When You Know Better, You Do Better: An Exploration of Black Language in Structured Literacy Lessons

Abstract

Black Language, “the language and discourse patterns of African slave descendants in the United States, which reflect the survival of African languages in English used by these descendants (Smitherman, 2015, p. 547)”, is one of the few connections many Black Americans have with our ancestors. That connection is not cultivated in classrooms in the United States of America, as standard language ideology, bias toward a variation of a language imposed and maintained by the dominant class (Lippi-Green, 1997), a lack of knowledge regarding the use of Black Language, and a lack of linguistically responsive training for teachers prevent that from happening. This study aimed to publicly validate Black students’ language, educate teachers about Black Language and work toward cultivating linguistically responsive academic environments by dismantling standard language ideology.

Toward that goal, the responses of tutors to Black Language speaking K–2 students, participating in structured literacy lessons were examined to develop a targeted professional learning experience for tutors. Observations, surveys, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with undergraduate students serving as reading tutors to Black Language speaking, K–2 students in an urban public charter school. The study found that the professional learning experience provided tutors with knowledge of the most common phonological and morphosyntactic Black Language features used by students in the tutoring program. As a result, tutors were able to identify specific features of Black Language spoken by students during lessons and implement instructional change in future lessons. The data analysis revealed that students used Black Language most in the reading portion of their structured literacy lesson. Recommendations for future work include providing instruction on Black Language features and linguistically responsive instructional teaching strategies to preservice teachers prior to their entry into the classroom. Additional research is needed to further examine educator’s responses to Black Language speaking students in structured literacy lessons.