A Qualitative Research Study Exploring the Lived Experiences of K-12 School Teachers Who Serve African American Students Who Speak African American Vernacular English

The purpose of the proposed transcendental phenomenological study will be to explore the perceptions and lived experiences of k-12 schoolteachers working with African American students and their usage of AAVE in the State of Maryland. The theories guiding this study are critical race theory and Krashen’s second language acquisition theory. This qualitative transcendental phenomenological study will collect data from 12 participants in the state of Maryland using individual interviews, focus groups, and letters. The data will then be analyzed using Braun and Clarke's qualitative descriptive research data analysis plan. The data showed that k-12 schoolteachers mainly perceived AAVE as a community dialect. Although some teachers believed that AAVE was an acceptable academic dialect, there was a common theme among the participants preferring African American students to code-switch when necessary.