perryman-clark / new directions for srtol

Staci M. Perryman-Clark

African American Language, Rhetoric, and

Students Writing: New Directions for SRTOL

This article offers a case study of how three African American students enrolled in a
first-year writing course employ Ebonics-based phonological and syntactical patterns
across writing assignments, including those that also require students to compose
multigenre essays.

F or the past few decades, composition researchers have devoted critical

attention to studying the ways that African American students employ Afri-
canized linguistic and rhetorical patterns successfully in expository writing
situations. More recently, research has focused on the use of African-based
rhetorical patterns (Gilyard and Richardson; Ball; Canagarajah), since the use
of African American students Ebonics-based syntactical features has declined
over the past decades (Smitherman, Black English). As a teacher, scholar, and
writing program administrator, I am interested in the extent to which African
American students can employ African American linguistic phonological
and syntactical features in different expository writing situations, since as
the 1974 CCCC Students Right to Their Own Language (SRTOL) suggests,
African American studentsand all other studentshave the right to write
in the dialects of their nurture or whatever linguist patterns that students
bring with them into the classroom (CCCC, Students Right 25). Thus, it

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would seem that SRTOL would include the right for students to use their own
languages in formal expository writing situations and to have successes in a
writing class by doing so.
This essay extends SRTOL as a framework for helping college writing
students understand the ways that they can make purposeful and strategic
choices about language practices
This essay extends SRTOL as a framework for helping in the composition classroom. To
college writing students understand the ways that forward this argument, I offer a
they can make purposeful and strategic choices about case study of how three African
language practices in the composition classroom. American students enrolled in a
first-year writing course employ
Ebonics-based phonological and syntactical patterns across writing assign-
ments, including those that also require students to compose multigenre
essays.1 By showing the different writing situations where African American
students make purposeful and strategic language choices, I offer a classroom
example of what SRTOL might look like in an academic writing context that
engages students writing in different academic rhetorical situations. Thus, I
offer a research report of students understanding and practice of their own
languages when a supportive Afrocentric first-year writing curriculum is pro-
vided. I conclude the essay by offering examples of how students come to see
learning about Ebonics as relevant to their literate lives.

African American Rhetoric, Syntax, Phonology, and Student

Writing: Implications for SRTOL
Despite the CCCC adoption of SRTOL in 1974, significant concerns remain for
many composition teachers. In this essay, I take up two of these criticisms: the
first questions the explicit goals of the resolution in relation to pedagogical
practice; the second questions its explicit impact in relation to the complexities
associated with specific racial groups, in particular students of color. In doing
so, I hope to provide examples of how composition can affirm SRTOL, teach
Standard English (SE), and demonstrate cultural relevance for students, using
writing produced by African American students as an example.
On one hand, the resolution contends that students should have the right
to write in their home languages or whatever languages with which they find
their style in the composition classroom. On the other hand, the resolution does
not suggest that students should not learn Standard English, although it does
attempt to correct attitudes toward the mythic superiority of it. Even language
scholars acknowledge the benefits associated with learning Standard English

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(CCCC, CCCC Statement). The question then becomes how to affirm SRTOL
and teach Standard English in the classroom. Specific pedagogical strategies
for affirming SRTOL and teaching Standard English have been taken up more
recently in composition (Gilyard and Richardson; Kinlock; Lovejoy, Fox, and
Wills; Perryman-Clark, Africanized); however, many composition teachers still
question the extent to which teachers are sufficiently equipped to affirm SRTOL
and teach Standard English in the classroom, since there still remains limited
research on the successes associated with affirming SRTOL (Ball and Lardner).
Another criticism questions the degree to which SRTOL clearly applies
to the specific populations (ethnic minorities and working-class students, for
example) for which it sought to advocate. For example, David Holmes charges,
while The Students Right to Their Own Language made avant-garde contri-
butions to race, language, culture, politics, and pedagogy, the document fell
short of sufficiently complicating the links among race, language, and identity
for peoples of color (101). When SRTOL is applied to people of color, in par-
ticular to African Americans, Holmes asserts that this application runs the risk
of assuming that all African American
speakers are speakers of Ebonics. It is When applied to African American students,
also important to point out that although affirming SRTOL in the classroom can contribute
SRTOL often gets taken up in relation to to student success in that classroom.
African Americans uses of Ebonics, the
idea that all students have the right to write in the dialects of their nurture
or whatever dialects in which they find their own identity and style suggests
that SRTOL applies to a variety of racial, ethnic, and social class groups. Be-
cause the document can be broadly interpreted in relation to the groups most
affected, for scholars like Holmes, it becomes less clear to what extent SRTOL
specifically affects different populations, including but not limited to African
Americans. In other words, it becomes less clear how the linguistic prejudice
that the document seeks to end specifically translates to best practices that
affect people of color, including African Americans in higher education.
When applied to African American students, affirming SRTOL in the class-
room can contribute to student success in that classroom. In Students Right
to Possibility: Basic Writing and African American Rhetoric, Keith Gilyard and
Elaine Richardson studied the ways that African American students draw on
African American rhetorical (AAR) patterns while meeting the requirements
for their basic writing courses. Using SRTOL as a framework, Gilyard and Rich-
ardson begin with the following theory about SRTOL and pedagogical practice:

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There was never a shortage of ideas about how SRTOL could be implemented
beyond a liberal pluralist paradigm, just a shortage of empirical models. We offer
one. In doing so we shift the terms of engagement somewhat; we extend the no-
tion of Students [sic] Right to Their Own Language to a question of Students
Right to Possibility. We acknowledge language rights at the outset, and this
allows us to place our emphasis on the ways of knowing and becoming that our
students exhibitand that we help them exhibitas they negotiate the structure
of academic schooling. (39)

