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

在美国国家科学基金会的快速拨款补充支持下，弗兰克·波特·格雷厄姆儿童发展研究所正在扩大对非洲裔美国人的纵向研究的数据收集和分析，包括在他们生命周期的中学后阶段的访谈。从1990年开始，一组68名非裔美国青年在儿童和青少年时期发展和使用非裔美国英语的过程中被纵向跟踪。样本人口的保留率（1990-91年选择的88名6-12个月大的研究青年中有68名）是特殊的，特别是考虑到队列组的背景人口统计学。从六年级开始，以1年或2年的时间间隔逐步收集孩子的语言样本，并与孩子的母亲和同龄人进行访谈。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，以检查非裔美国青年的各种教育和风险因素。在研究期间，收集了每个参与者的120多个人口统计、社会、心理和教育变量的数据。关于青少年时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、读写能力和学业成就的数据，形成了一个独特而全面的数据库。他们还对非裔美国人英语的早期发展和进步及其社会和教育意义提出了许多新的、基于经验的描述性、理论性和描述性见解。RAPID赠款将数据收集扩展到成年初期的中学后阶段，这是非洲裔美国年轻人职业发展的关键阶段。现在，研究对象的范围从失业的高中辍学生，到目前就读于传统黑人学院和大学或以白人为主的大学的学生，再到那些有职业生涯的人。研究人员对参与者进行了社会语言学访谈，并收集了他们成年后的社会和教育背景数据，以便将这项具有里程碑意义的纵向研究扩展到成年早期的关键阶段。对非裔美国人语言使用的纵向研究结果，对于考察语言在社会中的作用以及理解语言差异在教育中的作用具有重要意义。非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变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.