A Content Analysis of the Style of Speeches of Black College Students.

A stylistic content analysis of speeches of black college students was conducted in 1999, the results of which were compared to a stylistic content analysis of speeches of two groups of college students conducted in 1979. In 1999, one group of 30 speeches of black college students at a historically black university in the Southeast was compared to content analyses of two groups of speeches of black college students, one group of 25 speeches of 25 black college students at the historically black university and the other group of 21 speeches of 21 black college students at the nearby historically white university, conducted in 1979.

In 1999, 30 speeches of 30 students were randomly selected from among 179 self-introduction speeches of black college students to be content analyzed for stylistic features, such as number of words per sentence, number of sentences, number of adjectives to verbs, number of black dialect syntax, and the readability level according to words per sentence. The means of the selected stylistic features of the 30 speeches were compared to the means of the stylistic features of the 25 speeches of black college students at the historically black university and the means of the 21 speeches of the black college students at the historically white university in 1979; however, the 1979 study involved many more stylistic features than in the 1999 stylistic content analysis study.

The results indicated that the 1999 group of speeches and the 1979 groups of speeches were significantly different in sentence length and approached significance in word length and black dialect syntax.

The hoopla about the Oakland School Board on-again, off-again requirement that black children who speak Ebonics be managed as if they should speak another language (Linguists find the debate over Ebonics uninformed, 1997; California: Oakland says it will teach standard English, 1997; The man who coined the term `Ebonics," 1997) provided an opportunity to revisit the issue of the style in the speeches of black college students. What is the style in the speeches of black college students? Is the style descriptive? Is black dialect syntax plentiful in such speeches? Has the style of black college students changed in the last twenty years?

Style may be defined as "the choice and use of words" (Reinard, 1998, p. 176). Devito (1967b) defined style as the selection and arrangement of those linguistic features that are open to choice. Specifically, he (Devito, 1967b) defined style as that element of speech pertaining to grammar, sentence length, diversity and complexity of sentences, and other such aspects. The purpose of this study was to analyze speeches of black college students for selected stylistic features, such as word length, sentence length, Adjective-Verb Quotient, readability level, and black dialect syntax. Furthermore, the results of the stylistic content analysis were compared to the stylistic content analysis conducted twenty years ago, 1979, by one of the researchers (Evans, 1980).

Background Studies

The style of speech has been observed more than 5,000 years ago; however, the most popular record occurred during the Classical period (Osborn and Motley, 1999). The style of black students has been a focus more than twenty years ago when Williams (1968), Labor (1969b) Style (1969), Davis (1970), and Taylor (1971) noted differences in the speech of black students. Evans (1980) noted differences in the stylistic features of speeches of black students in two different settings. The stylistic features she examined were word length, sentence length, adjective-verb Quotient, main and subordinate clauses, readability, human interest, nonfluency, and black dialect. The present study examined speeches of black students in one setting for word length, sentence length, Adjective-verb Quotient, readability, and black dialect syntax.

Since Evans' study (1980), the focus of many studies has been on the comparison of speaking and writing styles of black students, the employability of black speakers, and the perceptions of teachers of black dialect. Black dialect is referred to by many names: Ebonics, Black American dialect, Black English Vernacular, and African American dialect.

