African American English and its Relation to Literacy Skills in Early Adolescence

Subcontract with Frank Porter Graham, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

This longitudinal study examines the production of African American English (AAE) through early adolescence and the impact of vernacular dialect on the literacy acquisition of African Americans from entry to school through middle school. The study builds on a unique longitudinal database collected over the past 14 years for a group of 70 African American adolescents from low- and middle-income families whose language and literacy skills, as well as family and school environments, have been progressively documented since infancy. A supplemental longitudinal sample that includes a friend for each adolescent has been recruited to participate in the proposed study for the middle school period to increase the number of participants to be followed longitudinally from 6th through 8th grades to 140 youth for this period. The research focuses specifically on the trajectory of AAE variants from the elementary school though middle school years; the influence of context formality on vernacular variations in the middle school years; the impact of vernacular dialect on the literacy acquisition of African American from entry to school through middle school; and the role of specific child characteristics in explaining these vernacular literacy associations in AAE speaking youth, particularly in the middle school years.

The study, which addresses the social and education implications of the most significant sociocultural variety in American English, has important theoretical, descriptive, and applied implications. Theoretically, it addresses language growth trajectories with respect to dialect shift and instantiation. Descriptively, it considers the social, educational, and linguistic factors that may help explain patterns of language change in early adolescence. Practically, it addresses the role of language differences in educational success and failure and the persistent white-black educational gap. The findings should be of great interest to parents, teachers and their students, other educators, and researchers concerned with issues related to the school success of African American youth and risk factors for school failure.