Variation and grammar in African American English

Suitable for 14 to 19-year-olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom or shared with students online.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5 English Language and Linguistics.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks:
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• This teaching resource explains the work of Professor Lisa Green, based at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the US, who leads research investigating the variation and grammar of African American English in children and adults. Her findings will include insights into the properties of children’s early language use and the stages of development involved.
• This resource also contains an interview with Lisa. If you or your students have a question for her, you can submit it online – go to the article using the Futurum link below and scroll to the bottom of the page. Lisa will reply!
• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on Lisa’s research, and tasks them to conduct their own linguistics study.

This resource was first published on Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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