Urban schools are becoming increasingly linguistically diverse. However, principals are not adequately prepared to address linguistic variation, and in particular, issues related to African American Language (AAL). This study explores the language ideological voices of urban school administrators. Focus group sessions were conducted with 15…

Approaches to teaching critical language awareness are gaining traction in urban schools with culturally and linguistically complex student populations; however, what teachers need to know to enact these pedagogies is not well understood. Using a lens of pedagogical content knowledge for critical language teaching, this study examines what happens…

This study explores a psychosocial concept coined by the author referred to as "Urban Critical Literacy" (UCL). UCL is an emergent four-step strategy employed by five African American young men as they navigated their cultural worlds of home and school in an urban setting. Critical literacy is the theoretical conceptual framework that…

This article addresses teachers' uptake of Black and Latina/o youth linguistic repertoires within the official space of an English Language Arts (ELA) classroom and how youth respond to corrective feedback that is focused on the form of their messages, rather than their function. Corrective feedback offered by one Latina teacher indexed larger…

The purpose of this study was to examine how classroom conversations about diverse dialects of English can provide a useful foundation for critical language and literacy instruction for students who speak African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and other stigmatized dialects. This article describes a weeklong unit on language variety that…

Study conducted to determine whether Black English speakers are likely to encounter problems in reading standard English. Results indicate no relationship between the use of Black English and subjects' grade level or reading performance. (Author/JLF)

Presents classroom vignettes illustrating an African American first grade teacher's use of selected Ebonics communication techniques that celebrate African American oral traditions while supporting diverse students' academic success. Identifies five common Ebonics rhetorical devices (use of repetitive, rhythmic phrasing for emphasis; call and…

Investigated the phenomena of cultural denial and cultural limbo among African American preservice teachers with linguistic allegiance to African American English, presenting data from interviews with two preservice teachers. Discusses African American self-love within the language politics of teacher education. Examines survival strategies used…