LINGUIST List 14.2956

Wed Oct 29 2003

Review: Ling & Literature: Richardson (2003)

Editor for this issue: Naomi Ogasawara <naomilinguistlist.org>

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  • Don Walicek, African American Literacies

    Message 1: African American Literacies

     Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 18:20:28 +0000
    From: Don Walicek <youmaysayiamadreamerhotmail.com>
    Subject: African American Literacies


    Richardson, Elaine (2003) African American Literacies, Routledge, Literacies Series.

    Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/14/14-1704.html

    Don E. Walicek, the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras

    PURPOSE / CONTENT: This book offers a critical account of the language and literacy practices of African American students. In it Richardson shows that current pedagogical theory and institutionalized practices consistently fall short of valuing and fully understanding the cultural and historical experience of African Americans. This predicament, argues the author, has led to unethical educational practices and student underachievement. Responding to this crisis, she calls for changes in literacy education. Her analysis pulls from research in sociolinguistics, communication studies, and education. It will be of interest to educators, sociolinguists, and, more broadly, readers with an interest in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), curriculum design, and vernacular expressive arts. The book consists of an introduction, six chapters, a lengthy bibliography, and an index.

    OVERVIEW: The first chapter, ''Literacy, language, composition, rhetoric and (not) the African American student,'' examines some of the social practices and ideologies that inform the history of African American education in the United States. Richardson sees her research as a contribution to the construction of a multicultural America. She writes, ''I use the term multicultural to signify equal opportunity beyond the point of allowing people of color access to historically White institutions'' (8). While her particular focus is African Americans, she endorses and encourages attention to a variety of cultures and marginalized groups (Asian, Black, Latino/a, Native American). Such projects, Richardson argues, demand that the production of knowledge be critiqued and expanded.

    Chapter one also introduces one of the main points of the text: that White supremacy, capitalism, and related discourses of American meritocracy inform the literacy practices of educational institutions and contribute to the underachievement of African Americans. The author relates language teaching practices to racism by reviewing a substantial amount of literature (i.e., Smitherman 2000, Fine 1995, Rickford 1998, and Woodson 1990) which shows that many non-white students see narrow, culturally-biased approaches to language as an attempt to erase them culturally. She considers the teaching of standardized English void of discussions of social context, politics, culture, and power an example of this process at work. Confronting this and related problems, she holds, demands that African American students study and use AAVE in the classroom. Doing so, Richardson argues, enables educators and students alike to combat more effectively the perpetuation of social stratification on the basis of race.

    The second chapter, entitled, ''The literacies of African American-centered rhetoric and composition: freestylin' or 'lookin' for a style that's free','' maps the development of African American literacies and rhetorical practices. It provides an analysis of literature, folklore, vernacular expression (e.g., childhood rhymes, gospel, 'shuckin' and jivin'). The chapter's scope is expansive, covering the periods of slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power Movement, and the contemporary era of Hip Hop. Richardson points out that these historical events have more in common than we might think. She notes that in each writers, performers, and artists, whether 'common folk' or ''experts in their respective areas, challenge and cope with hierarchical power relations shaped by the legacy of The Atlantic Slave Trade. Her particular interest is the relationship between these responses and literacy. Chapter three continues in a similar fashion but focuses on providing a sketch of specific female contributions to African American literacies.

    The fourth chapter has two primary goals. First, it discusses theoretical influences on Richardson's understanding of notions of African American-centered literacies. Second, it asks whether the teaching methodologies she proposes actually work. In describing one particular study highlighted in this chapter, the author explains that as most of her students were African American, she developed an African American-centered composition theory for their courses. She based her approach on four observations: (1) form and content are inextricably bound, (2) Black discourse is an academic discourse in constant flux, (3) contrastive analysis of AAVE and Standard English will improve students' critical language facilities, and (4) cultural and critical awareness can be realized in writing and discourse using features that have arisen in the African American historical experience. Richardson tests the effectiveness of the curriculum by evaluating whether the composition skills of her students improved over time. Her findings indicate that written fluency improved due to exposure to her curriculum. She supports this conclusion by presenting data from these rhetoric and composition courses. Included are examples of activities conducted in the classroom, writing prompts, analyses of AAVE syntax, and students' comments collected at the end of the course.

