The Journey through African American English and Zora Neale Hurston's "Sweat": Understanding the Culture through Language.

          When trying to understand African American English, where it came from, and why we still hear it today, it has a very long history attached to it. An understanding that even some African American writers could not grasp in the early twentieth century. Zora Neale Hurston was one of those writers. It took Hurston years to understand how to write her characters and to portray them in a way more than one audience could appreciate them. In the story “Sweat,” Hurston writes about a washerwoman named Delia who works extremely hard all week long to make sure her customers are satisfied and can keep food on the table and a roof over her head. Her husband Sykes is not a nice man at all and is always verbally and physically abusing Delia while running around town with other women. Karma strikes when Sykes brings home a rattlesnake to scare Delia, but his plan backfires, and he falls victim to his own prank. 

  “Sweat” is a beautifully written story, but only appealed to a white audience when it was published in 1926. There are two major themes throughout the story that are deemed stereotypical in the story. In the story, the main character, Delia, is married to Sykes, the villain, or antagonist. Barbara Ryan says it’s “too close to stereotypical conceptions of ball men as violent and/or lazy.”  Men of the time would be very involved in the heavy lifting of the large laundry bags as well as doing other big jobs such as chopping wood or water-hauling. Sykes is the complete opposite throughout and is continually berating Delia. He does not like the idea of her washing clothes for white folks. The other misconception is the portrayal of Delia. Most laundry women of the time would be big in stature and much more muscular than Delia. Sykes is openly running around town with another woman that is much bigger than Delia. While they are fighting about the white folks' clothes being in the house, Sykes exclaims, “Gawd! How Ah hates skinny wimmen!”  

Washerwoman

  African American Vernacular was something significant for Hurston to grasp deepening on the region of the country she was writing for. African American English differed from region to region, and capturing the right dialect was very important. Knowing that Hurston went on various exhibitions to learn her characters better, learning the language was also very important. The online Encyclopedia explains this very well. “African-American varieties of English vary considerably, tending to reflect the social background and personal aspirations of individual speakers as well as the social circumstances in which different dialects thrive.” 
Zora Neale Hurston had a way with language, and one thing that really stuck out in “Sweat” is her use of code-switching from African American English to Mainstream English. Michelle Devereaux and Rebecca wheeler point out that, “Hurston does a masterful job of changing her language to elect to set.” Hurston uses mainstream English for the narrative and switches to AAE for the dialogue throughout the story. It gives the readers an idea of how the words are pronounced, and it is clear to see the significant differences between the two dialects.

Just as Hurston was trying to find her a way to reach as many people as she could, continually evolving with each story that she wrote, African American English was also growing and changing with the times. The dialect that Hurston’s stories were written in is vastly different from what we hear today and very different from just after WWII. There is a similarity in Hurston’s journey, changing and molding to fit the time she was writing in, just as African American English continuously evolving.  Patricia Cukor-Avila states that “While contemporary AAVE clearly shares many features with earlier AAVE, it seems clear that it is being transformed by new developments as well.” 

Along with trying to write stories to fit into more than one audience, Hurston also had to keep in mind the different from the African American dialects. The way African Americans spoke in Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida was different from those that spoke the dialect in Texas and more western states. On Hurston's journey to writing the perfect story, she would travel to different parts of the South, such as Louisiana and Florida, to watch, listen, and learn how individual people from different places lived and went about their daily lives. If Hurston had ventured into Texas, she would have found an African American dialect much different than what she was used to hearing. David Sutcliffe argues that African English breaks down into more of a Creole, “…little of the deeper basilectal AAE straying over the border into creole actually registers…” 

There are so many factors that go into writing a story like this and flooring, along with the different aspects of African American English and the vernacular. Understanding how to write and for a large group of audiences falls into a much broader category than one might think. Hurston had her work cut out for her when it came to capturing her characters in a way that would not only please the scholarly audiences but grab the attention of the people she was writing about. 

Spanglish: Do the Labels Matter? It's Important.

What is Spanglish? Spanglish is a language that connects two well known languages. English and Spanish are bonded together to creating a beautiful language in text and speech.

