Geneva Smitherman ended up in speech therapy in her freshman year at Wayne State University in the 1950s, when she failed a test to screen incoming teaching students for possible speech problems. The ...

Several years ago, a school district in Oakland, California suggested that African-American children be taught standard English using teaching methods used to teach the English language to non English ...

BY OLASUNKANMI AROWOLO Language is never neutral. In Nigeria, it has always been political, cultural and symbolic.

Oxford University Press has announced a large-scale study that will culminate in the Oxford Dictionary of African American English, the brainchild of historian Henry Louis Gates that will focus on the ...

For as long as she can remember, Sonja Lanehart has been fascinated by how people speak. In particular, she was interested in the differences she noticed between how white people spoke, when compared ...

American English has many forms. It’s evolved over 400 years to match this country’s dynamic history. Humanities professor Ilan Stavans says that because it’s so adaptable, American English can unify ...

“Dr. Holt, I need you to come listen to one of my second graders. This is one of my best students, but I’m worried I might be overlooking a speech or language disorder—I’m just not sure,” the teacher ...

A man I know recently spent several weeks visiting his native South Africa. Upon his return to the United States, he found himself one day passing through a certain section of Oakland. Everyone on the ...

American Sign Language (ASL), used by half a million Americans, is the fourth most studied foreign language at colleges and universities. Despite its critical role for those who can't use spoken ...