Gilyard and Richardsons discussion emphasizes both a pedagogical and empiri-

cal model for those wanting to integrate SRTOL into practice. In their study,
classroom research becomes the methodology for which the authors aim to
apply SRTOL, while they also argue how an Afrocentric composition curricu-
lum becomes possible through SRTOL. Further, a curriculum that is explicitly
designed to affirm SRTOL is needed in order to demonstrate student success.
Gilyard and Richardson then describe and analyze their own study of
fifty-two African American students enrolled in an Afrocentric basic writing
curriculum. A panel of external researchers looked specifically at rhetorical
practices and modes of Africanized discourse used in the student essays.
Consistent with the findings from Smithermans 1994 study on high school
students who took the NAEP (Blacker the Berry), Gilyard and Richardson
found that African American students who employed more AAR strategies
scored higher than those students who did not (45). As a result, Gilyard and
Richardson concluded that AAR can serve as an opportunity for successfully
applying SRTOL to classroom practices.
While Gilyard and Richardson focus on rhetorical patterns that were
not syntactically or phonologically based, Elaine Richardsons empirical work
discusses how African American students learn about African American
language and employ Ebonics syntactical language practices. Richardsons
quasi-experiment studied students prewriting and exit exams that addressed
students attitudes toward Ebonics linguistic, literate, and rhetorical practices,
whether students appropriated Ebonics syntax in their writing, and whether
or not these attitudes or appropriations changed by the end of the semester.
Richardsons study also discusses how students work through an Afrocentric
curriculum that draws on both African American teaching and written and oral
practices. Richardson concludes that students fluency in producing academic
writing was enhanced by creating an Afrocentric curricular approach to teach-
ing composition and by allowing students to draw upon African-based practices
to complete writing tasks. By the end of the study, nearly all of her students

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wrote or said explicitly that they saw the value in learning and adapting African
American linguistic, literate, and rhetorical practices in writing classrooms.
Although previous scholarship points to pedagogical successes when
affirming SRTOL for students of color, some existing research continues to
point to negative consequences associated with African American students
who employ Ebonics syntactical and phonological features, thus suggesting
that applications of SRTOL remain limited in pedagogical practice. In Writ-
ing Differences in Teacher Performance Assessments: An Investigation of
African American Language and
Edited American English, Michelle The review of recent studies on African American
Szpara and E. Caroline Wylie study student writers suggests a need to investigate to
the written practices of African what extent Ebonics linguistic patterns can be used
American students who completed by African American students strategically and suc-
the National Board for Professional cessfully in ways that affirm SRTOL and also provide
Teaching Standards (NBPTS) port- opportunities for students to understand Standard
folio. They compared these styles English as one of many rhetorical strategies required
with European American test takers. for academic writing.
The study not only concluded that
African American test takers scored lower on the portfolio in comparison to
European American students, but more importantly, the study revealed that
while Ebonics syntactical patterns were used less frequently, African American
test takers who employed Ebonics (what the researchers identify as African
American Language, or AAL), were penalized more frequently for committing
errors than those students who committed errors that more closely resembled
the conventions of Standard English, and thus the African American students
scored lower on the portfolio assessment. Szpara and Wylie argue:

Even at a minimal level, AAL usage holds potential to impact the reader and have
the undesired effect of producing stigmatization of the writer (Mohamed 2002).
Although a reader may attempt to overlook grammatical and syntactical features
inconsistent with [Edited American English], the presence of such features may
still cause the reader to devalue content (Santos 1988). (248)

The review of recent studies on African American student writers suggests

a need to investigate to what extent Ebonics linguistic patterns can be used by
African American students strategically and successfully in ways that affirm
SRTOL and also provide opportunities for students to understand Standard
English as one of many rhetorical strategies required for academic writing. If
students truly have the right to their own languages, is it possible to employ

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the syntactical, morphological, or phonological conventions of their home

languages in academic discourse, or is this right only designated for oral or
informal discourse? If Ebonics be so good its baad, why caint it be used in
formal writing situations (Smitherman, African American)? In short, previous
studies on the use of Ebonics in academic writing situations provide conflicting
evidence of the successes associated with African American student writers
who employ their own language practices. These findings may further suggest
that composition has not completely come to terms with how to affirm SRTOL
in pedagogical practice.

African American Students and First-Year Writing:

An Institutional Context
In this essay, I use previous research on African American students language
practices to offer additional possibilities for affirming SRTOL in the class-
room, using my own teacher-research as a contextual framework. I designed
the first-year writing curriculum specifically for a theme-based racial and
ethnic first-year writing course at a large midwestern university. The course,
titled Writing: The Ethnic and Racial Experience, was designed to focus on
Ebonics-based linguistic and rhetorical practices used by African American
speakers and writers and the scholars in the field of rhetoric and composition
who write about them. Although I acknowledge the influence of Downs and
Wardles writing about writing movement in my curriculum (Perryman-Clark,
Toward a Pedagogy), my curriculum was self-designed.
During the fall of 2008, I designed four major writing assignments that
focused on the aforementioned topics of race and ethnicity.2 These four as-
signments were also adapted to align with the institutions literacy-focused
shared curriculum, which includes the following themed assignment sequence:
a literacy autobiography; a cultural literacies assignment; a disciplinary litera-
cies assignment, and a remix literacies assignment. For the literacy autobi-
ography assignment, students composed a linguistic literacy autobiography
that compares and contrasts their spoken and written language varieties at
home and school, using Keith Gilyards Voices of the Self: A Study of Language
Competence and Geneva Smithermans Introduction: From Ghetto Lady to
Critical Linguist as lenses.
For the cultural literacies assignment, students were required to construct
an argument pertaining to how African American Vernacular English (AAVE)
is appropriated or discussed in online and digital spaces. Students analyzed a

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personal website, a popular culture website, and an academic website in order

to understand how discussions or appropriations of Ebonics change or do
not change depending on the websites mode, audience, and purpose. For the
disciplinary literacies assignment, students consulted secondary sources that
include books and academic journal articles published in rhetoric and compo-
sition scholarship to determine whether or how conversations about Ebonics
have changed in the field over time in order to assess the state of Ebonics in
rhetoric and composition scholarship. For the final assignment, students cre-
ated a multigenre project where they took a theme from one of their previous
major projects and composed a multigenre essay based on that theme.
Because I am interested in the ways
African American students negotiate I include a discussion of Ebonics-based phono-
language practices successfully across logical patterns in African American students
writing situations, I focus on African writing because limited scholarship in rhetoric
American student writers in my fall 2008 and composition directly analyses the ways that
first-year writing course. Specifically, African American students use Ebonics phono-
I reference the works of three African logical patterns, and I contend that phonology is
American students writing in the four a necessary aspect of this rhetoric.
major assignments; these students
completed the course and granted consent to cite their work for publication
in College Composition and Communication.3 A pseudonym was requested by
one participant in this study (Marquise); the other African American students
chose to retain their first names: Candace and Jordan. Each participant in this
study employed one or more phonological and syntactical patterns in written
essay assignments. That is, each of the students used the phenomena of inter-
est in this study in their writing.4