Spanglish is a language that has been a topic of debate for a long while. There are some that argue it is merely a dialect, while others define it as a language. If it is a language, would you consider someone who speaks it to be bilingual then? Araceli Osorio's article, "The role of Spanglish in the social and academic lives of second generation Latino students : students' and parents' perspectives" gives insight on this debate. In one light Spanglish is seen as a dialect because it is not spoken much in Spanish-speaking countries because the majority of Spanglish speakers are Latinos living in the United States. According to Thomas Moore Devlin, there are over 50 million people who speak Spanglish in the United States. For the Latinos living in United States, they could be considered bilingual, and in turn be capable of code-switching. Code-switching is a process of shifting from one linguistic code to another depending on the social context or conversational setting. Yet code-switching is something that can be accomplished without intention, so how can the use of it define bilingual status? There are specific words native to a language that are used in each language. For example a native Spanish speaker who uses the word DMV in speech, is switching to english. Although one may not realize they are doing so, they have to because there in no alternative to be used. Spanglish is much more than just code-swithcing; it is an effective form of communication for creating meaningful conversations and helps establish an identity within cross-cultural situations.

The Blending of Languages in Speech

An issue lies in that fact Latinos aren't on the same page when defining Spanglish. There are some that are greatly opposed to the idea, feeling that it is a corruption of the proper language Spanish. On the other hand, those who speak it are very proud and view it as representing both heritages: American and Hispanic. Here fails the issue of how we see the world. Everyone believes that their way of life, the language they speak is the correct way. Although not all may admit that is the reason for their disapproval, it's true that we are to wrapped up in our own lives to put ourselves in the shoes of others.

Regardless of one's opinion, we cannot deny the importance of the language. The role of Spanglish is very important an academic level. Research conducted by Ramon Antonio Martinez within his classroom proves that Spanglish allows students to accomplish conversational work. When the students were at a loss of words, the ability to utilize Spanglish allowed for continued conversation. Why would we deny students the creativity of expression through their language? There is simply the lack of acceptance of the unknown. If a student who only spoke English transferred to a Spanish speaking class, they wouldn't be told their language is nonexistent and incapable to be used. All of the controversy surrounding the defining of Spanglish gives it a bad name. There are many people that reject the term because they feel that it is a poor language. Ricardo Otheguy and Nancy Stern support this idea in stating that Spanglish needs to be discarded and replaced by Spanish because it is proper.

Spanglish. If you didn't know what is was before, you now have a bit of insight on what it is. We are all entitled to our own opinions in life, but I believe there are some fights that are not worth fighting. How can we sit back and tell someone that their culture and way of learning isn't valid? We all have different beliefs, morals, ideals, ways of learning, and express our culture in different ways. It's ok to be different. Now, we need to move towards accepting the differences so that Spanglish can be spoken within the United States without fear of judgement.

The Development and Perceptions of African American English

Categorizing African American English as a language has created much controversy among linguists and members of society today, finding many negative perceptions associated with it. The history of language, as well as the fundamental elements that make up a particular language, are important to draw upon when considering the basis of “how” the language has come about. 

Whether or not two speakers understand each other in conversation determines if that form of communication can be defined as a language or a dialect. There is a widespread use of African American English found in Zora Neale Hurston’s Mules and Men, in which former slaves share their stories told through Hurston’s narrative herself. The complex, rule-based linguistic system of African American English was formed as a result of former slaves cross-communicating with English speakers during early times of colonization. 

Representation of the diverse nation that we live in with careful attention
to the inclusion of African American English as a language.

Dennis Baron discusses the ways in which students from African American English speaking households communicate in the classroom and how Oakland schools set a great example for the rest of society- making it their mission to make sure their teachers leave any negative perceptions at the door, as their leaders educate them about the language of their own students. Although Oakland’s intentions were for the good of their students, they received large amounts of backlash, implying that the school's efforts made the concept of “Black English” relevant among students. This supports the general consensus of the public in regards to language in school as well as the workplace, as many people believe Mainstream US English to be a significant attribute of being viewed as a "good" student or businessman/woman.

