Using African American Vernacular English and Hip Hop Nation language to teach standard American English.

Abstract

In American schools, teachers frequently enforce Standard American English (SAE) without teaching students about the nonstandard dialects they may speak, such as African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or Hip Hop Nation Language (HHNL) (Alim, 2007; Wheeler, 2010). This only makes students more protective over their linguistic identity and less willing to learn SAE (Alim, 2007). Thus, defending and valuing all students’ dialects should be a priority for a teacher in order to preserve their students’ linguistic identities. The opportunity to provide students with a bidialectal environment is present, but when schools focus on SAE, very few curricula on non-standard dialects are created or used (Alim, 2007; Kelly, 2013; Messier, 2012; Godley & Escher, 2012). In addition, there is also a lack of resources that address students and English Language Learners (ELLs) in a bidialectal environment. Without these resources, even well-intentioned teachers cannot properly execute an ideal bidialectal classroom. This project was created to solve these issues by providing a resource for teachers of AAVE and HHNL speakers. This project’s curriculum will specifically help students in two ways: they will better understand AAVE and SAE features and when to use each dialect, and they will hold onto their linguistic and cultural identities. This curriculum will also be unique in that it will also address the needs of ELLs who may be in environments where, while they are learning the English language, they are also learning local dialects (e.g., AAVE). The fifty lesson plan curriculum addresses 10th grade English Language Arts, Music, and Social Studies standards.