Doctoral Dissertation Research: Language and Community Change in Harlem

对语言及其变化的研究至关重要的是纵向研究，它允许随着时间的推移对社区进行检查。本研究主要关注纽约市哈莱姆区的非裔美国人英语。非裔美国人英语（African American English）是指非裔美国人在美国使用的一种非标准英语。这个术语涵盖了广泛的说话方式，从非常随意到非常正式，由来自不同年龄组，种族和社会经济背景的一系列个人使用。今天，由于中产阶级化，哈莱姆正在经历迅速的变化。这导致了随着新居民的到来，黑人占多数的人数减少。本研究的目的是研究自20世纪60年代以来，哈莱姆的非裔美国人居民的语言发生了变化，鉴于社区本身发生了重大变化。也就是说，现在哈莱姆不再是非洲裔美国人的家，非洲裔美国人的英语发生了什么变化？这项研究将观察和记录大约72个居民的哈莱姆，从一系列的年龄组和社会经济阶层。社会和语言数据将通过对个人和群体的社会语言学访谈以及人种学观察来收集，然后将其与20世纪60年代在哈莱姆进行的语言学研究进行比较。目前的研究有望建立一个更全面的语言接触和变化的画面，并将揭示有关的问题，语言传播的媒介。这项研究也对教育有影响，特别是在城市中心，黑人学生继续在美国各地的学校挣扎。更好地了解非裔美国人英语及其使用的社会环境可以帮助教育工作者区分方言差异和实际学习缺陷，从而为学生提供必要的支持。

Critical to the study of languages and how they change are longitudinal studies, which allow for the examination of communities over time. This study focuses on African American English as spoken in Harlem, New York City. African American English refers to a nonstandard variety of English characteristically spoken by African Americans in the United States. This term covers a wide range of ways of speaking, from very casual to very formal, as spoken by a range of individuals from different age groups, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. Today, Harlem is undergoing rapid change due to gentrification. This has resulted in a decrease of its black majority as new residents come in. The aim of this research is to examine the ways in which the language of Harlem's African American residents has changed since the 1960s, in light of the significant changes the neighborhood itself has undergone. That is, what is happening to African American English, now that Harlem is no longer home to just African Americans? This study will observe and record roughly seventy-two residents of Harlem, from a range of age groups and socioeconomic classes. Social and linguistic data will be collected through sociolinguistic interviews with individuals and groups and ethnographic observations, which will then be compared to previous linguistic research conducted in Harlem in the 1960s. The current research promises to build a more comprehensive picture of language contact and change, and will shed light on issues pertaining to mediums for language transmission. This study also has implications for education, especially in urban centers, where black students continue to struggle in schools throughout the United States. A better understanding of African American English and the social circumstances under which it is used can help educators to differentiate between dialectal differences and actual learning deficiencies, and thus provide the necessary support for students.