Vinson Cunningham sheds light on this topic as he discusses individuals of societies’ inability to recognize and appreciate African American English for its complex and systematic structure, but rather as a random, bad habit acquired by individuals. It is in our nature to make assumptions about things that we simply do not know anything about. But it is this tendency that steers us down the wrong path as a growing, respectable society. Although African American English may not be of importance to some, it is safe to assume that those individuals have never taken the time to study the extent of its history and the strict patterns associated with it.

The variety of opinions on African American English being categorized as a language has raised the important question of whether or not it should be ruled as an “acceptable” form of communication. With that, we ask- Why not? As we are supposed to raise equality among all individuals of our nation, shouldn’t one’s language qualify for that same respect? Rather than trying to change members of society, it is our job to use our voices for the greater good and educate those around us to accept our nation for exactly what it is: Diverse.

Aspects and Variations of African American English

Studying the aspects of African American English is important for understanding how and why people spoke in this dialect long ago and why people sometimes speak in this dialect today. This dialect of English can be dated back all the way to when the slaves came over to America. They quickly realized they needed to adapt to their new surroundings and begin speaking English so they could communicate with Americans. By mixing English with their culture’s language, African American English was made.
 
There are many pieces of literature that accurately display how African American English was used both years ago and today. In Toni Morrison’s book “Sula” we can see through the dialogue of the characters, how they spoke to one another in this dialect. Readers can see different aspects of African American English presented such as absence of copula for contracted forms of is and are, general plural is absence, as well as the use of ain’t for didn’t.

Toni Morrison’s book “Sula” is a great example of African American English. This excerpt from the story shows some of the dialogue between some of the characters. The dialogue in the story is the main source for showing how people of color use African American English. The story however is written in third person. While reading the book, readers can see a direct contrast of African American English with regular English that is spoken today. Toni Morrison may have done this to show the differences between the two dialects and inform readers of how people who use African American English talk.

Many of the variations we see throughout the dialogue in this story are discussed by Wolfram in his chapter on African American English. These include the absence of copula as well as many others. These variations are also discussed in Holt's article "Mechanisms of Vowel Variation in African American English." In her article, Holt aims to prove that there is vowel variation among AAE speakers. They focused their research in North Carolina and ultimately they prove that there is some sort of vowel variation in speakers of African American English.

 Jessica Berry's article "Dialect Variation of Copula and Auxiliary Verb BE: African American English- Speaking Children With and Without Gullah/Geechee Heritage” ultimately aims to prove the same thing: the dialect of African American English is not uniform in all speakers of the dialect. Berry aims to prove however, that the heritage of a person directly affects how they speak African American English. After researching with children, with and without the Gullah/Geechee heritage, they found that there is a correlation between a child's heritage and the way they speak AAE. Both these articles show that although many people speak AAE there is much variation in the aspects of the dialect.

In Terry's article, "Relations between Dialect Variation, Grammar, and Early Spelling Skills" she talks about how there is also variation in the way African American English is spoken in children. She also aims to prove that children's use of African American English directly correlates to how they perform in school, mainly reading and writing. After testing students on things such as spelling patterns, productive morphology, and word reading, they found that the dialect in which children speak directly affects their performance in school. While we did not see much of Sula's time in school it is clear that children have a harder time in school if they speak a different language. 

Toni Morrison's book "Sula" is a great example of how African American English was spoken. Throughout the dialogue in the book we see how African American English was used by people who spoke the dialect. We see many variations throughout the book and different aspects used, such as the use of ain't for didn't. When we look at how many variations and different aspects there are in African American English, we see just how diverse the dialect really is.

Abrzándose of Two Languages

Spanglish can be described as the hugging of two languages. Spanglish is a beautiful way that Spanish speakers are able to hold onto their native language yet also bring English into their dialect.  

