The article, “Academic Ignorance and Black Intelligence, is an eye opener to a language that I have heard, but never related to. As an African American women, I didn’t realize the language that is spoken at times by myself and others in my community is called Black English vernacular (BEV).
Research has shown that verbal deprivation does play an important part in how students perform on test and their verbal expression. Educational psychologists back in the 60’s felt that black children had little verbal stimulation. They stated that children from the ghetto area were not exposed to well formed language, and could not speak in complete sentences. As time went on others realized that verbal deprivation had no basis in real society. It showed the students from the ghetto received verbal stimulation and was surrounded with individuals who used complete sentences.
The verbal deprivation theory was developed to show why black children did not do well in math and reading in school. Many black students lag about two years behind the national norm, where they do worst in the fifth grade than in the first grade. One area that has a significant effect on the student performance is their socioeconomic status. Segregated groups such as Indian, Mexican-Americans, and African American children do poorly in school.
Some educational psychologists such as Basil Bernstein, feel that middle class language is superior and the black children need a language they can learn and understand. Bernstein felt that the language the used was of culturally deprived children and was an underdeveloped version of the English language. Although many dismissed Bernstein’s views, many teachers have this same underlying view of black students which impacts the way they teach and their expectations of these students.
This article, points out the views of Deutsch, Engelman. And Bereiter, who feel the black students has no verbal stimulation, but means the black student has a wealth of verbal stimulation. The verbal deprivation
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