Addressing Disproportionality in Special Education through Pragmatic Language Research on African American Vernacular English (AAVE)

• In Event: Unforgetting the Past, Disrupting the Present: Border-Crossing Approaches to Inclusive Education Policy, Research, and Practice

Abstract

Objectives
This manuscript explores how misinterpretations of pragmatic features in African American Vernacular English (AAVE)—such as directness, call-and-response, and narrative looping—contribute to the over-identification of African American students in special education, especially in the category of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD). It advocates for culturally responsive assessment frameworks, systemic changes to referral practices, and educator training to differentiate between linguistic difference and disorder. The ultimate aim is to reduce disproportionality and promote equitable, linguistically just practices in schools.

Perspective(s) or Theoretical Framework
The study draws from critical sociolinguistics, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and pragmatics-as-social-practice. It centers emic perspectives to examine AAVE discourse, speech acts, and presupposition, engaging theories of linguistic relativity (Whorf), sociocultural theory (Vygotsky), and theory of mind. The manuscript also incorporates frameworks from disability studies, intersectionality, and Black rhetorical traditions to analyze bias in referrals and the pathologizing of culturally normative behavior. The goal is to shift from deficit models toward affirming AAE as a rule-governed, expressive dialect that reflects cultural identity and cognitive sophistication.

Methods, Techniques, or Modes of Inquiry
This work is a multidisciplinary, critical literature synthesis spanning linguistics, education, and speech-language pathology. It integrates discourse analysis of pragmatic AAVE features, synthesis of empirical findings on disproportionality, and interpretive analysis of how teacher bias and cultural mismatch shape subjective referral outcomes. Case studies, narrative discourse data, and pragmatic language assessments from existing literature are interpreted through a culturally responsive lens to challenge dominant paradigms in special education classification.

Data Sources
Sources include peer-reviewed studies (2014–2025) on AAVE pragmatics, EBD classification practices, and racialized patterns in special education. Materials reviewed span developmental and clinical assessments, teacher rating scales, and ethnographic studies on Black communicative norms. Evidence is drawn from qualitative and quantitative findings, including national referral trends, pragmatic discourse performance, narrative language studies, and reports from education policy organizations on over-identification and bias in behavioral assessments.

Results and/or Substantiated Conclusions
The manuscript argues that pragmatic differences in AAVE are routinely misread as behavioral disorders due to implicit bias and a lack of cultural linguistic training. Culturally normative behaviors—like overlapping talk, topic looping, and direct speech acts—are often pathologized in classrooms, fueling disproportionate EBD referrals. Evidence demonstrates that educator perception, rather than objective behavior, drives many referrals. Findings support adopting culturally responsive assessment protocols, dialect awareness training, and translanguaging pedagogy to prevent misclassification. The manuscript concludes that reframing AAVE pragmatics as strengths rather than deficits is essential to achieving diagnostic equity and disrupting racial disproportionality in special education.

Scholarly Significance of the Study
This study contributes to a growing body of work calling for linguistically just practices in education and clinical settings. It addresses a major research gap by focusing on AAVE pragmatics rather than solely on structural features. By reframing cultural language use as competence rather than disorder, the manuscript pushes the field toward more inclusive, antiracist diagnostic practices and supports a shift toward equity in special education referrals and outcomes.

Author

• Camille O’Quin, Governors State University