With the ultimate goal of shifting the consistent, downward trajectory of African American adolescents' academic and personal success in formal schooling, the purpose of this study was to shift persistently negative perceptions about their native language and literacy practices, African American English (AAE), by fostering teachers' awareness,…

This mixed methods study investigates the effect of cultural and sociolinguistic textures of talk on authentic discussion patterns and whether reading comprehension and inferencing are affected in an online booktalk environment with adolescents. The research will also investigate the contextual features of the classroom community to be studied to…

Most sociolinguistic studies rely on apparent time, cross-sectional methods to analyze language change. On the basis of apparent time data, sociolinguists have hypothesized that cultural processes of lifespan change create predictable cycles of linguistic behavior in which adolescents lead in the use of vernacular variants and advance sound change…