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Linguistic Profiling in the United States: Teachers’ Attitudes and Perspectives Towards Students with Non-Standard American English Dialects and Language Use

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Linguistic Profiling in the United States: Teachers’ Attitudes and Perspectives Towards Students with Non-Standard American English Dialects and Language Use LINGUISTIC PROFILING IN THE UNITED STATES: TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES AND PERSPECTIVES TOWARDS STUDENTS WITH NON-STANDARD AMERICAN ENGLISH DIALECTS AND LANGUAGE USE by Lindsey G. Lord A Master’s Thesis Capstone Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Education Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Department of Language, Learning, and Leadership State University of New York at Fredonia Fredonia, New York May 2015 LINGUISTIC PROFILING LINGUISTIC PROFILING IN THE UNITED STATES: TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES AND PERSPECTIVES TOWARDS STUDENTS WITH NON-STANDARD AMERICAN ENGLISH DIALECTS AND LANGUAGE USE ABSTRACT Language diversity is increasing significantly across the nation and this linguistic diversification will remain a constant in the future (Reeves, 2006; US Census, 2000). With this diversity often comes discrimination towards English language learners (ELLs) and other students who do not speak Standard American English (SAE) due to the influence of their native language or dialect (e.g., African American Vernacular English, Spanish). This discrimination is called linguistic profiling and it is commonly seen in school settings (Fisher, Wallace, & Fenton, 2000; Murillo & Smith, 2011; Pachter, Bernstein, Szalacha, & Coll, 2010). Past studies have found that teachers who linguistically profile are influenced by the following areas: general education experiences, specific English as a Second Language (ESL) training, contact with diverse cultures, prior contact with ELLs, and demographic characteristics (Youngs & Youngs, 2011). The goal of this study was to determine whether linguistic profiling is occurring towards ELLs and AAVE- speakers in Western New York. Teachers with multiple certification backgrounds from two schools in Western New York were surveyed using a five-point Likert-scale. Results indicate that an increase in teachers’ educational experience and multicultural experiences make them less likely to linguistically profile. In addition, Spanish-speaking ELLs may be profiled less than those students speaking AAVE. Implications will be discussed. i LINGUISTIC PROFILING Table of Contents Page Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ ii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Problem ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Significance ................................................................................................................................. 3 Literature Review............................................................................................................................ 4 Language in the United States ..................................................................................................... 4 Standard American English. .................................................................................................... 6 Accents and dialects. ............................................................................................................... 6 African American Vernacular English. ................................................................................... 7 English Language Learners. .................................................................................................... 7 Discrimination in the United States ............................................................................................ 8 Historical context of language discrimination. ...................................................................... 10 Equal educational opportunities act (EEOA) of 1974 and section 1703(f). ...................... 11 Present-day language discrimination. .................................................................................... 12 Present day language discrimination: AAVE. ....................................................................... 13 ii LINGUISTIC PROFILING Present-day language discrimination: ELLs. ......................................................................... 14 English-only movement. ........................................................................................................ 16 Combating Discrimination ........................................................................................................ 18 Discrimination and school. .................................................................................................... 18 Linguistic Profiling ................................................................................................................... 19 Inclusive linguistic profiling. ................................................................................................. 19 Sounds like discrimination. ................................................................................................... 20 Linguicism ................................................................................................................................. 21 Linguicism and African American Vernacular English speakers. ........................................ 22 Linguicism and English language learners. ........................................................................... 23 Teachers’ Attitudes and Perceptions ......................................................................................... 25 Predictors of teachers’ attitudes ............................................................................................. 27 Effect of Teachers Linguistically Profiling ............................................................................... 30 Affecting identity. .................................................................................................................. 31 Implications of Linguicism for Teachers and ELLs.................................................................. 31 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 32 Setting........................................................................................................................................ 33 Sample ....................................................................................................................................... 33 Participants. ........................................................................................................................... 35 Procedure ................................................................................................................................... 35 iii LINGUISTIC PROFILING Part one: Online survey. ........................................................................................................ 36 Part two: Observations and interviews. ................................................................................. 36 Instruments. ........................................................................................................................... 37 Validity Considerations ............................................................................................................. 38 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 40 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 41 Survey Results ........................................................................................................................... 43 Certification items of participants. ........................................................................................ 44 Multicultural Experiences ......................................................................................................... 46 General Educational Experiences.............................................................................................. 48 Specific English as a Second Language Training ..................................................................... 49 Teaching English Language Learners ....................................................................................... 51 Experience with ESL Instructional Strategies ........................................................................... 52 African American Vernacular English-Focused Items ............................................................. 54 Standard American English-Focused Items .............................................................................. 55 Spanish-Focused Items .............................................................................................................. 56 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 58 Demographic Influence on Linguistic
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