“What are your thoughts on the [So-Called] African-American Vernacular of English?” with Rachel Finley

Speaking Of... Conversations on Voice, Speech, and Identity with Ryan O'Shea

On this episode of Speaking Of… I’m joined by my friend and colleague, Rachel Finley. Rachel is an actor, director, spoken-word artist, writer, and teacher specializing in acting, voice, and speech. Rachel is currently researching dialects of the African diaspora and I invited her as a follow-up to my last episode. I asked Rachel “What are your thoughts on the “So-Called African American Vernacular of English?” We talked about why AAVE is a useful term for linguists, but less so as a term to describe the accent of an entire race. Rachel shared her thoughts on what might be a better term, and offered perspectives on how she approaches researching and teaching accents of the diaspora (and beyond).
You can find complete show notes and links to everything we’ve mentioned in the episode on https://www.voiceandspeechwithryan.com/podcast.