Study Findings: Students Africanized Phonological and

Syntactical Patterns
I include a discussion of Ebonics-based phonological patterns in African
American students writing because limited scholarship in rhetoric and com-
position directly analyzes the ways that African American students use Ebon-
ics phonological patterns, and I contend that phonology is a necessary aspect
of this rhetoric. Based on the students texts analyzed in this study, African
American students most commonly employed the following Ebonics-based
phonological patterns:

the absence of final consonants in sound clusters

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the initial voiced /th/ sound being pronounced as the /d/ sound
the absence of the middle and final r
the contraction of going to being pronounced as gon
the vowel i plus /ng/ sound being pronounced as /ang/ (Smitherman,
Talkin and Testifyin 1819)

In my analysis, I also focused on the following Ebonics syntactical features

most commonly used by my students: the presence of zero copula (); the pres-
ence of the habitual be verb; the use of the third-person singular verb form;
and the presence of double or multiple negation. By identifying and analyzing
By identifying and analyzing both phonologi- both phonological and syntactical fea-
cal and syntactical features, I demonstrate the tures, I demonstrate the ways that African
ways that African American students employ American students employ these features
across writing assignments and contexts.
these features across writing assignments and
Such a move illustrates sophisticated
contexts. Such a move illustrates sophisticated familiarity with these Ebonics-based
familiarity with these Ebonics-based features, in features, in addition to students ability
addition to students ability to execute Ebonics to execute Ebonics patterns for different
patterns for different purposes. purposes. The purposes that students
identify for executing particular Ebonics
phonological and syntactical patterns include examples when (1) students
want to convey a specific cultural idea or phenomenon; (2) students want to
define a word, phrase, or idea in Ebonics prior to translating its meaning into
Standard English; (3) students want to provide an example of how they code-
switch for certain communicative situations; or (4) students want to execute,
identify, and analyze the genres they determine necessary for using Ebonics
phonology and syntax.

Uses of Ebonics Phonology and Syntax to Convey a Specific Cultural

Idea or Phenomenon
One example of the ways African American students make informed decisions
about their language choices includes the ways that they use Ebonics phono-
logical and syntactical patterns to help illustrate a specific point or idea. Such
choices demonstrate the purposefulness associated with employing these pat-
terns strategically. The following examples from Marquises writing illustrate
the ways in which students often use Ebonics phonological and syntactical

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patterns to illustrate specific points and ideas. The assignments in which the
patterns were used are provided and identified in parentheses.5

Why yall make it so hard to undastand my talkin, is what my grandfather always

says when the younger family members tilt their heads, lost in confusion when
having a conversation with him. (Literacy autobiography assignment)

The thing about that, people, whether its family or complete strangers, lack
patience to analyze my unique form of speech. For example, I might use AAE
pronunciations along with formal English, like when I speak to my mother, I may
say, momma, what sto do you be getting groceries from? (Literacy autobiogra-
phy assignment)

U need to shut yo big head up befo I come do it 4 ya! is something that my

friend Kiaira would tell me when I scold her excessive partying. (Cultural litera-
cies assignment)

The world has become so standardized that even as I type, I am being criticized for
my use of grammatical features (dis freakin spell check is irritatin). (Disciplinary
literacies assignment)

For example, if I were to write a statement once in Standard English (SE) and also
in AAVE, which would the general audience respond to more quickly? The SE form
of the statement without a doubt! Here is an example:

We always be ova our grandma house, eatin up her food.

Were always over at our grandmothers house, eating all her food.
(Disciplinary literacies assignment)

These examples are used by Marquise across three different writing assign-
ments. With each example, Marquise uses multiple Ebonics phonological pat-
terns [e.g., dis freakin spell check is irritatin; We always be ova our grandma
house] (where the /ing/ is rendered as /in/ and the /o/ rendered as a); he also
uses the habitual be verb [e.g., what sto do you be gettin these groceries from?].
In the last example, Marquise also employs a syntactical Ebonics-based pat-
tern when using the habitual be verb but does so redundantly [e.g., We always
be ova our grandma house, eatin up her food]. Because it is implied that the
subject (in this case, we) is habitually over at grandmas house, the word always
is optional and therefore makes the sentence redundant. Instead, the sentence
could simply say, we be ova our grandma house. However, Marquise is also
correct in omitting the s from the word grandma to show possession.

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Marquise also identifies the reason why the Ebonics forms of certain
words and sentences are used in his literacy autobiography essay. Marquise
uses Ebonics phonology to indicate how his grandparents sound and speak.
Later in that essay, he contrasts his grandparents speech with his own and
how his cousins often make fun of this speech. Furthermore, Marquise uses
Ebonics phonology and syntax to demonstrate how he talks in his home lan-
guage with his mother, when writing sto and you be gettin. What is also
interesting is how Marquise similarly explains how he instant-messages with
his friend in his cultural literacies essay when
Another interesting strategy that helps read- using the absence of final consonants [e.g.,
ers see that his language choices are pur- U need to shut yo big head up befo I come
poseful lies in his use of italics to emphasize do it 4 ya!]. The linguistic choices used in
the ways that language use compares and his disciplinary literacies essay are perhaps
contrasts in different rhetorical situations. the most sophisticated and complex because
Marquise does not merely write how some-
one would say or write a in Ebonics; instead, Marquise provides a critique of
how Microsoft Word often autocorrects the spelling of certain words to make
them consistent with Standard English (SE), when he deliberately intends for
the word to be written in Ebonics. To illustrate this idea, Marquise includes in
parenthesis, dis freakin spell check is irritatin.
Another interesting strategy that helps readers see that his language
choices are purposeful lies in his use of italics to emphasize the ways that lan-
guage use compares and contrasts in different rhetorical situations. When he
writes, Why yall make it so hard to undastand my talkin, he is contrasting the
ways that his grandfathers speech differs from his and the younger children in
his family who often use Standard English. When he writes, We always be ova
our grandma house, eatin up her food followed by Were always over at our
grandmothers house, eating all her food, he not only contrasts the sentence in
Ebonics with the one in Standard English, but he also reveals that he is criti-
cally aware of how audience expectations and linguistic attitudes affect the
potential responses that become imposed upon readers. Marquises ability to
manipulate different Ebonics phonological and syntactical rules for specific
purposes, and to explain these purposes in Standard English, shows knowledge
and awareness of several of the structural patterns of Ebonics, in addition to
an astute ability to execute these patterns in strategically determined contexts
for specific purposes.

