African American English Dialect Analysis

Parents want their children to be literate and proficient readers. The expectations of a teacher are to be knowledgeable and supportive when engaging their students and enforcing reading skills. When elementary aged children are first learning to read, teaching focuses on specific areas of development such as phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. When comparing the literacy abilities of African American (AA) children to that of their peers, there seems to be a significant variance and a general lack of understanding of several of these skills. Providing the possibility of an African American English (AAE) dialect influencing reading comprehension, there needs to be a strategy to increase literacy in these students.

However, when exploring the reading achievement of African American children in regard to that of their peers, there is a significant inadequacy. An African American English dialect showed a direct correlation to a child’s reading competency skills, and confronting reading dilemmas with a well-planned strategy reading proves motivational when a child first begins to read. This paper looked at three topics when considering reading achievement in children with an AAE dialect directly involving teachers, parents, and learning devices. The first consideration was the quality and education of a child’s teacher. This also included the teacher’s ability to adapt their teaching style and lessons to the spoken dialect of the child. Another consideration in reading achievement of children with an AAE dialect was the parental literacy, willingness, and capability to promote comprehension. Family factors that provide emphasis on reading ability are: (a) identifying any family history of reading difficulties; (b) literacy of those within the home environment; (c) conversational skills provided in a child’s environment; (d) non-English speaking family members; (e) dialects of American English; and (f) the socioeconomic status of the home, neighborhood, and school. The last topic reviewed was implementing the use of electronic books to engage children as they read. This would allow for direct interaction and enthusiasm when developing reading skills, and create a stress-free learning environment for a child that might otherwise show embarrassment