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Florida International University
African American English; Ebonics; Student Attitudes; Student Perceptions
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Exploring Children's Perceptions Of African American English, Tamika L. Lewis
Exploring Children's Perceptions Of African American English, Tamika L. Lewis
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The differences in attitudes toward African American English (AAE) and Mainstream American English (MAE) were investigated among elementary students (N=34) and middle school students (N=40) using the Speech Evaluation Instrument (SEI). Participants listened to audio recordings of speakers of AAE and MAE and then completed the SEI.
Both elementary and middle school students perceived MAE positively (p =.005), as hypothesized. However, for both hypotheses related to AAE, the researcher hypothesized that both groups would perceive the language negatively; however, in both cases, the researcher failed to reject the null hypothesis. Comparing how each group perceived …