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Using Ebonics Phonology and Syntax to Define a Word, Phrase, or Idea

On other occasions, African American students make purposeful decisions for
using Ebonics to help explain or define a word, phrase, or idea. This practice
was most often executed in students literacy autobiographies. Because the
first assignment asks students to identify
the differences between their home and On other occasions, African American students
school languages, for Ebonics speakers who make purposeful decisions for using Ebonics
identify their home languages as different to help explain or define a word, phrase, or
from Standard English, one might expect to idea. This practice was most often executed in
find specific examples of these differences. students literacy autobiographies.
Consequently, because this assignment also
provides students with the option of conducting contrastive analysis of their
home and school language varieties, many African American students provided
sentences or phrases written in Ebonics prior to translating their meanings
into Standard English. In this case, the students introduce a term, sentence, or
phrase and then translate the meanings for those most familiar with the oral
conventions associated with Standard English. Here is one example from Jordan
that illustrates the relationship between translation and audience expectations:

Was good, cuz? was a popular phrase that was spoken amongst my classmates. I
would usually answer back in a similar style saying: Not much. Sup witchu? This
was not the preferred style for me, but I didnt want to be anymore of an outcast
than I already was.

Like Marquise, Jordan also uses italics to emphasize examples of phrases in

Ebonics, in addition to Ebonics syntax and phonology. The first phrase, Was
good, cuz, means, How are you doing, with cuz being short for cousin. (Now
to be clear, the person need not be your actual cousin to be referred to as a
cuz. This phrase derives from the Black fictive notion of family.6) The next term
and sentences, Not much. Sup witchu, reflects Ebonics-based grammatical
and phonological conventions. If we translate, sup witchu into SE, meaning
What is up with you, or Whats going on, we notice the absence of the to
be verb, also known as the zero copula. With Jordans example, however, he
does not carry contrastive analysis out completely because no translation into
Standard English is provided; nonetheless, his example illustrates how students
understand the meanings of different terms, phrases, and sentences in Ebon-
ics and Standard English. The fact that students provide words, phrases, or
sentences in Ebonics demonstrates their ability to use Ebonics purposefully

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as they translate their meanings in Standard English for readers less familiar
with Ebonics varieties.
Like Marquise, Jordan is also conscious of how audience expectations
dictate the choices that writers make when communicating in different genres
and writing situations. As Jordan also indicates, he chose to respond in the
Ebonics variation as opposed to Standard English because while he does not
prefer it, he would be considered an outcast among peers if he did not use it.
Such a point speaks significantly to the ways
Explicit examples of code-switching pro- that communicators like Jordan make lan-
vide readers with another example of how guage decisions in relation to peer pressure.
African American students make purposefully When Jordan enforces his right to write in
informed decisions regarding their language whatever language pattern in which he
choices to adopt Ebonics or Standard English. finds his style, he is careful to acknowledge
the potential consequences that inform his
language choices. A useful conversation about the pressures for students to
adapt Standard English in academic writing while adapting alternative lan-
guage varieties outside of the academy can add complexity to how language
rights choices are often affected and contingent upon audience expectations.

Use of Ebonics Phonology and Syntax to Illustrate Examples of

Code-Switching
Explicit examples of code-switching provide readers with another example
of how African American students make purposefully informed decisions
regarding their language choices to adopt Ebonics or Standard English. While
in some cases students identified particular terms and sentences in Ebonics
prior to explaining their meanings in Standard English, other students illustrate
how they manipulate Ebonics or Standard English in both oral and written
discourses by discussing code-switching in their literacy autobiographies. In
other words, African and African American students consciously write how
they speak and write in Ebonics for certain contexts and SE for other contexts.
Consider three examples from Marquise, Candace, and Jordan that discuss
African American students familiarity with and awareness of code-switching:

Marquise:
I guess it wasnt one of my smart moments to assume that people have the inabil-
ity to adapt. Now in my case, people believe that my speech is as formal as it can
get, in which I use the exact forms of words, as if Im an avid reader of Websters
Dictionary. The thing about that, people, whether its family or complete strang-
ers, lack patience to analyze my unique form of speech. For example, I might use

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AAE pronunciations along with formal English, like when I speak to my mother,
I may say, momma, what sto you be getting groceries from? That seems to oc-
cur naturally (Yet they say that I speak white . . . ok). The thing that I believe is
the most funniest is how my brothers mock my speech, but its naturally being
mixed into their own . . . To sum it up, I must say that Smithermans writings, as
well as Redd and Schuster-Webb opened my eyes to how AAE can be considered
as an official language.

Candace:
My mother explained to me that I had to learn to use my business voice on my
essay or report that needed to be turned into a professor or teacher. She explained
that my business voice had to sound like white peoples voice when I wrote
papers, essays or even when speaking to people outside of my city. It wasnt hard
for me to figure out what white people voice sounded like. I could tell the dif-
ference because of where I lived . . . The way they spoke when my mother and I
went shopping sounded a lot clearer and different than how people sounded in
Detroit . . . My mother would use her white peoples voice when she was talking
to my doctor, the salesman in Gross Pointe, even some of the bill collectors. I was
impressed at how she would say, Candace, get in here and do dees dishes now but
when the phone rang, she would say, Hello. Johnsons residence, Sharon speaking.
The passage in our Reader for Writers book hit right on the nose when Kieth
Gilyard told how his mother was a . . . bidalectal speaker, capable of producing
Black Language and Standard English (28). My mother was the master of that,
and she often got her way when she did it.

Jordan:
If we take a step backward and look at the situation from a different standpoint we
may see where issues may stem from this code switching. Weve all seen comedy
sketches that point out the one African American who works in the office building
among his white coworkers. After a board meeting, everyone starts slapping high
fives giving pats on the back and say encouraging things like Good job and Way
to go. When the congratulations get to the lone African American in the office
his coworkers switch to Ebonics and say things like Dats what Im talkin bout,
brotha, as if he doesnt understand Standard English. Do you really think that
the African American doesnt understand Standard English? Theres a possibility
that he speaks Standard English just as fluently as his coworkers. The same could
be said to African Americans who switch from Ebonics to Standard English when
they talk to their waiter or their boss. Theres a good possibility that they have
an understanding of Ebonics and its rules of syntax. The delivery of the content
probably doesnt matter as long as the proper key words are in place.

