Training and Perspectives of Speech-Language Pathologists Serving African American English-Speaking Students

• In Event: Promising Scholarship in Education: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

With increasing diversity in the U.S., classroom teachers are faced with a growing number of students from linguistically diverse populations. Though services for bilingual learners and students with special needs are readily available, minimal supports exist for students who speak African American English (AAE). The purpose of the current study is to examine the level of training that school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) receive in order to support their evaluation and treatment of AAE-speaking students. The relationship between their level of training and their knowledge and awareness (K/A) and opinions and attitudes (O/A) was explored. Additionally, SLPs’ specific attitudes toward AAE and AAE-speaking populations was investigated.

The topic is examined through a Critical Race Theory (CRT) lens with respect to the intersection of race and class and the use of AAE. The discussion incorporates an exploration of historical, legal, sociocultural, and philosophical factors that contribute to the status and position of AAE-speaking students in contemporary schools.

Author

• Dionna Latimer-Hearn, Notre Dame of Maryland University