Some people feel that Spanglish is the product of being raised bilingually. This is true that if a person is raised bilingually then they are able to switch back and forth between two languages also known as code-switching. Yet a person is capable of code-switching even if they are not bilingual. For example, when at a restaurant people are code-switching every day, yet they do not realize it. If a person orders a taco at a restaurant they are actually saying the Spanish word taco. This could be seen as code-switching. Thomas Moore Devlin in his article, “How Many People Speak Spanglish, Where Is It Spoken?” saw Spanglish as code-switching and nothing else. Although Spanglish may fall under the title of code-switching it can also be seen as more than that. Spanglish can instead be seen as translanguaging. Translanguaging is the practice of using multiple languages by bilinguals. Henderson and Ingram in their article, "Mister, you're writing in Spanglish" discusses that Spanglish is not actually code-switching but is instead translanguaging since it is spoken by mostly bilinguals. Since the United States is heavily populated with Spanish speakers it would make sense for most Spanglish speakers to be bilingual, which would then move Spanglish into the translanguaging category instead of just code-switching.

Since Spanglish is spoken by bilinguals it is usually the way that some native Spanish speakers hold onto their Latino identity. In the website Aula Hispánica in the article, “What is Spanglish” it is said that there are 35 million Latin Americans in the United States which makes it one of the most important regions of Hispanic origin. With so many Latin Americans in the United States, it is no surprise that Spanglish occurs. In Matínez’s article, “Spanglish as Literacy Tool” he noticed that Spanglish is actually mostly spoken when communicating with family or peers. 

There is a stereotype that people who speak Spanglish are just native Spanish speakers who cannot pick up the English dialect. These people feel that Spanglish speakers are uneducated however, they are wrong. Since Spanglish is often spoken when communicating with family or peers it shows that Spanglish has a bigger meaning. Spanglish is instead a way that Latin Americans hold onto their native culture and embrace a new one. Sánchez-Muñoz in her article, “Who Soy Yo?” discusses that Spanglish speakers are people who do not identify with the Ango-American cultural values and also do not identify with the Mexican cultural values. It is important that society embraces Spanglish speakers because although it is not a known language it is important to the people who speak it.

Although Spanglish is not a classified language, people are beginning to accept it more and more every day. There are books, poems, and songs written in Spanglish. Justin Bieber’s hit song “Despacito” is written in Spanglish. In his songs, he goes back and forth from singing English and Spanish. The chorus is always in Spanish while the rest of the song is in English. There is even a children's book written by Susan Hood, called, Spike The Mixed Up Monster which is written in Spanglish about a monster who speaks in Spanglish. This little monster in the book is constantly talking in both English and Spanglish. The monster is code-switching throughout the novel. In Tato Laviera’s poem, “Spanglish” he is not only writing in Spanglish but allows the reader to feel the emotions that a Spanglish speaker feels. Laviera’s poem is great because in one line he will write in all Spanish and then in the next line he will write in all English. However, in some lines, he writes in both English and Spanish by code-switching. It seems that society is slowly beginning to accept Spanglish into the world. 

It is important that as a society people begin to accept Spanglish. America started as a melting pot people came from all different parts of the world. It is important that we do not take away one's culture. America is supposed to be a melting pot therefore, we need to accept everyone's culture. Spanglish is a way that native Spanish speakers hold on to their culture and embrace the new culture they learn in America. We do not want to whitewash people but instead accept everyone.

AAE in the Classroom to Boost Student Achievement

1996 Ebonics Controversy

African American English is spoken by many Americans all across the United States including school aged children. Statistically, children who speak AAE are more likely to fall behind in school than their peers who speak Standard English; this is largely due to the fact that most teachers do not obtain the pedagogical knowledge on how to help AAE speaking children develop literacy skills. Some may even hold a dialect bias, due to the controversy of AAE being in schools and dialect ignorance developing the belief held by society that AAE is the “wrong” form of English. These factors can lead children to feeling inadequate and unable to learn, which is something major that needs to change in schools all across the country. To the children speaking this dialect, Standard English can seem like a whole different language. 