What is quite interesting about each of the previous examples is not only these
African American students ability to identify and understand the certain
contexts that require Ebonics or Standard English, but also the ways that they

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actuallyand quite deliberatelycode-switch in written discourse. These

contexts are those that they choose to identify as appropriate or not. To be
clear, the fact that students determine the contexts and situations that require
them to code-switch is not intended to suggest for those contexts and situa-
tions when they choose not to use Ebonics, that Standard English is the only
language variety appropriate for communication. Rather, the switching is the
outcome of a strategic choice that is an indicator of a rhetoric at work. With the
first example, Marquise writes, momma,
To be clear, the fact that students determine what sto you be getting groceries from, in
the contexts and situations that require them Ebonics prior to explaining how he code-
to code-switch is not intended to suggest switches and translates into SE. Candace
for those contexts and situations when they similarly writes, Candace, get in here and
choose not to use Ebonics, that Standard do dees dishes now in Ebonics prior to ex-
English is the only language variety appropri- plaining how her momma be switchin to her
ate for communication. Rather, the switching business voice. Jordan writes, Dats what
is the outcome of a strategic choice that in an Im talkin bout, brotha, prior to explaining
how this sentence is viewed appropriately or
indicator of a rhetoric at work.
inappropriately depending on the context
and audience. Such a move offers a compelling example of how communicators
must make critical decisions about which structural patterns they will follow
when choosing the language most appropriate for communication. Further,
these examples provide readers with a thorough accounting of how students
enforce their language rights by acknowledging potential consequences and
limits to language choices that are often contingent on audiences who make
particular judgments about language use, and the fact that they can thoroughly
and intelligently articulate the rhetorical situations that surround their lan-
guage decisions provides readers with a metacognitive awareness of the cultural
epistemologies that inform language usage.

Use of Ebonics to Execute, Identify, and Analyze Ideas across the

Different Genres and Rhetorical Situations
In other cases, students specifically identify particular genres that they find
necessary for making deliberate linguistic choices. In the following example,
Marquise offers a different passage from his literacy autobiography of a con-
versation from an America Online Instant Messaging (AIM) text message
conversation with a friend in order to demonstrate the differences between the
way he writes at home and at school for his own literacy autobiography paper:

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Kiaira DatDeal at 10:50pm September 30

lol o wow . . . interestin lol
im sure u can find sumbode in hubbard lol
Marquise E at 10:52pm September 30
oh thats mad funny . . like akers aint hood 2
Kiaira DatDeal at 10:53pm September 30
lol it aint fa real fa real . . . but sumtimes i cant tell who live in hubbard and akers..
we all b in both lol
Marquise E at 10:58pm September 30
yeah they kinda mellow ova there. did u go 2 the advantage? the other two was
there . . .
Kiaira DatDeal at 10:59pm September 30
naw i aint go . . i juss stayed in ma room watched a movie and fell asleep lol
Marquise E at 11:01pm September 30
i wish i could pass out like dat
Kiaira DatDeal at 11:13pm September 30
Lol why u make it seem like i gotta sleepin problem or sumthin . . . shyt i aint go
to sleep till dis mornin lol
Marquise E at 11:18pm September 30
naw, u put that image in my head . . . passin out walkin down the street
Kiaira DatDeal at 11:19pm September 30
lol never . . . i b tired but not enough to pass out lol

In the previous excerpt, it is clear that for Marquise, his use of Ebonics in home
environments consists primarily of phonological features, although a few
examples of the Ebonics syntactical conventions are used. In the first line of
his message, we notice the in (/In/) sound of the word, interesting; in other
examples, he writes sleepin, sumthin, passin, and walkin. Marquise also
makes use of the /d/ sound for voiced th sound with dat and substitutes the a
sound with words like ova, fa (for), gotta, and ma (my). What we also notice
with Marquise is the fact that he applies the a phonological rule to sounds to
which that phonological rule does not generally apply in Ebonics (for example,
in Ebonics fo would typically be the correct use of for). Perhaps this might sug-
gest an example of hypercorrection, where the over-application of the Ebonics
rule is applied to another Ebonics rule. Although final consonants are absent
in Ebonics, the spelling of fa should be fo to be considered correct in Ebonics,
since only the final consonant r is absent, and not the vowel o. We are typically
accustomed to examples of hypercorrection from Ebonics-speaking students

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when they over-apply a Standard English rule to other sentences written in SE.
We also see a couple of examples of habitual be verb (Ebonics syntax) in the
previous excerpt, where Marquise writes we all b in both and i b tired but
not enough to pass out. Marquises examples are unique because while they
make use of the habitual be verb, the spellings of be (b) are consistent with
the conventions of text messaging/digital language. Thus, Marquises use of
Ebonics phonological and syntactical patterns are complicated by the fact that
he also employs linguistic patterns consistent with digital language, a finding
that further demonstrates the linguistic varieties that Marquise is capable of
using on multiple occasions.
Literacy autobiographies, however, are not the only contexts for which
students demonstrate their ability to compare and contrast how the uses of
specific Ebonics phonological and syntactical patterns depend upon certain
rhetorical situations. Students also execute the following Ebonics phonological
rules in their cultural literacies and disciplinary literacies essays: the absence
of the final consonant, where in or /In/ is used for ing; the absence of the
middle and final r; the initial /th/ being rendered as /d/; and the contraction
of going to rendered as gon. The fact that students are able to execute Ebonics
phonological patterns across writing assignments demonstrates their ability
to determine the writing contexts necessary for its usage. Additional examples
of students execution of these patterns by Marquise include the following:

Marquise:
U need to shut yo big head up befo I come do it 4 ya. (Cultural literacies assignment)

We always be ova our grandma house, eatin up her food. (Disciplinary literacies
assignment)

And I aint gon b surprised. (Cultural literacies assignment)

Naw dat aint a good look, fa real! (Disciplinary literacies assignment)

Marquise uses examples in his cultural literacies essay of how users employ
Ebonics-based linguistic practices in digital environments, despite the fact
that many websites continue to stigmatize and make fun of the language.
For his disciplinary literacies example, Marquise first writes, We always be
ova our grandma house, eatin up her food, in order to show how composition
instructors can use contrastive analysis to promote language rights in the
field. Marquise uses the final example, Naw dat aint a good look, fa real, as

