Dr. Altheria Caldera, TRL’s DEIB consultant, offers the following advice for The Reading League Compass regarding speakers of Black English:
According to a 2021 infographic published by the Office of English Language Acquisition, only 2.9% of Black students are English Learners (ELs). Most of these non-native English speakers are foreign-born, with 8 of the top 10 countries being located in Africa. These Black English Learners are often “overlooked” in conversations around the needs of multilingual learners. This exclusion has significant implications for reading education, with its recent focus on the importance of teaching foundational reading skills to beginning readers.
Black English, sometimes referred to as African American Vernacular English, is a dialect of English with syntactic and grammatical distinctions from Standard (also Dominant) American English. Important, too, are the differences in vocabulary, oral language, phonics, and phonemic awareness, all of which are integral components of Structured Literacy. As an example, a student who speaks Black English might read the word “flow” and understand it to be a surface on which one walks, and may fail to recognize the word “floor” as the standard way the term is pronounced. The impact of dialectical differences such as this is examined in this 2012 article.
Questions about the implications of reading instruction for speakers of Black English have been pursued since at least the 1970s. Recent scholars like Ramona Pittman and Julie A. Washington, whose research and writing center students who speak Black English are urging the broader multilingual education community to include speakers of Black English and other bi-dialectical students in their efforts to advance the needs of multilingual learners.
Students who speak dialects other than English have needs similar to, though not identical to, those of speakers of other languages. The former, sometimes referred to as Standard English Learners, deserve this nuanced classification along with corresponding support. California is one of the states leading the way in this language equity work. While it is arguable that speakers of Black English should be identified as ELs, unequivocally, students who speak Black English and other bi-dialectical students should be included in the literacy conversation, and their needs should be recognized.