Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

2-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Educational Psychology

Advisor

Linnea Ehri

Committee Members

Leslie Craigo

David Rindskopf

Karen Engel

Maria Akinyele

Subject Categories

Educational Psychology | Elementary Education | Elementary Education and Teaching | Language and Literacy Education | Other Teacher Education and Professional Development

Keywords

AAE, African American English, Language, Literacy, Teachers, Writing

Abstract

Students of African descent often speak in a dialect that differs from the Dominant American English (DAE) dialect, known as African American English (AAE). Since this dialect is not considered mainstream, students who speak and write in this dialect may be at a disadvantage when being assessed on literacy skills and responding to literacy instruction. However, it is possible to address this issue by preparing and supporting teachers in recognizing AAE use in literacy activities and providing them with instructional strategies to support students who use AAE. The goal of this research was to investigate the perceptions that elementary school teachers have about the use of African American English (AAE) in the literacy classroom and to determine their level of preparedness to encounter AAE as a result of their teacher education programs and current professional trainings.

Elementary school teachers who teach in NYC schools completed writing sample analyses and an attitudinal survey to gauge their preparedness and ability to instruct students who use AAE in literacy activities. Each teacher assessed three counterbalanced versions of writing samples: (1) one that included AAE features only; (2) one that included DAE writing errors that are not AAE features; (3) includes spelling errors only. The researcher hypothesized that teachers would assign a lower grade to the writing sample that contained AAE-features as compared to the other two versions of writing samples. Additionally, teachers would provide feedback and make instructional recommendations based on their assessments. A repeated measures ANOVA did not yield significant differences among grading on the three samples; however, in analyzing the feedback and instructional decisions along with the survey results, it became clear that teachers would benefit from enhanced knowledge about AAE when teaching students who speak and write in AAE.

Results showed that the majority of teachers expressed that their teacher education program did not adequately train them to meet the linguistic needs of AAE speakers and that they would like to receive more support in this area. Additionally, it was evident that the majority of teachers provided feedback and instructional approaches that did not preserve or acknowledge the linguistic cultural identity of AAE speakers and writers. In providing feedback to students who wrote in AAE, 70% of teachers communicated to students that they needed to correct their written grammar usage so that it mirrored DAE grammatical rules and 80% of teachers outlined instructional recommendations that aimed to “correct” the use of AAE-features in writing assignments. Findings provided insight on how to improve the effectiveness of teacher education programs and professional training in preparing teachers for culturally-diverse and culturally-responsive literacy practices as they relate to the AAE dialect.

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