The Switch: Understanding the Perception of African American Linguistic Repertoires

Author

Alyssa Powell, CUNY Baruch CollegeFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-25-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Program of Study

Communication - Corporate Communication

Language

English

First Advisor

Michael Bayer

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study is to conduct research to gain knowledge of the perception of African American adults who use standard English and African American Vernacular English or feel that they must code-switch between the two "languages. “The goal is to investigate the attitudes and ideologies that African American Adults have toward AAVE and what role the two "languages" play in their personal identity. This research will obtain a better understanding of how our use of language can influence our self-concept and identity. Cultural influences can influence our language and how we conceptualize who we are and where we come from. This research intends to examine dialect codeswitching and its place in the dynamic of interracial communication outwardly from the African American community. The study will be extremely beneficial for professional communicators, in understanding why African American code-switching in the workplace, educational, or business settings. Learning why African Americans code switch can help build stronger relationships throughout the workplace, reinforce Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives, and add clarity across companies to create a high-performance culture when communicating with their managers, heads of departments, employees, clients, or stakeholders. Furthermore, this research aims to discover if the black community considers these efforts successful in cultural preservation or representation of African American English dialect as a class of prestige. Finally, identifying these linguistic and cultural differences through a literature review will help to add reader context to the discussion of linguistic inequality and methods of linguistic oppression.

Recommended Citation

Powell, Alyssa, "The Switch: Understanding the Perception of African American Linguistic Repertoires" (2023). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/bb_etds/161