RAPID Grant Proposal: The Sociolinguistic Significance of the Post-Secondary School Stage in the Longitudinal Development of African American English

在国家科学基金会的快速赠款补充支持下，弗兰克·波特·格雷厄姆儿童发展研究所正在扩大对非裔美国人的纵向研究的数据收集和分析，将他们生命周期的后中学阶段的访谈包括在内。从1990年开始，对68名非洲裔美国青年在童年和青春期发展和使用非洲裔美国英语的情况进行了纵向跟踪调查。样本人口的留存率(1990-91年选择的88名6至12个月的研究青年中的68人)是特殊的，特别是考虑到队列群体的背景人口统计数据。语言样本每隔一年或两年逐步从孩子身上收集，并与孩子的母亲和六年级开始的同龄人进行访谈。此外，还进行了一系列标准化和非标准化测试，并在整个研究过程中收集了每个孩子的背景信息，以检查非裔美国年轻人的各种教育和风险因素。在研究过程中，为每个参与者收集了超过120个人口统计、社会、心理和教育变量的数据。关于青春期语言发展和变化的数据，关于家庭、同伴和学校环境的数据，以及关于元语言、识字和学业成绩衡量标准的数据，形成了一个独特的、全面的数据库。他们还带来了一些新的，基于经验的描述性、理论性和描述性的见解，关于非裔美国人英语的早期发展和进步及其社会和教育意义。这项快速拨款将数据的收集扩展到成年初期的中学后阶段，这是非裔美国年轻人职业发展的关键阶段。研究参与者现在的范围从失业的高中辍学生到目前就读于历史上的黑人学院和大学或以白人为主的大学的人，以及那些拥有专业职业生涯的人。这项具有里程碑意义的纵向研究可以扩展到包括成年初期的一个关键阶段。对非裔美国人语言使用的纵向研究结果对于考察社会中的语言和理解语言差异在教育中的作用具有重要的意义。非洲裔美国人英语的使用及其在年轻人的社会、个人和教育生活中的作用，为语言在童年、青春期和成年期的角色转换提供了一个批判性的视角。

With RAPID Grant Supplement support from National Science Foundation, the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute is extending the data collection and analysis of a longitudinal study of African Americans to include interviews during the post-secondary phase in their life cycle. Starting in 1990, a group of 68 African American youth have been followed longitudinally as they develop and use African American English during childhood and adolescence. The rate of retention (68 of 88 study youth selected in 1990-91 at 6-12 months of age) for the sample population is exceptional, particularly given the background demographics of the cohort group. Language samples were collected progressively from the children at one or two-year increments and interviews were conducted with the children's mothers as well as peers starting in Grade 6. In addition, a battery of standardized and nonstandardized tests were administered, and background information was collected for each child throughout the study to examine a variety of educational and at-risk factors for African American youth. Data were collected for more than 120 demographic, social, psychological, and educational variables for each participant during the study. The data on language development and change during adolescence, the data on family, peer, and school environment, and the data on metalanguage, literacy, and academic achievement measures have resulted in a unique, comprehensive database. They have also led to a number of new, empirically based descriptive, theoretical, and descriptive insights on the early development and progression of African American English and its social and educational significance.The RAPID grant extends the collection of data to the post-secondary phase in incipient adulthood, a critical stage in the career development of African American young adults. Study participants now range from high school dropouts who are unemployed to those currently enrolled at Historically Black Colleges and Universities or predominantly white universities and to those with professional careers. Sociolinguistic interviews are being conducted with participants, and background social and educational data are being collected from subjects as they transition into adulthood so that this landmark longitudinal study can be extended to include a crucial stage in early adulthood.The results from the longitudinal study of language use by African Americans have significant implications for the examination of language in society and for understanding the role of language differences in education. The use of African American English and its role in the social, personal, and educational lives of young adults adds a critical perspective on the shifting role of language through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.