Can You Hear (and See) Me Now? African American Women and Their Language in Sociolinguistic Research

• In Event: Crossing Boundaries and Blending Methodologies: Innovations in Critical Race Research Methods and Methodologies

Abstract

I will critique race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality in Sociolinguistics research using a Critical Race Theory framework and intersectionality. In Sociolinguistics research, African American women have often been ignored, made invisible, and overlooked as research participants – and sometimes as researchers. This omission is an example of the permanence of racism as well as sexism at best and misogyny at worst. In research on language uses in African American communities, most research was and, to some extent, still focuses on young, urban Black males as the “authentic” users of African American Language (AAL), or specifically African American Vernacular Language (AAVL), which is a sub-variety of AAL. Linguists seem to have difficulty going beyond two variables from the “norm” of “White, Heterosexual, Cis-Male.” So, White cis-females, gay White males, and Black cis-males are acceptable, but Black women and girls or Black lesbians are absent and insignificant. Therefore, even though AAL is the most studied language variety in the United States, that study omits more than half the population of speakers. To demonstrate this, I will critique the research methods and methodologies of AAL sociolinguistic research from 1969-2017 with respect to (1) the AAL variety (e.g., starting with the seminal studies in Detroit and New York City till recent research), (2) justification provided for participant selection (e.g., some researchers have said they focus on Black male teenagers because they use “authentic” AAVL), (3) demographics of the participants, and (4) demographics of the researchers. This study, then, focuses on how a CRT framework informs our understanding of problematic research methods, methodologies, and results in a complex society with sociocultural and historical contexts that are interconnected with new ways to conduct and focus research.

Author

• Sonja L. Lanehart, The University of Texas - San Antonio