Price (1993), Collier (1993), Campbell (1993), Bryan (1989), Ingram (1989), Balester (1988), Visor (1987), and Irby (1996) studied black American dialect, as it relates to speaking and writing. Price (1993) examined the speech of four black students from poverty-stricken families who could readily shift from Black English Vernacular to Standard American English. He noted that the four had extensive expository writing experiences and nurturing teachers and families, had enjoyed reading and backgrounds of reading good literature, and had career goals. In examining the writings of African American students, Collier (1993) observed that the students had traces of Black English Vernacular at the organizational level, but that the occurrences varied widely from one student to the other. Campbell (1993) studied African American males' speaking and writing styles as they relate to reading and writing standard American English. He concluded that African American Black English speakers utilize a complex system of rhetoric that includes black culture identity and reality. Bryan (1989) observed black college students in planned and unplanned texts of speaking and writing to a peer audience. He found that the black students' texts were rated cohesive but not coherent, and readability was distorted. Balester (1988) studied ethos in the written discourse of two black college students. She concluded that the black students shifted discourse conventions and dialect, which, in some instances, were stilted and hyper-proper. Visor (1978) studied the writings of freshman students who spoke black English. She noted that the Black English speakers utilized American Black English features in their initial writing tasks, such as unsupported assumptions, disconnected ideas, unexplained examples, and shortened logic. Irby (1996) observed the speaking and writing of African American students to ascertain the double culture and metalinguistic awareness, which she found were utilized by the students. Most of the aforementioned studies concluded that, among other things, black dialect speakers retain at least a measure of their dialect in both speaking and writing.

Voigt (1993), Williams (1991) and Robbins (1987) studied black dialect as it relates to employability. Using professional interviewers as raters, Voigt (1993) noted that Black English speakers with equal qualifications were rated as less employable than the network news English speakers. Williams (1991), using videotaped recordings of simulated employment interviews, found that speakers of Black Vernacular English were rated less employable as sales representatives, supervisors, and file clerks. Robbins (1981) noted that, after giving one group of students training in interview techniques and another training in interviewing techniques and broadcasting, the group receiving both training techniques were rated by local employers as more intelligent, likable, competent, self-expressive, and more employable than the other group. The aforementioned studies concluded that black dialect speakers are perceived as less employable than those who have none or less of the dialect.

Harrold (1995), Ingram (1989), Levegue (1992), and Brunious (1997) studied black American dialect as it relates to perceptions of teachers. Harrold (1995) noted that most faculty in the system viewed Black English less negatively; however, black faculty viewed black English more positively than white faculty. Further, Harrold concluded that the faculty members were unaware of the sociolinguistic relationship of language development and the dialect of the students. Ingram (1989) found a similar attitude in six-grade teachers, who also did not understand the linguistic distinction between standard and nonstandard dialects. Leveque (1992) studied the significant factors related to the performance of English-speaking Caribbean American students. She noted that recency of immigration, dialect usage, and socioeconmic status influence achievement. Brunious (1997), after studing results of others, concluded that black children come to school with a rich set of experiences and a well-developed dialect called Black English, but that in approximately two years their scores begin to drop never to recover. She surmized that the regular labeling which the children receive promotes their low self-worth and valuation. The aforementioned studies indicate that students who use black dialect receive negative perceptions generally from their teachers, who usually do not understand the development of dialects.

Methodology

The stylistic content analysis consists of these procedures:

1. Introduction speeches of students in six speech classes were videotaped in the Fall and Spring semesters, 1998-1999.

2. Of the 179 speeches videotaped, thirty were randomly selected for the stylistic content analysis.

3. The thirty speeches were transcribed into print, from which only the first 100 words to the end of the nearest sentence of each speech were analyzed.

4. The 100 words were analyzed for

a. sentence length in average words per sentence;

b. word length in syllables per word;

c. Adjective-Verb Quotient, by dividing the number of adjectives by the number of verbs so as to gauge the frequency of descriptive language in the speech; and,

d. the number of black dialect syntax, such as

1) verb usage,

3) noun usage,

4) pronoun usage,

5) adjective usage,

6) adverb usage,

7) preposition usage, and

8) specific word usage.

5. Readability was calculated using the average words per sentence or sentence lengths according to Flesch's readability grade levels. (Schneider, 1992) used Flesch's readability scale with Fry and Gunning readability scales to determine readability of several speech books.)

6. The results of the 1999 study were compared to the study completed in 1979. In the study, two groups of black college students, one group from Florida A&M University and the other from Florida State University, were subjects. The student subjects each presented a major speech which was audiotaped in class. The speeches were analyzed for many stylistic features, four of which were used for comparison to the features in the 1999 study.

