AAVE Team Three 1

AAVE Peer Review Reflection

We took our feedback into serious consideration and fixed as much as we could while still

being in line with the definition prompt assigned to us. We appreciated all of the feedback given to

us by our peers and applied these changes:

Our peers suggested that we remove redundancy in our work, so we have taken the liberty

of removing some of the content in AAVE in Social Settings such as the second to last sentence in

the second paragraph to condense and clarify our position on the subject. We also combed through

our first draft and looked for any spelling or grammar errors that may affect the impact on the

information being given.

We have also included figure data in our graphics in order to draw the reader to our

examples, which helps contextualize the research we provide as well as give our work a more

organized aesthetic and streamlined experience. We applied these changes on pages two, five, six,

seven, and eight and even reference them within our paragraphs so the photos are not just “floating

in space.” With these added changes our readers will find our images to have a more established

credibility.

Another piece of feedback we applied to our final draft was adding subheadings into the

organization of the paper. We understood that our first draft was a lot of information all at once and

we believe the subheadings will divide our paper, guide our readers more efficiently, and provide

information.

The final piece of feedback we applied was fixing the works cited page. Our peers brought

up an excellent point that we had missed at least one source used in our paper that was not included

in the works cited page. We have fixed that error, as well as added the initials of the person who

found/ used said sources. We made sure our MLA citations that were used for paraphrasing and

direct quotations were correct and in line with the text.

 AAVE Team Three 2

African-American Vernacular English

By: Caleb LaCross, Adrian M. Gutierrez, Bella Benavidez, Christopher Hernandez, Vince Garcia

African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is a language spoken by the Black

community across the United States. It is not simply a dialect or variety of English, but its own

distinct language that has its own particular sets of grammatical, vocabulary, and accent features. It

is used as a form of communication and expression within Black communities, primarily by

working and middle-class African Americans, and is not typically seen as “Standard English.” This

is due to the history of racism and stigmatization of the language in America resulting in stifling

acceptance in professional and educational applications. AAVE has given African Americans a way

to convey sentiments and culture in a way unique to them and their experiences.

So What?
Why is it so important to recognize AAVE as a language and not just simply a dialect or

“slang?” The call for Black linguistic justice has come in the midst of the ever-growing Black Lives

Matter movement (“Another Statement”). Black people now, more than ever, are taking back the

right to their own language because the community has had enough of the disrespect and blatant

white supremacy that is active in mainstream English (“Another Statement”). The idea of “Standard

English” stems from white supremacy. It is a rule-governed language that is implemented in

academic, professional, and even social settings. When the Black community uses words like,

“finna” or grammatically incorrect phrases such as “imma be done,” in professional settings, it is

viewed as unprofessional, incorrect, lazy, etc. There is a negative perception of this language

simply because it does not fit into the standard that many have been conditioned to learn.
 AAVE Team Three 3

AAVE should be implemented in academic and professional settings and should be

recognized as a language because it gives Black people a voice instead of oppressing them.

According to the article, “This Ain’t Another Statement! This is a Demand for Black Linguistic

Justice!,” “socially constructed terms like academic language and standard English are rooted in

white supremacy, whiteness, and anti-Blackness and contribute to anti-Black policies (e.g., English

only) that are codified and enacted to privilege white linguistic and cultural norms while deeming

Black language inferior.”

It should also be recognized that there is no official language of North America and yet

society continues to push Standard English as the norm. Many believe black students should not

have to adhere to only Standard English because it encourages code-switching, which means “to

shift between languages, or between dialects or

registers of a language, within a discourse, esp. in

response to a change in social context” (OED). In

the popular Netflix show, “Big Mouth,” (see fig.

Figure 1: Big Mouth - The Code
1)fan favorite character, Devon, sings a song about code switchingSwitching
in which Song
the lyrics entail the
Source: Youtube
ways in which black people switch their personalities depending on the audience: “As a black kid,

you gotta/ Learn this handy trick of/ Social self-defense/ You gotta switch up your speak/ And give

your manner a tweak/ Depending on the audience...Cause when you're young and black/ You

develop a knack/ For putting the world at ease.” Members of the Black community have to switch

their language and must develop this “skill” in order to be deemed as non-threatening and

successful in the real world. It is believed that, because members of the white community do not

need to minimize their culture, the Black community should not have to do the same. Standard

English and AAVE can and should coexist across all social and professional contetxts.
 AAVE Team Three 4

History and Origin

African American Vernacular English or AAVE has had a growing evolution. As AAVE

has continued to grow in importance, there have been many disputes about the origins of the

language. AAVE has been viewed as a “lesser version of English” for decades; many people equate

it to being illiterate or poorly educated in the English language (Speicher). It has also been said that

AAVE has a controversial past.

There are those that believe the origins of this language go as far back as the 17th or 18th

century when Irish and British dialects were being brought to the Atlantic seaboard (Bailey et al).

Slaves that were brought to England during the Atlantic Slave Trade were only able to interact with

indentured servants, typically people of the more rural areas of Britain. Slaves then picked up the

language and adopted it in order to assimilate to the new area.

