James Smith: The impact of social language on literacy

Sian Armstrong reads alongside James Smith and his grandson after “The Right To Read” event.  (April Eberhardt/The Black Lens)
By James Smith The Black Lens

Language is about community. I recently attended a documentary screening of “The Right to Read,” which was a collaboration between the NAACP and The Black Lens. Although reading literacy was the primary focus, my afterthought was how oral language that we use in our homes can impact a person’s literacy.

Using an exchange between myself and my grandson as an example of my quandary, in my excitement to see my 2-year-old grandson, Isaiah, I often say (in jest): “What up, man?” In hindsight, my thinking was whether that was a proper way to greet a 2-year-old in the early stages of his learning development, and what impact what he hears will have when goes out the door, into society. What message am I sending to him when I use informal language? I also think about rap music and other ways that language is demonstrated outside of official or professional situations. Ultimately, I wonder, when looking at how literacy has evolved through generations and its impact on language development in the Black community.

Here’s some of my observations: We must play to win! Academic and social language are essential in how we navigate the world, and understanding the difference between them is important. Generally speaking, it helps our literacy when we know things like the etymology of words (suffixes and prefixes), vernacular (specific to different settings), and how to use language in context. It’s not a question of whether it is okay or not okay to use social language over academic language, we have to know how and when to use them both. Knowledge is power, so here are some language references to best understand our literacy journey:

AAVE: African American Vernacular English

BICS: Basic interpersonal communication skills

CALP: Cognitive academic language proficiency

Colloquialism: A word or expression that is informal, regional, or slang. Learn the synonyms, examples and history of different colloquialisms.

Assimilation raises an important question in the Black community. Do we lose ourselves by fitting into the dominant culture? How important is assimilation in society? We must engage in the process through which individuals and groups of differing heritages acquire the basic habits, attitudes, and mode of life of an embracing culture. One thing we need to realize is that we have always been literate, orally. The spoken word was how we carried information. We were just without the proper tools, such as books, understanding letters and sounds, but no one can take away from us the innovation and intuition it took to survive through the use of language–spirituals, songs, carried over words from the native tongue of a land we never knew; we knew how to use language to navigate spaces and open doors.

Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics, Department of English offers in “The Sound of Racial Profiling: When language leads to Discrimination” the notion that the problem isn’t with the speech itself but with attitudes that interpret the speech – that is linguistic profiling?

More broadly, research both in linguistics and social psychology has looked at how subtle and often unconscious linguistic practices predispose us to react to and think about people differently depending on their race. Dr. Gholdy Mohammed offers in her book Cultivating Genius: “When Nina Simone sang the uplifting lyrics of her song ‘Young, Gifted and Black’ in 1970, she invited her listeners into a powerful way of re-envisioning Black excellence in themselves and Black people around them. But even half a century later, there are a host of barriers that continue to undermine the flourishing of Black excellence in educational settings.”

What does it mean for Black youth to cultivate intellectual excellence in a society that disavows their intelligence and their capability? What does it look like to disrupt these patterns and empower Black students in meaningful ways? We have never been an illiterate people. Understanding self is paramount in identity.

There is no organization that doesn’t have a standard of conduct or behavioral expectations: Church, sporting events, schools, the military, the theater, etc. When it comes to language, there needs to be differentiation and understanding of time and place, so that we can be prepared in different spaces. It is a life skill. It is our responsibility to teach both. When was the last time you checked the language that you use and reflected in its impact?

The Black Lens staff contributed to this report.