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a subtitle for one of the sections of his disciplinary literacies essay in order to
support one of his claims about compositions hypocrisies in promoting lan-
guage rights. With both cases, the writers use Ebonics to identify, interpret, or
analyze language choices used by communicators both in digital and academic
genres and writing situations.
Ebonics syntactical features were used minimally in students cultural
literacies and disciplinary literacies assignments. They include the third-person
singular verb form and double or multiple negation. The following two examples
from Jordan and Marquise are illustrative of those rules:

Third-Person Singular Verb

Jordan:
nearly everyone on KanYe Wests blog use some form of AAVEs rhetorical or
grammatical features that [] reveal their racial affiliation. (Cultural literacies
assignment)

Multiple Negation
Marquise:
Naw dat aint a good look, fa real! (Disciplinary literacies assignment)

Although it is clear that Marquises syntactical choices are deliberate, the same
cannot be said of Jordans since we dont know whether his conjugation of the
verb to use is purposeful or a typographical error. Nonetheless, while Ebonics
phonological and syntactical patterns were used across writing assignments,
they were used most frequently in African American students literacy auto-
biographies. Perhaps this was because the autobiography as a genre was most
personal and familiar (since students were writing about themselves), and
students felt most comfortable experimenting with such patterns in more
familial contexts. One might also assume that students more consciously used
Ebonics more in their literacy autobiographies because the writing prompt
required that they compare and contrast their language practices. As a teach-
er-researcher, however, it is less surprising that students use Ebonics-based
phonological and syntactical patterns least frequently in their disciplinary
literacies essays, since they were required to engage with and cite numerous
academic sources from scholars who typically do not employ such patterns.
Marquise did, however, employ numerous AAR patterns in his disciplinary
literacies assignment (Perryman-Clark, Back). This essay, however, focuses
on phonological and syntactical patterns. From each of the examples offered in
this section, I argue that students purposefully manipulate Ebonics phonology

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and syntax in strategic ways because they provided valid justifications of the
linguistic choices that the students employed (i.e., Jordans example), and they
used these justifications and determinations to make very specific decisions
about how to employ Ebonics phonology and syntax in different genres and
writing situations (i.e., Marquises discussion of instant messaging).
Candace also demonstrates her ability to manipulate Ebonics, Standard
English, and other varieties of English strategically in her final multigenre
essay project. Candace doesnt explain the linguistic choices she proposes in
her multigenre essay per se, but instead she
Again, readers are confronted with com- strategically shifts her style back and forth
mon themes of audience expectations and between Ebonics and SE in the PowerPoint
consequences when students weigh their presentation she created for her final proj-
language choices. Nonetheless, it is precisely ect. The theme of her project, titled You,
this weighing and contemplating that helps Me, & AAVE, was the appropriation of
students make informed decisions about AAVE in mainstream culture. To convey
their language practices in academic writing. this theme, Candace chose to compose a
poem, an editorial comic advertisement, a
visual collage, and a diary entry in order to dispel myths and misconceptions
about AAVE in mainstream culture. On the first PowerPoint slide, where she
introduces her themes and genres to her audience, she chooses to use SE. When
introducing and summarizing the genres on her slides she also uses SE. In her
introduction to her personal diary entry, she writes:

I wrote my diary entry based on my personal feelings of how people perceive other
people based on how they sound when they talk. I have also talked about how
I feel when I feel misunderstood or when someone is using prejudgment on me
because of the color of my skin. I discussed certain instances where I was prejudice
to someone because of their accent and because of their skin tone. At the end of
the entry, I talk about how I learned to be acceptable to everyone and to think
about what I say and to think before I act. I chose this piece because it shows how
some people may think about those who dont speak in AAE, or who dont speak
the way they do and how they feel about the situation. This was my perception of
how I felt about my roommates. I am currently the only African American in my
room, the other three are Caucasian.

In the previous excerpt, Candace associates speech with skin color in order to
demonstrate the ways that Ebonics speakers are misunderstood and judged
based on both. Although she obviously finds fault with this form of prejudice
based on linguistic choices, she still chooses to explain this understanding in SE.
Again, readers are confronted with common themes of audience expectations

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and consequences when students weigh their language choices. Nonetheless, it

is precisely this weighing and contemplating that helps students make informed
decisions about their language practices in academic writing.
When the slides provide screen captures of her actual diary entries, entries
that she chooses to display handwritten on notebook paper, Candace style-
shifts back and forth between SE and Ebonics. In her first entry, Go Green,
she writes the following:

Dear Diary,
I guess I state aint Bad considering I see black people. Like Real talk from where
I stay. I see nothing but Black people. I like the fact that I can talk how I want to,
I mean, [. . .] with four white girls. Molly cool as me though. A little of me rubbin
off on her. The other 2 are more like upscale boutique bougie females for real.

All of em from uptown close to the clans and stuff, even Molly. Mollys mother is
from Detroit so I guess thats why her attitude changed. At first nobody talked to me
(Scared Ill pull my gun out.) Maybe the hood in me showed . . . right. So anyways.

They sound like average white chicks . . .

The first entry immediately leads into the second, titled Go Black:

Like they appear to be white but they talk like they are one of me. Poor babies.
They try so hard t be like me or black.

Times go on and I see more and more Crayola outa them . . .

That shit bothers me to all ends. I mean they automatically assume the worst outta
me . . . but I neva . . . yea I did, white trash. But as time went on, the ignorance
faded. The more they loosened up the more I seen out of them. To be honest they
are normal. They never seen my kind before and they was just tryin to get a feel
for me? I got white experience. Im not gonna like though, they probably didnt
talk to me because of how outgoing I was. Im a city girl, theyre small time females.
They expect urban outta me, not black. Sometimes my ignorance is ignorant.

The second entry is followed by the final one, titled, Go White:

One thing I hate though is that not all white people are like them. But whats funny
is when I went to the south I notice everybody talked the same. Except for me and
my Detroit goons (we got a national rep). We were the outcasts. They were the
majority. The way they talked was sloppy! All that long ass unnecessary switching
of them words. Then when they loud argue, I want to scream. Later that week as
I found out they gave me the accent. The Dirty dirty.

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Damn it
I actually liked it though. I wanted to keep the crap but couldnt . . . It came
back to the D.
I guess Im angry that people are prejudice anyways . . . I am, but not anymore.
I actually want an accent and ignorance to fade away.

