Spoken Soul: The Language of Black Imagination and Reality

Abstract

Despite American schools administrators' refusal to accept the language of African-American students and their overzealousness to frame language and literacy skills in terms of an “achievement gap,” African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the language of African-American imagination and reality. This article discusses the characteristics of AAVE that make it a real language, as well as The Dozens—an original use of AAVE and one of many creative vehicles of expression used in the African-American community. The article also describes how African-American adult learners used AAVE in their composition class discussions and writings.