What does it mean to sound African American? Teachers' perceptions of school-age children's communication

Using a framework of language ideologies, this mixed-methods study examined teachers' perceptions of nonmainstream dialect, specifically looking at African American English (AAE). Eighty-one total teachers from the local school district listened to four different speech stimuli (elementary school-aged) enacted in either African American English or Mainstream American English using a matched-guise design within two different child actors. After listening to the four speech stimuli, teachers provided their first impression of each child's academic and personality on the Teacher Perception Rating Questionnaire (TPRQ), a 5-point Likert scale. Afterwards, approximately one-fourth of the teachers from three of the sites participated in focus group interviews to discuss their impressions of the stimuli and cultural linguistic differences more broadly. Key findings integrated across data sources revealed that teachers perceive speakers of the AAE v. MAE stimuli differently if the paralinguistics of the presented dialects differed. Second, teachers continue to privilege MAE within the academic setting, in part because they see it as their job to prepare children for success on standardized assessments and in society at large. Whether intentional or otherwise, school currently serves as a vehicle for perpetuating standard language ideologies that denigrate AAE

"If there's more than one bus you say...": Cultural-linguistic mismatch within the context of teacher-child interactions

The purpose of this study was to examine the complexities of teacher-student interactions with a focus on the potential role of cultural-linguistic mismatch, particularly as it relates to a child who speaks African American English. Data collection included field note data from classroom observations, classroom videos of teacher-child interactions during literacy lessons, home videos of child-caregiver interactions, and interviews. Analyses included categorical coding of observational field notes and discourse analyses of video transcripts. Three key findings emerged: (a) power differential between teachers and children that tended to privilege Mainstream American English; (b) semiotic resources, including language and physicality, played a prominent role in mediating/scaffolding interactions; and (c) interactions revealed complex patterns of both alignment and mismatch, which included linguistic, paralinguistic, and nonlinguistic features. Implications and future directions related to this study specifically include: (a) the need for direct examination of nonlinguistic and paralinguistic aspects of communication within the field of communication sciences and disorders; (b) explicit acknowledgement of multiple Englishes within the school curriculum and classroom dialogue; and (c) further exploration of the longitudinal consequences that may unfold as a result of speaking a non-mainstream dialect or language, especially as it relates to African American boys.Ope