However, Creolists argue that AAVE is a descendent of Creole American Southern regions.

Both origins have evidence to suggest which is correct, but linguists have still been unable to

resolve the issue. Anglicists have observed the usage of the perfective done (ex: My mama done

told me) within AAVE, which remain common usage in British regional dialects to this day (Bailey

et al). Creolists have observed that “the absence of be is conditioned by the type of predicate [part

of a sentence containing a verb that says something about the subject] that follows the copula [a

connecting word in a sentence]” (Bailey et al).

While the origins of AAVE remain disputed, it must be acknowledged that AAVE has had a

remarkable impact on the African American community within the past few decades, especially in

the past two years.

 AAVE Team Three 5

AAVE in Context

Education

While discussing and attempting to define something as historically significant and complex

as AAVE, it is critical to look at it through the social lens, particularly how it affects black people

in all facets of life, whether it is education, litigation, music, social media, or everyday interactions.

Because so much of the discourse and litigation regarding AAVE centers on its use in education

settings, this will be the primary focus of this example of AAVE in social contexts.

Ann Arbor Case

One of the first major cases of litigation involving AAVE and its influence in academia was

the Ann Arbor Black English Case in the late 1970’s. The case, also known as the Martin Luther

King Junior Elementary School children et al versus the Ann Arbor School District, was filed for

the parents and scholars who advocated that AAVE was “a distinct language with its own rules for

pronunciation, grammar, and syntax” (Harris et al.). Concerned parents became increasingly aware

of unfair, inherently flawed practices and procedures when it came to assessing their children and

why many of those who regularly used AAVE were placed in special education and remedial

education classes. The plaintiffs argued that their children were punished this way “because they

failed to take into account the language and cultural background” (Harris et al.). The defendants, on

the other hand, declared that these children spoke a dialect, not a language, and claimed that the

schools “were not legally responsible for the alleged detrimental effects upon the children’s failure

to learn to read and write” (Harris et al.).

 AAVE Team Three 6

The court eventually sided with the parents and scholars, ruling that the school district

violated the language barrier clause of the 1974 Equal Education Opportunity Act, which states that

no state can deny educational opportunity based on a child’s race, sex, or national origin. This

resulted in two mandates from the court: one was to develop proper procedures to identify AAVE

users, and the other was to develop methods of training teachers so they are able to have an accurate

awareness of AAVE that would allow them to help children transition to Standard American

English.

Implications

The Ann Arbor case had significant implications for the legitimacy of AAVE as a language

used by the Black community. Now that AAVE had been put in actual writing, long-held debates

concerning its legitimacy were reignited in a new way. Researchers and scholars alike began

challenging previously held, erroneous beliefs such as the deficit theory, which explores the idea

that negative environmental and parenting methods are largely the reason for poor language

development. Others advocate for the difference theory which places emphasis on the variation of

parenting, learning, and language environments of low income children and black children, while

acknowledging that these elements do not lead to deficient cognitive skills (Harris et al.). This, of

course, was only the beginning of a long, tumultuous road of challenging racist beliefs, ideals, and

systems rooted in racial supremacy.

Almost half a century later and the struggle for the legitimacy of AAVE continues on all

fronts. The article, “This Ain’t Another Statement!,” makes this abundantly clear in the wake of the

2020 protests that broke out in support of police brutality victims George Floyd and Breonna Taylor

(Figure 2). With the racial tension that has accumulated throughout the last decade, major

movements such as Black Lives Matter are continuously advocating for reform in all areas.

Unfortunately, while headway was made through instances of litigation for AAVE, groups like
 AAVE Team Three 7

BLM are still forced to plead with lawmakers and schools to rethink how they approach language

and the systems, curriculums, and rules that are considered outdated and originating in beliefs of

racial superiority.

Dialects and Regional

Usage

Figure 2: Black Lives

Matter Protest (Pew
AAVE is not monolithic, that is to say,Research)
there is no one rigid standard that speakers abide by.

It has an ever-multiplying number of regional variations that share an indeterminate amount of

overlap with other communities and speakers (Jones). At one time AAVE only saw a wide presence

within major cities and their suburbs. Recently the use of AAVE in social media has been a primary

means of use and has caused AAVE to see a rapid surge in use across the United States.

Looking at data from the popular social media platform Twitter, it is possible to track these

dialects using the location and language found in “tweets” and how social media has affected the

growth and spread of AAVE across the country. The results paint a picture not unlike the spread of

“American English” in times past (Jones).

Comparing the usage of the word “Bruh”

with “Cuh” you can see a much more widespread

adoption of “Bruh” within the northern part of the

country. “Cuh” and “Finnah” both have eluded

usage in places like Montana and Wyoming

completely. To the opposite effect, in the southeast

 AAVE Team Three 8

part of the United States, there is a large amount of overlap in the language used. This data indicates

the presence of permutations between communities all across the United States (Jones). In essence

AAVE is not only it’s own language - but it has enough lingual variation within communities across

the United States to have its own regional dialects that inspire changes within one another.