From these entries we see Candaces struggle with her own form and others
forms of racial and linguistic prejudices, a struggle that can possibly be ex-
plained by her understanding of audience responses to linguistic judgments.
These entries reveal that linguistic prejudice isnt only an issue for non-Blacks
who make judgments about the speech patterns of African Americans, but
also African Americans who unfairly judge speakers based on other speakers
linguistic choices. One point that Candace wants to emphasize is the idea that
we often make judgments about a person based on the way he or she speaks.
As Leah Zuidema states:

Many of us feel free to make judgments about others because of the ways that
they use language. We make assumptions based on ways that people speak and
write, presuming to know about their intelligence, their competence, their motives
and their morality (Wolfram, Adger & Christian, 1999). As [Vivian] Davis (2001)
explained, we assume that because we know a little about how people speak or
write that we also understand what they wear, what they eat, how they feel about
certain things including birth, death, family, marriage, and what they believe about
the world and their place in it (p. 1). (668)

Similar to Zuidema, I find that this is exactly the point that Candace conveys
in her entries. From these entries we see the closely knit relationship between
linguistic prejudice and overall judgments that people make about other
peoples identities. With the first entry, Candace reveals how White females
made judgments based on her speech, particularly judgments that speak to
the ways that African Americans have been stereotyped in mainstream culture.
With the second entry, she continues to show the ways that White speakers
negotiate their own negative attitudes toward Ebonics speakers all the while
appropriating African American communicative patterns for their own use.
This point speaks volumes to our understanding of the overall theme of her
project that uncovers the ways that Ebonics is continually appropriated by
nonnative Ebonics speakers in mainstream culture, despite its stigmatiza-
tion. On one hand, people make negative assumptions about the language of
African Americans, but on the other hand, we find evidence of its appropria-
tion in mainstream culture (her collage and advertisements demonstrate ways

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that general terms and phrases associated with Ebonics [e.g., Apple Bottoms]
have become part of mainstream and popular culture). With the final diary
entry, Candace also takes responsibility for the ways that linguistic prejudices
continue to perpetuate mainstream culture by sharing her experiences with
southern English speakers. While she admits her own prejudices, she attempts
to reconcile them by acknowledging that they are in fact prejudices, and that
a change in ones attitude is necessary.
Although this genre highlights significant knowledge about sociolinguis-
tics and linguistic prejudice, Candaces linguistic choices are also noteworthy.
She employs more Ebonics in the first entry than the latter two, although some
Ebonics is used in each of these entries.
When she references the ways that White The fact that African American students make
females judge her based on her skin color critical and conscious decisionsand even
and the way that she speaks, she employs explain many of those decisions in the text of
more Ebonics phonological features and their compositionsprovides considerable
syntax (e.g., neva; A little bit of me rubbin evidence of successful rhetorical awareness
off on her). But when she references her associated with different writing situations.
own forms of linguistic prejudice, she uses
less Ebonics. Although her style still reflects a nonstandard variety of English
in many cases, there are less Africanized phonological and syntactical patterns
used. From Candaces work, then, we see quite extensively how the subject
matter influences her linguistic choices. In other words, when she is being
judged by how she talks, we see more appropriation of Ebonics. But when she
is the one who judges other people based on their linguistic choices, we see less
Ebonics. From Candaces work, we see quite effectively how she manipulates
Ebonics phonological features and syntax quite eloquently and purposefully.
The fact that African American students make critical and conscious
decisionsand even explain many of those decisions in the text of their com-
positionsprovides considerable evidence of successful rhetorical awareness
associated with different writing situations. Marquise identifies the appropri-
ateness of Ebonics in digital texting, where parallels exist between the pho-
nological features of Ebonics and digital texting language. Jordan is astute at
articulating how purposeful decisions about language choices are strategically
made. Candaces linguistic choices reflect her ability to employ the language
patterns that she determines appropriate for the rhetorical situation and con-
text. When Candace references Europeanized cultural contexts, she employs
different varieties of English; when she references African American cultural

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contexts, she employs Ebonics phonology and syntax. In short, evidence of

African American students language decisions provides composition scholars
with considerable evidence that students can make informed decisions about
language in various rhetorical contexts and writing situations. When students
possess the rhetorical tools necessary to make informed choices about language,
they provide composition with an applied example of what it means to have a
right to their own language.

Responses from Students: The Relevance of Ebonics in Their

Literate Lives
By the end of the course, African American students came to understand
Ebonics in relation to their literate lives beyond the classroom, with Marquise
and Candace providing specific examples of the relevance of learning about
Ebonics in relation to their literate lives. As illustrated in previous analyses
of the students work, this relationship demonstrates students sophisticated
understandings of audience expectations; it also shows that students have
come to understand the legitimacy of Ebonics as something that warrants
persuasion for specific audiences. In Marquises final multigenre essay topic
proposal, readers are provided with an understanding of (1) how Ebonics be-
comes useful in relation to his literacy practices outside of the classroom, and
(2) how the legitimacy of Ebonics linguistic patterns requires persuasion for
specific audiences who might prefer Standard English:

Whoa . . . my last project in WRA 125! I finally see how fast paced college is. In
this project, I plan to investigate further into the treatment of AAVE in modern
day America. In the 1960s and 1970s, people were quick to dismiss the AAVE
factor from American culture, especially academics. This project is to focus on
AAVE/Composition Studies, but I believe that the culture of the dialect must first
gain positive ground in the country, if not the world before introducing ideals of
language equality in academia.
As P.A. Ramsey states in Teaching the Teachers to Teach Black-Dialect Writ-
ers, Dialects are simply different!(Ramsey, Teaching Black-Dialect, 200) This
couldnt be any closer to the truth, if you consider the principles that this country
were built upon. We must embrace language variations much in the same way
we have with ethnic backgrounds. Also, stereotypical assumptions must cease,
breaking down the walls separating each dialect. No longer shall we consider
one language better than the others. I believe that there is something from every
language that all people use, standard or nonstandard. As Tiffany Jones explains
in You Done Lost Yo Mind by acknowledging the linguistic divide, many African
Americans have been ostracized from their AAVE-using counterparts, for simply

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following the grammatical rules set by the white academic world. She states,
Today Blacks are charged with dealing with a conflicted sense of identity in
which speaking a particular vernacular can mean acceptance in one community
and rejection by another.(Jones, You Done Lost Yo Mind, 6)
I will be presenting four diverse genres of expressing how AAVE is being treated
in the year 2008, in which readers, where they could assist in changing the views
of non-dialect users. I have chosen these specific outlets to achieve this:

Feature Story (Entertainment)

In this genre, creativity flourishes. I plan to present AAVE as if it were a person,
being hounded by the devilish paparazzi. It will blow up common misconceptions
about AAVE and show how easily the public can spread these assumptions without
performing their own background checks on the individual.

