Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Speaking The Part - Is Black English In The Workplace A Detriment To Climbing The Corporate Ladder? A Sociolinguistic Study Regarding Black English In The Workplace, Kanika Nicole Jackson

Wayne State University Theses

This study aims to explore how African Americans who speak Black English (BE), particularly members of Generation X, function communicatively in corporate America, where the dominant language spoken is Standard American English (SAE). Much of the literature theorized African Americans as being resistant to speaking SAE in mainstream settings in fear of compromising their identities or "acting white." Using in-depth interviews with six African Americans across the country who work in corporate America, this study examines their lived communicative experiences in the workplace and how they learned language balance (the ability to codeswitch).

With data compiled into case studies and …