Julie Washington is a speech pathologist who studies African American English, she found that when a child who is fluent in AAE listens to a story written in Standard English there are a bunch of things that the child has to be able to do. They have to first understand the story in an unfamiliar dialect, then retain it, and translate it to their dialect to be able to fully comprehend it; by doing that they are code-switching the dialects. Some of these children learn how to code-switch naturally, but by the end of third grade about one third of them still are still not able to and are not going to unless it is taught. 

Elementary school teachers specifically are on the front lines when it comes to helping AAE children with their reading comprehension skills. If the students are not taught how to properly code-switch they will most likely not be able to keep up with their school work due to the confusion it can bring them. Students who speak AAE may find it very difficult to be able to connect oral pronunciation with written pronunciation which means they may not be able to properly sound out written SE words leaving them unable to understand text. There is an approach to teaching these students Standard English that many teachers are using. The teachers will run different drills with the students to help them match words that they know in AAE with words that mean the same thing in SE. Code-switching between the two which are much healthier for students and shows them both dialects are respected and able to be used in the classroom.

Though the belief of anything other than Standard English being “wrong” is still present in some cases due to teacher bias and dialect ignorance. These are teachers who believe AAE to be “inferior”; where teachers automatically assume these children to be “at risk”. Studies have shown they will usually take points off of homework for grammar other than SE instead of the child’s knowledge on the subject, leaving them with low grades they do not deserve. In other cases these teachers will request them to be in special education classes. Both are damaging to the child’s self-esteem and can make them feel unable to learn, leading to them giving up. Teachers with the pedagogical knowledge on how to help these children will result in all students having the option to reach their full potential.

The Importance of Spanglish Representation

Representation of Spanglish in pop culture has a great amount of influence in helping immigrants and first- and second-generation Spanglish speakers feel more represented in American Culture. In recent years songs like Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" have made massive strides in bringing Spanglish into mainstream American culture. 

This kind of representation is extremely important for the more than 50 million Spanish speaking people in the united states, 59% of whom are bilingual, and able to speak comfortably in Spanglish. The blend of Spanish and English commonly seen in bilingual people, called Spanglish is a unique dialect with this own structure and grammar rules. Despite its structure many Americans see Spanglish as a bastardization of English and see those who speak it as uneducated.

Order in English sign outside Geno's Steaks Philadelphia

This view of Spanglish has been used as a way to discriminate against immigrants who come to the United States, as well as the generations who were born and raised speaking both English and Spanish fluently and use Spanglish in their everyday lives. Signs like the one above show how Spanish and Spanglish have been unfairly stigmatized in the U.S. to the point that both the language and dialect, as well as those who speak it have been the subject of unfair ridicule and harassment, as well as outright racist oppression. 

In order to allow Spanish speaking immigrants to feel more welcome and connected to the U.S. the stigma around Spanglish needs to change. One of the best ways to do that is through normalizing the dialect through exposure, we've seen this work in the past with dialects like Yiddish, which was seen as a form of broken Hebrew, and we’re currently seeing it with African American Vernacular English through influences like Hip Hop and Jazz. Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” is a very good example of how Spanglish can enter mainstream American Culture, having been streamed over 550 million times on Spotify, and recently preforming the song during the Super Bowl Halftime Show as seen below. Shakira has been very vocal about the significance of blending Spanish and English in her music, saying that she doesn’t want to lose where she comes from to pander to American audiences.

Shakira Preforming at the Super Bowl 

The song features Wyclef Jean, another Spanglish speaking musician, however Shakira and Jean both speak different forms of Spanglish since they come from different countries and speak different dialects of Spanish. Their collaboration shows Spanglish speakers from any background that there is no “proper” form of Spanglish and allows speakers to feel represented in American culture. Normalizing Spanglish doesn't just change English speakers views, it also works to change the views of First-generation immigrants, who often times refuse to speak Spanglish out of fear of being seen as uneducated as they attempt to assimilate. Normalizing the dialect would allow for them to assimilate to American culture much easier since they would be able to feel more comfortable speaking Spanglish.

Normalizing Spanglish in American pop culture would improve the lives of millions of people currently living in the country, as well as people hoping to immigrate in the future. With songs like “Hips Don’t Lie” this normalization is possible, and is already happening now.