The purpose of this study was to investigate White early childhood educators’ beliefs about the effects of children’s use of African American English (AAE) on children’s academic performance. The study investigated the extent to which educators’ background and training, knowledge of AAE, and perceived competence predicted their beliefs. Two-hundred and nine White early childhood educators, working in preschool through third-grade settings, completed a survey on their perceptions of AAE, knowledge of AAE, and perceived competence when serving children who speak AAE. Results indicated that educators with less education had more negative beliefs about AAE on children’s performance. Training on cultural/linguistic diversity was associated with educators having more positive beliefs about AAE. Educators’ perceived competency about their capacity to serve AAE speakers moderated the associations between knowledge of AAE and beliefs about AAE. These findings highlight the imperative of professional learning experiences on the socio-political history, cultural significance, and linguistic features of AAE to counteract negative beliefs and promote pedagogy that leverages African American children’s language in ways that affirm their identities and support academic success.

中文翻译：

---

当孩子们在谈论黑人时：白人教育工作者对非裔美国英语对幼儿成绩影响的看法


本研究的目的是调查白人幼儿教育工作者对儿童使用非裔美国英语 （AAE） 对儿童学习成绩影响的看法。该研究调查了教育工作者的背景和培训、AAE 知识和感知能力在多大程度上预测了他们的信念。209 名从学前班到三年级的白人幼儿教育工作者完成了一项调查，内容是他们对 AAE 的看法、对 AAE 的了解以及在为说 AAE 的儿童服务时感知的能力。结果表明，受教育程度较低的教育工作者对 AAE 对儿童表现的负面看法更多。文化/语言多样性培训与教育工作者对 AAE 有更积极的看法有关。教育工作者对他们为 AAE 演讲者服务的能力的感知调节了 AAE 知识与对 AAE 的看法之间的关联。这些发现强调了关于 AAE 的社会政治历史、文化意义和语言特征的专业学习经验的必要性，以抵消负面信念并促进利用非裔美国儿童语言的教学法，以肯定他们的身份和支持学业成功。