Introduction

Spoken language is a complex human process involving biological, mental, and social sub-systems. It ought not be surprising that language is acquired over time, its social-pragmatic aspects extending across the human life span. Age-dependent patterns of typical language use are important to the professional practices of applied fields such as communication disorders and education. They guide the diagnosis and treatment of communication disorders. They also guide the pedagogical practices, e.g. curricular planning and evaluation of student readiness to participate in school programs. Aside from professional practices, implicit norms of behavior, inclusive of spoken communication, guide the rules of social engagement and participation in the cultural institutions of religion, work, play, and the rituals of daily living. Even the staunchest defenders of nativist views of language acquisition concede that social factors influence language learning. Compromised language development in feral children (Curtiss 1977) is prima facie evidence that human social interaction is critical. However, what has been debatable is whether all social groups learn a language and/or engage in socialization practices that enable their adequate development. A case in point is the native-born group of African Americans in the United States (US), who are the focus of this chapter. It is the second largest racial minority group in this country (2000 Census). Many of its thirty million African American citizens acquire a non-prestige dialect of English as their first language, which is referred to here as African American Vernacular English (AAVE).

The perception that African Americans are culturally and linguistically inferior is likely to stem from their social-political history in the US.