African American English and Linguistic Ideology in To Kill A Mockingbird

Presenter: Cassie FallingFaculty Sponsor: Robert Troyer

African-American English (A.A.E.)

Not “bad English”

A dialect of English, with its own grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary

Examples of A.A.E. from Mockingbird

“I [want] to know why you bringin‘ white chillun to [our] church.” (Compared to: “I want to know why you are bringin' white children to our church.”)

“...and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty!” (Compared to: “...like you were so high and mighty!”)

Non-Standard English (N.S.E.)

“There is no official academy that regulates usage for the English language, but there is still a prevailing world-wide view that there is a ‘standard English’: the language variety codified in dictionaries, grammars, and usage handbooks.”

~The Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English

N.S.E. = English that does not fit into the category of Standard English or another official dialect.

Examples of N.S.E. from Mockingbird

“They’s my comp’ny.” (Compared to: “They’re my company.”)

“He likes ‘em better’n he likes us.” (Compared to: “He likes ‘em better than he likes us.”)

“To Kill A Mockingbird” Around the time of WWII

Fictional town in Alabama

Atticus = white man; lawyer; defends an African-American man

Scout = young white girl; daughter of Atticus

Jem = teenage white boy; son of Atticus

Dill = young white boy; friend of Scout and Jem

Cal = African-American woman; nanny for Scout and Jem

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog_post_349_width/2013/09/to_kill_a_mocking_bird.jpg

“Cal,” I [Scout] asked, “why do you talk nigger-talk to the—to your folks when you know it’s not right?”

“Well, in the first place I’m black—”

“That doesn’t mean you hafta talk that way when you know better,” said Jem...

“It’s right hard to say,” [Cal] said. “Suppose you and Scout talked colored folks’ talk at home it’d be out of place, wouldn’t it? Now what if I talked white-folks’ talk at church, and with my neighbors? They’d think I was puttin‘ on airs to beat Moses.”

“But Cal, you know better,” I said.

“It’s not necessary to tell all you know... You’re not gonna change any of them by talkin‘ right... and when they don’t want to learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language.”

“To Kill A Mockingbird” (pg. 125)

Purpose of Study & Hypothesis

Purpose: Separate the character's opinions of their speech from how they actually speak, through analyzing use of AAE and NSE by different characters.

Hypothesis: “White-folk” talk has more in common linguistically with "nigger-talk" than characters perceive.

Method of analysis

Select sample pieces of dialogue from four groups: White adults (speaking to white children)White children (speaking to each other)“White-folk” talk CalThe African-American community

(Cal using “nigger-talk” and others)

Analyze each sample for AAE and NSE

Compare groups with each other

White Adults "White-folk" Talk Cal White Children "Nigger-talk" Cal "Nigger-talk" Others0

1

54

0

8

12

12 14

AAE & Non-Standard EnglishAAE Features Non-Standard English

Sample dialogue approx. 330 words each

In the White Community

In the African-American Community

Hypothesis confirmed?

Hypothesis: “White-folk” talk has more in common linguistically with "nigger-talk" than characters perceive.

CalHypothesis = Partially correct“White-folk” talk Cal and “nigger-talk” Cal = substantial difference "Nigger-talk" Cal similar to the rest of the African-American community

Hypothesis confirmed? (cont.)

Hypothesis: “White-folk” talk has more in common linguistically with "nigger-talk" than characters perceive.

White ChildrenHypothesis = CorrectUse a noticeable amount of NSEMore linguistically in common with African-American community than with white adult community

Conclusions

Children's perception regarding their speech and “nigger-talk” did not match up with the language the characters actually used.

African-Americans use NSE = "Nigger-talk" White children use NSE = Not "nigger-talk" Racially biased linguistic ideology is present

Disconnect between perception and reality All English dialects worthy of respect

References

Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Leech, G. (2002). Longman student grammar of spoken and written English. Edinburgh Gate, England: Pearson Education Limited.

Green, L. J. (2002). African American English: a linguistic introduction. Retrieved from http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam034/2003268698.pdf

Ebonics-translator.com [home page]. Retrieved from http://www.ebonics-translator.com/Lee, H. (1960). To kill a mockingbird. New York, NY: Warner Books, Inc.N Holliday. (2010, Aug 5). Why would you study that bad English? [Blog]. Retrieved from

http://africanamericanenglish.com/2010/08/05/why-would-you-study-that-bad-english/Dialects: African American English. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/topics/dialects/aae.htmlExamples of non-standard usage. Retrieved from

http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/06senten/nonstandardans.htmlWolfram, W. The grammar of urban African American Vernacular English. Retrieved from

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mdover/website/Social%20Welfare%20Policy%20Main%20Folder/Professional%20Writing%20for%20Policy%20Practice/checklistPDF-Urban_AAE.pdf