Dialogue (two-person)
Oh this is gon be mad funny, I swear! The idea of creating, no scratch that, re-
cording and analyzing dialogue between two or more people shall introduce the
audience to the main purpose of AAVE. Itll be like puttin somebody on hip-hop. I
can also prove that AAVE is not used intentionally, but is molded in most African
Americans livelihoods.

Resume (employment/internship)
This will most likely be the most comparative example that I will showcase. I plan
to create two resumes, one in Standard English and the other in AAVE. I may then
ask for volunteers to review both documents and record their findings. Hopefully
my findings shall be that my subjects can easily understand the AAVE version as
quickly as the Standard English one.

Visual Photography
Something that I am extremely passionate about is photography, and I can finally
show off my talent! What I plan to do with this category is capture the very es-
sence of AAVE, whether from the past to the days we live now. Words, comics,
graphics, among others will be grouped together displaying the ways AAVE has
soaked through the culture cloth of African Americans.

The purposes of Marquises phonological use of Ebonics (e.g., gon and

puttin) differ from previous examples illustrated in this essay. Instead of us-
ing Ebonics to define, illustrate, or provide examples of cultural phenomena
and code-switching, Marquises uses of Ebonics function rhetorically as a
form of persuasion. Because his topic proposal requires that he argue for the
legitimacy of Ebonics (what he calls AAVE), he artfully blends Ebonics with
Standard English to illustrate that Standard English is not superior. Marquises
discussion here further provides readers with an understanding of his argument

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(that Ebonics be legit) in relation to his interests outside of the classroom and
how they speak to literacy. With this discussion, readers are provided with
examples of Marquises interests in hip-hop and photography, and how these
interests intersect with literacy. With his dialogue, readers are provided with
glimpses of how the recording of spoken texts in hip-hop function in relation
to the composing process. With Marquises photography, readers are informed
of his interests in photography and how he uses visual literacy rhetorically to
construct and develop his argument. Further, hip-hop becomes a theme and
heuristic offering readers examples of how the legitimacy of Ebonics can be
seen and recognized in popular culture.
Like Marquise, Candace also came to understand the legitimacy of Eb-
onics as relevant to literacy practice in the final reflection for her multigenre
project. While Marquise understands this legitimacy and relevance in relation
to his hobbies and interests outside the classroom, Candace understands this
relevance in relation to her postsecondary and career aspirations:

Ive came to the conclusion that there is no correct way to speak, but there is a
correct way to present yourself. You wouldnt show up at dinner with the President
in blue jeans, sandals and tank tops would you? So there is a time and place to
speak a certain way. Im not changing who I am as a person, but I am maturing
and learning how to present myself the way a college student/future Criminal
Justice professional should.

From this discussion, audience expectations continue to function as a common

theme for the ways in which African American students come to understand
and make language choices. For Candace, while acknowledging that there is
no single correct way to communicate, there is an appropriate context that
dictates the choices for which one chooses to adapt language, including those
communicative contexts that are related to her postsecondary work and
future profession in criminal justice. While one may or may not agree with
Candaces interpretation of appropriate contexts for language choices, it is
clear that Candace understands language choices and practices as something
that requires negotiation in relation to the rhetorical situation, communicative
context, and audience.
This essay presents evidence of how African American students success-
fully make linguistic choices that include Ebonics phonology and syntax and
Standard English across writing assignments and genres. While I argue that
students successfully make linguistic decisions according to specific genres,

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what is a bit disconcerting is the fact that students were more likely to use
Ebonics phonology and syntax when discussing oral-based and digital genres,
genres where composition research has already determined the appropriate-
ness of Ebonics when writing
in those genres. Nonetheless, Nonetheless, Ebonics phonology and syntax were still used
Ebonics phonology and syntax in the disciplinary literacies assignment, the most schol-
were still used in the disciplin- arly assignment in the sequence, which may suggest that
ary literacies assignment, the some progress is being made with regard to the struggle
most scholarly assignment in for language rights in expository writing contexts.
the sequence, which may sug-
gest that some progress is being made with regard to the struggle for language
rights in expository writing contexts. Students analyses also provide compo-
sition teachers with a compelling case for affirming SRTOL while teaching
Standard English by equipping students with the skills necessary to make
informed and purposeful linguistic decisions in expository writing contexts.
Once we equip students with the skills to make informed, conscious decisions
about language, we can begin thinking more critically about what it means for
students to have the right to their own language.

Notes
1. These three students have agreed to IRB consent and have granted permission to
use their work for publication in College Composition and Communication. Although
six African American students have granted consent through IRB, they have not
granted permission to use their work for publication in CCC.
2. For a detailed course syllabus, see Perryman-Clark, Writing, Rhetoric and
American Cultures.
3. Students were selected based on their self-identification as African American.
4. The findings from the African American students who granted permission to
cite their work in CCC are consistent with those African American students who
agreed to participate in the study but did not grant permission to cite work in CCC.
Those whose work does not appear in CCC is featured in my dissertation, Back to
the Classroom: Afrocentricity and Teacher-Research in First-Year Writing.
5. On occasion, I italicize text that adds emphasis to the phonological or syntactical
pattern being employed by the writers to support readers with identifying Ebonics-
based phonological or syntactical patterns.
6. For an extended discussion of cousins, see Fordham.

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er the Juice: African American Student mance Assessments: An Investigation of

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Writing Differences in Teacher Perfor-

Staci M. Perryman-Clark
Staci M. Perryman-Clark is assistant professor of English and Gender and Womens
Studies at Western Michigan University, where she also directs the first-year writing
program. She has published on topics related to Black womens intellectual tradi-
tions, race and gender in writing program administration, and Afrocentric pedagogy.
Her most recent book, Afrocentric Teacher-Research: Rethinking Appropriateness
and Inclusion, is published by Peter Lang Press.

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