Analysis and Discussion

A content analysis of stylistic features of speeches of black college students was conducted in 1999. The results of the study were compared to a similar study of two groups of black college students in 1979.

Table 1 shows the class intervals of word lengths in number of syllables per word in the speeches of college students in 1999 and in the speeches of two groups of college students in 1979.

Table 1 Class Intervals of Word Length in Number of Syllables Per Word in Speeches of Black College Students in 1999 and in Two Groups of Speeches of Black College Students in 1979

                     Predominant Race of the University and Year

Word Length          N  Black 1999   Black 1979   White 1979

 .95-1.04                   1           0            0
1.05-1.14                   1           0            0
1.15-1.24                   0           0            0
1.25-1.34                   2           3            6
1.35-1.44                   9           6            5
1.45-1.54                   5           9            8
1.55-1.64                   9           3            2
1.65-1.74                   2           2            0
1.75-1.84                   1           2            0
Total                      30          25           21
Mean                        1.48        1.49         1.41
Standard Deviation           .66         .13          .11

The means of the word lengths among the three groups were as follows: 1.48 for the 30 speeches in 1999, 1.49 for the 25 speeches of students at the same university in 1979 and 1.41 for the 21 speeches of the students at the predominantly white university. The three groups were not significantly different in mean word lengths at the .05 level of confidence, having an F-ratio of 2.86; however, the ratio was approaching significance.

In Table 2, class intervals of sentence length in words per sentence in the speeches of the college students in 1999 and in the two groups of speeches of the college students in 1979 are presented. The means of the sentence lengths among the three groups were as follows: 13.64 for the 1999 group, and 19.28 for the students at the same university, and 16.66 for the students at the predominantly white university for the 1979 groups. Having an F-ratio of 3.87, the three means were significantly different at the .05 level of confidence. The students at the predominantly black university in 1979 had higher sentence lengths than the other groups.

Table 2 Class Intervals of Sentence Lengths in Words Per Sentence as a Function of Speeches of Black College Students in 1999 and in Two Groups of Speeches in 1979

                      Predominant Race of the University and Year

Sentence Length      Number   Black 1999   Black 1979   White 1979

 7-09                               7            1            0
10-12                               7            2            1
13-15                               5            9            6
16-18                               7           11           10
19-21                               3            0            3
22-24                               1            0            1
25-27                               0            0            0
28-31                               0            2            0
Total                              30           25           21

Mean                               13.64        19.28        16.66
Standard Deviation                  4.23         4.15         2.74

Table 3 shows the readability levels of the speeches of the three groups of students based on their average sentence lengths according to Flesch's estimate of grade levels. The speeches of the 1999 group placed at the 7th grade, the speeches of the students at the predominantly white university placed at the 8th and 9th grades, and the speeches of the students at the predominantly black university placed at the 10th to 12th grades.

Table 3 Intervals of Flesch's Norms on Estimating Reading Grades Based on Average Sentence Lengths of the Speeches of the Students in 1999 and of the Two Groups of Students in 1979

                                   Predominant Race of the
                                     University and Year

                                      Black   Black   White
Reading Grade          Length     N   1999    1979    1979

5th                   7-09(*)          7       0       0
6th                  10-12             7       1       1
7th                  13-15             5       2       6
8th and 9th          16-18             7       9      10
10th to 12th         19-24             4      11       4
13th to 16th         25-27             4      11       4
College Graduate     28 or More        0       2       0
Total                   30            25       2       1

Mean                                  13.64   19.28   16.66
Standard Deviation                     4.23    4.15    2.74

(*) Estimates in Intervals

Table 4 shows the class intervals of the Adjective-Verb Quotients (AVQ) in the speeches of the college students in 1999 and in the speeches of the college students at the predominantly black university and at the predominantly white university in 1979. Having an F-ratio of 1.36, the means of the groups of 1.06 for the 1999 group, .36 for the 1979 black university group, and .28 for the 1979 white university group were not significantly different at the .05 level of confidence; however, the 1999 group had a larger mean AVQ.

