The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

they are unaware of the social implications attached to them. Thus begins the struggle for a new identity
somewhere in between, one that will be accepted by both communities of speakers.
The academy’s expectations of SAE production in college composition papers necessitate an
aggressive growth of SAE in the writing of speakers of AAVE in order for the demographic to attain social and
vertical mobility. Nonetheless, adherence to expectations and standards by this disadvantaged population is not
necessarily the primary concern. As tutors, we are educators, and as educators, we have a responsibility to avoid
stifling the African American voice while attempting to instill appropriate SAE writing features for their success
in academic work and business. By stifling their style completely, we run the risk of causing more damage than
just dry, formulaic, unoriginal term papers; we run the risk of destroying their social and cultural identities. The
academy values a sophisticated use of voice, but this is a sophistication which speakers of AAVE, as novice
writers, lack. Cooks explains that students “must learn not to think of writing in a hierarchical structure but rather
to think of all types of writing as being equally valid” (2004, p. 76). Roozen reminds us to consider “how
important it is in human terms to look at the whole person, to support the extracurricular activities as well as the
curricular” (2008, p. 30). Throughout my experiences working with speakers of AAVE, I have noticed a strong
resistance to this hierarchical structure, especially with students new to an academic community, but the
institution has built that structure and has maintained it. These writers are not the only ones who need to stop
thinking of writing as a hierarchical structure. We all do. Perhaps this breakdown begins with the tutor. We have
the power to be sensitive and encouraging, of bringing awareness to the African American student of the
significance of having a strong control over both dialects. Educators have a responsibility to provide more for
students than standard methods. As composition tutors, we encourage students to develop their own ideas and
arguments by supporting them with evidence and analysis. We explain that we value their opinions, that we are
interested in what makes them unique and progressive thinkers. However, we need to listen because listening is a
fundamental signal that we truly value what they have to say.
Getting off the soap box, there are definitely practical approaches to working with the writing of
speakers of AAVE. One of the best places to begin is just knowing which features are common (and sometimes
even unique) in their writing. Like code switching, you may recognize some of these features as ‘errors’ you
might find in an ESL writer’s paper. It should come as small surprise, then, that often the best way to approach
these features in an AAVE speaker/writer’s paper is with more direct and explicit feedback as we would an ESL
paper.
� They will rarely omit a plural –s if it is pronounced /z/
The boys and girls bought stamp to mail letters to their three cat.
� Possessive –s in noun possessive construction is often omitted
The lady purse is pink.
� Regular plural endings omitted
I’m takin five class this semester.
� 3 rd person singular –s is almost always omitted
Everyone drive to work at the same time.
� Dropped –ed past-tense marker
We park the car too far away, yesterday.
� There is often an absence of inflected “is” and “are”
She ( ) mad cuz we ( ) fly.
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