateness”: A Mixed‐Methods Study of Elementary Teachers' Dispositions Toward African American Language as They Teach a Dialect‐Shifting Curriculum

Maher,

Mazzei,

Shockley

et al. 2024

Reading Research Quarterly

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Despite decades of sociolinguistic research, African American Language (AAL) remains stigmatized throughout the United States education system. There have been proposals to counteract this through curricula and/or ideological interventions targeted at teachers that seek to validate AAL while maintaining Dominant American English (DAE) as an educational target. However, such approaches have been criticized for giving limited attention to combating the racism that underlies much linguistic marginalization. We used a mixed‐methods approach to explore the benefits and limitations of a dialect‐shifting curriculum in shaping teachers' language ideologies. Participants (n = 40) were K‐1 teachers in a predominantly Black mid‐Atlantic city. They were participating in an efficacy study of a dialect‐shifting curriculum; schools were randomly assigned to teach the curriculum (intervention condition) or continue with business as usual. Before and after the intervention, teachers completed a survey of their language attitudes, and a subset (n = 16) participated in semi‐structured interviews. On the survey, teachers displayed more favorable attitudes toward language variation at the end of the school year, regardless of condition. The interviews revealed a range of perspectives, revealing a tension between a belief in the utility of DAE for their students and an understanding that many students will wish to use AAL in their communities. The curriculum provided shared vocabulary to discuss this tension and increased some teachers' acceptance of AAL in non‐academic settings, but many did not view dialect variation as relevant to their priorities as K‐1 teachers. These findings clarify the trade‐offs involved in work toward a more (linguistically) inclusive education system.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple Approaches to “Appropriateness”: A Mixed‐Methods Study of Elementary Teachers' Dispositions Toward African American Language as They Teach a Dialect‐Shifting Curriculum

Maher,

Mazzei,

Shockley

et al. 2024

Reading Research Quarterly

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Does a dialect-shifting curriculum help early readers who speak African American English? Results from a randomized controlled study

Maher,

Blomquist,

Byrd

et al. 2024

Read Writ

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Teachers' Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Beliefs Regarding the Use of African American English

Diehm

Hendricks

2021

LSHSS

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Purpose In order to provide appropriate and effective assessment and instructional activities, teachers are encouraged to develop their cultural competency. Although speech-language pathologists (SLPs) receive training on the linguistic features of nonmainstream dialects of English, such as African American English (AAE), less is known about teachers' training, beliefs, and pedagogical knowledge surrounding this topic. Method Using stratified random sampling by county population, we invited educators within selected Ohio school districts to complete an online survey ( n = 17,548). The survey probed teachers' pre- and postservice training, beliefs, and knowledge of linguistic features and terminology relating to AAE. A total of 571 teachers completed at least 50% of the survey items (3.66% response rate). Results Few teachers report receiving training on AAE and demonstrated a limited grasp of linguistic terms commonly found in AAE literature; however, many teachers reported feeling confident in their abilities to identify features of AAE in written language tasks. In terms of school culture, teachers reported that they believed AAE to be more appropriate outside (rather than inside) the classroom, and only one third of teachers received resources to enhance their knowledge of the cultural and linguistic features of AAE. Conclusions Results suggest that teachers may benefit from increased access to training and materials to further develop their cultural competence. Given SLPs' familiarity with cultural and linguistic variability, SLPs may work to support teachers' cultural competence and encourage culturally appropriate assessment and intervention practices. Additional research is needed to determine how teachers' skills in these areas predict effectiveness/teaching ability and which factors are most important in the provision of culturally relevant instruction.

show abstract

Walking the Tightrope Between Advocacy and Knowledge: An Appeal From Teacher Educators to Speech-Language Pathologists Regarding African American English

Cited by 4 publications

References 28 publications

Multiple Approaches to “Appropriateness”: A Mixed‐Methods Study of Elementary Teachers' Dispositions Toward African American Language as They Teach a Dialect‐Shifting Curriculum

Multiple Approaches to “Appropriateness”: A Mixed‐Methods Study of Elementary Teachers' Dispositions Toward African American Language as They Teach a Dialect‐Shifting Curriculum

Does a dialect-shifting curriculum help early readers who speak African American English? Results from a randomized controlled study

Teachers' Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Beliefs Regarding the Use of African American English

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