Looking back while moving Forward: When teacher Attitudes Belie Teacher Motive in Bidialectal Classrooms

Abstract

Abstract: This study compares and contrasts the language attitudes of teachers of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and West Indian Creole English (CE) speakers over the last fifty years, to determine if there have been any significant changes, to draw out the implications of these findings and offer reasons for the results. Teachers’ attitudes towards these languages were generally negative over the decades, but I noticed that as the number of teachers of colour increased in the USA, there was a slight shift in attitude towards AAVE in a positive direction. I conclude that though language attitudes are very difficult to change, teacher education which specifically targets and challenges teacher language attitudes will be a major step in helping to shift these attitudes further for the benefit of teacher and student.

Keywords: Teacher Attitude, AAVE, Creole, Language Discrimination