Black Communications and Learning to Read

This book is about effective literacy instruction for students in grades K-4 who use the language variety that many linguists call African American English but which as explained in the Introduction the author calls Black Communications (BC). Throughout considerable attention is given to discussing the integral and complex interconnections among African American language culture and history drawing significantly on examples from African American historical and literary sources. Although it is theoretical in its description of the BC system and its discussion of research on language socialization in African American communities the major focus of this book is pedagogy. Many concrete examples of successful classroom practices are included so that teachers can readily visualize and use the strategies and principles presented. Â*Part I âWhat is Black Communications?â presents an overview of the BC system providing a basic introduction to the major components of the languageâphonology grammar lexicon and pragmatics and illustrating how these components work in synchrony to create a coherent whole. *Part II âœLanguage Socialization in the African American Discourse Communityâ examines existing research on African American childrenâs language socialization. *Part III âœUsing African American Childrenâs Literatureâ draws connections between strategy instruction and the linguistic and rhetorical abilities discussed in Part II. Each chapter ends with suggestions for using African American literature to help children develop their speaking and writing abilities. *Part IV âœChildren Using Languageâ moves from a focus on teaching comprehension strategies to helping BC speakers learn to decode text. ÂÂThis volume is directed to researchers faculty and graduate students in the fields of language and literacy education and linguistics and is well-suited as a text for graduate-level courses in these areas. Language: English