    Richardson's teaching is also discussed in chapter five. The focus here are another set of classes centering on rhetoric and discourse, with an emphasis on production. Additionally, the author offers a detailed description of her teaching methodology. The chapter includes several examples of student writing and Richardson's comments on each one. In these classes some students sought publishers for papers in which they used AAVE discourse while others used written AAVE in developing web pages for community organizations. The author points out that these assignments proved useful for students because they revealed differences between public and private discourse. The text's final chapter, ''Dukin' it out with 'the powers that be,' covers some of the problems and challenges that the author experienced teaching African American-centered curricula.

    EVALUATION: This is an enjoyable book that offers a fresh perspective on questions about African American literacies. Perhaps its most striking strength is the author's highly personal approach. Richardson includes many personal anecdotes and successfully weaves these into discussions of the topics mentioned above. Her text can be seen as an example of 'reflexive scholarship' (Bourdieu 1980/1980) and as invitation for linguists and others interested in language to engage in this sort of work. Another related strength of the book is its attention to popular culture and the author's insightful discussion of these forms with respect to literacy.

    My main criticism of the book concerns organization and clarity. I found that the author has a tendency to be repetitious in her review of literature that relates to her research (e.g., Freire 1990, Giroux 1991, Smitherman 2000). Currently these references extend into the fourth chapter but could, I suggest, be limited to two chapters. Though these references typically relate to the topic at hand, they often address points that have already been discussed. This takes away from the book's coherency as a whole, making it seem as if the chapters were meant to be read as individual units.

    The final criticism to be mentioned here concerns key concepts and phrases in the text. These are numerous: 'African American literacies', 'the Black Voice', 'African American ways of knowing,' 'Signifyin(g),' 'survival literacies,' and 'African American discourse and rhetoric.' What is lacking, and especially important in the more theoretical parts of the text, is a systematic means for the reader to relate these one to the others. Usually I had some idea of what these terms meant, but seldom was the relationship between them defined precisely. Moreover, it would be helpful if what the author means by 'literacy' and 'literacies,' perhaps the most important words in the book, was defined in the beginning of the text and then built upon in later discussion.

    Overall the book makes a valuable contribution to studies focused on the use of AAVE in the classroom. Especially noteworthy is the author's presentation and explanation of the critical pedagogy that she developed during her work as an educator. Her approach shows readers that the problem of educational underachievement in the United States can be solved only if the sociohistorical and political contexts of language education are considered. Richardson's work stands out because it offers solutions in the forms of useful concepts and strategies, ones that readers can adapt and discuss for with their own students.

    REFERENCES

    Bourdieu, P. 1980/1990. The Logic of Practice. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Farr, M. and Daniels, H. 1998. Language Diversity and Writing Instruction. New York: ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education Institute for Urban and Minority Education and NCTE.

    Fine, M. 1995. Silencing and Literacy. In Gadsen, V. and Wagner, D. (eds) Literacy Among African-American Youth: Issues in Learning, Teaching, and Schooling. Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press, pp. 201-22.

    Freire, P. 1990. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum.

    Giroux, H. 1991. Introduction: Literacy, Difference, and the Politics of Border Crossing. In Mitchell, C. and Weiler, K (eds) Rewriting Literacy. New York: Bergin and Garvey.

    Rickford, J. 1998. Using the Vernacular to Teach the Standard. In Rickford, J. African American Vernacular English: Features, Evolution, Educational Implications. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

    Smitherman, G. 2000. Talkin' That Talk: Language, Culture, and Education in Africa America. New York: Routledge.

    Woodson, C 1990/1933. The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861. Washington D.C.: Associated Publishers; first edition, Brooklyn, NY: A. and B. Publishers.

    ABOUT THE REVIEWER

    Don E. Walicek is a doctoral student in the Department of English at the University of Puerto Rico, R�o Piedras, where he specializes in the study of Creole languages of the Caribbean. His general area of concentration within linguistics is sociolinguistics. He has related interests in the study of race, critical theory, and postcolonial studies. He completed his B.A. in Social Anthropology and his M.A. in Social Anthropology and History, both at the University of Texas at Austin.