Table 4 Class Intervals of Adjective-Verb Quotients (AVQ) as a Function of Speeches of College Students in 1999 and of Two Groups of College Students in 1979

                     Predominant Race of the University and Year

AVQ                  N   Black 1999   Black 1979   White 1979

  0-.19                       0           7            9
.20-.39                       4          10            8
.40-.59                       5           4            2
.60-.79                       0           2            1
.80-.99                       4           1            0
1.00-1.19                     8           1            1
1.20-1.39                     1           0            0
1.40-1.59                     3           0            0
1.60-1.79                     3           0            0
1.80 and Above                2           0            0
Total                        30          25           21

Mean                          1.06         .36          .28
Standard Deviation             .69         .24          .23

Table 5 shows the class intervals of the number of black dialect syntax in the speeches of the 1999 group (.33), and the two 1979 groups (black university group, .60 and white university group, .81). The means were not significantly different at the .05 level of confidence, with an F-ratio of .284; however, the means were approaching significance.

Table 5 Class Intervals of Number of Black Dialect Syntax as a Function Of Speeches of College Students in 1999 and of Two Groups of College Students in 1979

                       Predominant Race of the University and Year

Black Dialect Syntax   N   Black 1999   Black 1979   White 1979

0                             23            7            0
.01-1                          4           15           16
1.01-2                         3            2            4
2.01-3                         0            1            1
Total                         30           25           21
Mean                            .33          .60          .81
Standard Deviation              .66

Of the four stylistic features calculated on the speeches of the three groups of college students, one group of speeches presented in 1999, and the other two in 1979, only sentence lengths were significantly different among the speeches. On the other measures of word length, Adjective-Verb Quotient, and black dialect syntax, the three groups were approaching significance.

On word length and sentence length, the 1979 speeches had larger means. This may have occurred because the speeches were longer, therefore the number of words greater. The speeches presented in 1979 were major speeches, in which an average of 100 words were taken from the beginning of the speeches, middle of the speeches, and ending of the speeches. In 1999, introduction speeches that were considerably shorter were used as the content from which 100 words became the sample content analyzed. In several speeches, fewer than 100 words were said.

Quite the contrary, the Adjective-Verb Quotients of the 1999 speeches were higher, though they were taken from shorter speeches. Since the black university of the 1999 group required higher admission standards, than it did in 1979, the expectation was that the language of such students would include more descriptive terms such as adjectives. Similarly, the number of black dialect syntax was smaller for the 1999 speeches. The black educated community tends not to acknowledge black dialect as a part of their speech, and the prodigy of and those taught by such professionals would make an effort not to use black dialect or Ebonics in formal settings. That is, the more educated black persons are, the less likely they are to use or to acknowledge the phenomenon of black dialect. Harrold (1995) and Ingram (1989) concluded that even black teachers view black dialect negatively, although they do not understand the psychosocial aspects of dialects. And Brunious (1997) concluded that children who speak black dialect are given negative labels in the school, which contributes to their low self-worth.

Conclusion and Recommendation

A stylistic content analysis of speeches of black college students was completed. A total of thirty speeches of the students were analyzed for sentence length, word length, Adjective-Verb Quotient, and black dialect syntax. The results of the analysis were compared to the stylistic analysis of speeches of black college students twenty years ago in 1979. In 1979, two groups of speeches by black college students, one group from a southeast HBCU and the other from the nearby HWU, were content analyzed for stylistic features. The 1999 and 1979 groups of speeches were significantly different in sentence length, and approached significance in word length and black dialect syntax. Perhaps the study should be duplicated with black college students making longer speeches to analyze for stylistic features.

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Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Virden Evans, Florida A&M, 1628 Hedgefield Court, Tallahassee, Florida 32312.