AAVE in Social Settings

AAVE (African American Vernacular English) has infiltrated the masses of America
Figure 3: Language In Tweets by Location
through outlets such as social media and music and its influence is evident in everyday life. Because

of this, many people use AAVE without realizing its origin, which then muddles the line between

cultural appropriation and simply viewing it as slang.

Researching modern uses of AAVE leads almost exclusively to its use in social media such

as twitter as well as instagram which both go hand in hand in expressing how the use of AAVE is

not simply just “slang” but actually, a modulation of modern English, yet English nonetheless. The

differentiation of “proper” English and AAVE is not just deviations of

traditional methods of syntax in speech, but also exclusivity in how

one peer speaks to another; those who use it will understand each

other and others who frequent it in their language. Below are

examples regarding AAVE and its prevalence in mass media and

exclusivity in certain communities.

Figure 4: An example of
An example of AAVE used is in this tweet. The words AAVE used in Twitter.
Source: Calvin_Mayanta
“why is he eating tho…?” in reference to the boyfriend in the tweet

wearing his girlfriend’s heels and looking good in them (per the responder’s tweet). AAVE has
 AAVE Team Three 9

some words and phrases that are forms of exclusivity, including intersectionality between

LGBTQIA+ individuals who also use AAVE intentionally or unintentionally.

Another aspect of research conducted were one question interviews with students around

California State University Fullerton (CSUF) who were more than happy to contribute to the

conversation of AAVE. Throughout the research, almost every single student except for one had no

idea of what AAVE actually was and that they may have been using it. Each interview had their

own unique dynamics; some students mentioning their own sexual identity and how that affects

their use of AAVE as well as the people they hang around with that contribute to their usage as

well.

One student in particular mentioned (with

her friend) that AAVE and that use of language is

a somewhat, “if you know, you know,” type of

dialect. Another student felt that differentiating

cultures and socio-economic class also play a part

in how much one person uses AAVE compared to the

Figure 5: Interviews with students
next. There is also the notion that AAVE cannot or at CSUF about AAVE

should not be used in the work environment to avoid

looking unprofessional and perhaps maybe even uneducated.

One interviewee mentioned that they believed that memes were central in allowing AAVE

to become socially accepted and used casually amongst peers and its use today. She mentioned that

she normally hears about new phrases and slang through its use in reference to a television series

(i.e. the popular HBO show, Euphoria) or in reference to a specific celebrity, usually included in

some type of gossip, all of which are spread through like wildfire on platforms such as Twitter,

YouTube, Instagram, and Tik Tok.

 AAVE Team Three 10

Works Cited

BAILEY, GUY H. “African American English.” The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture:

Volume 5: Language, edited by MICHAEL MONTGOMERY and ELLEN JOHNSON,

University of North Carolina Press, 2007, pp. 29–35,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9781469616629_montgomery.6. (BB)

Big Mouth- Code Switching - Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onb3gdOH07Y. (CH)

Chesley, Paula. “You know what it is: learning words through listening to hip-hop.” PloS one

vol. 6,12 (2011): e28248. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028248 (CL)

"code-switch, v." OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2021,

www.oed.com/view/Entry/85793437. Accessed 28 February 2022. (CH)

Development, PodBean. “Black English Is Fire, Even in Class.” Black English Is Fire, Even in

Class, 22 Sept. 2021, https://ohiostateuniversityinspire.podbean.com/e/black-english-is-fire-

even-in-class/. (CL)

Florini S. Tweets, Tweeps, and Signifyin’: Communication and Cultural Performance on “Black

Twitter.” Television & New Media. 2014;15(3):223-237. doi:10.1177/1527476413480247.

(AG)

Harris, Yvette R., and Valarie M. Schroeder. “Language Deficits or Differences: What We

Know about African American Vernacular English in the 21st Century.” International

Education Studies, vol. 6, no. 4, 2013, doi:10.5539/ies.v6n4p194. (VG)

Indubitably [@cappincatbug]. “Tweet Message.” Twitter, 29 Jan. 2022. (AG)

(PDF) toward a Description of African American Vernacular …

 AAVE Team Three 11

Parker, Kim, et al. “Majorities Across Racial, Ethnic Groups Express Support for the Black Lives

Matter Movement.” Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project, Pew

Research Center, 17 Dec. 2020, www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/06/12/amid-

protests-majorities-across-racial-and-ethnic-groups-express-support-for-the-black-lives-

matter-movement/. (VG/ CH)

Speicher, Barbara L., and Seane M. McMahon. “Some African-American Perspectives on Black

English Vernacular.” Language in Society 21, no. 3 (1992): 383–407.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/4168367. (BB)

“This Ain't Another Statement! This Is a Demand for Black Linguistic Justice!” Conference on

College Composition and Communication, 25 Aug. 2021,

https://cccc.ncte.org/cccc/demand-for-black-linguistic-justice. (BB, VG)