www.laspdg.org
My Language, My Identity:
Language Used In Households
Presented by Kyomi Gregory, M.A., CCC-SLP
People First Language
“People First Language puts the person before the disability and describes
what a person has, not who a person is.”
Kathie Snow. (n.d.) A few words about People First Language. Disability is Natural. Retrieved
August 1, 2012 from http://www.disabilityisnatural.com/images/PDF/pfl-sh09.pdf
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Learning Outcomes
To identify aspects of language use within the
household.
To distinguish parenting styles that impact
language use within the classroom.
To identify strategies to bridge the gap between
a home language and a school language.
What is a dialect?
Dialect is defined as a "neutral" term to refer to
any variety of a language that is shared by a
group of speakers.
Experts assert that all speakers are in fact
speakers of a dialect, none of which is superior
to another.
Wolfram, 1991; Stubbs, 2002
Nonmainstream Dialects
Nonmainstream American English (NMAE)
dialects are rule governed language systems
inclusive of all aspects of language (i.e.
phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and
pragmatics).
Examples of NMAE
dialects
African-American English (AAE)
Southern White English (SWE)
Latino English
Cajun French
Characteristics of
NMAE dialect
Differences in pronunciation, syntax, and
vocabulary are most easily identified.
It also includes differences in other discourse
structures such as:
Question responses and requests (Heath, 1982)
Turn taking (Au & Mason, 1983)
Intonation, formulaic expressions, and tempo (Damico &
Damico, 1993)
Dialect Differences in
Narratives
Cazden’s (2001) study discussed the tendency
by Caucasian children to sequence their
narratives topically versus African-American
children that provided “episodic stories”
Narratives
Caucasian students:
sequence narratives topically
organizes a narrative according to subtopics
and topics
this is the most commonly used format that is
considered acceptable for narratives.
Cazden, 2001
Narratives
African-American Students:
Produced “episodic stories.”
This usually involves a main character or
theme.
Cazden, 2001
“Home Language”
Children arrive to school with the language of
their families & communities.
Many students speak a nonmainstream dialect.
Cheatham, Armstrong,& Santos, 2009
Respect for Inclusion of
the “Home Language”
• This respect for the “home language” adheres to
recommendations from many academic
professional organizations, including the:
• National Council on Teachers of English (NCTE; 2004,
2005)
• National Association for the Education of Young
Children (NAEYC; 1995)
• Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
(TESOL; 1997).
“Code Switching”
Children who speak NMAE dialects often find
themselves in many social contexts, in which
they can utilize their ability to use both Standard
American English (SAE) and their dialect.
This is known as “code switching.”
Teachers may witness children “code switching”
in more or less formal contexts.
Race & Identity
Dialects are often strongly linked to race,
ethnicity, and class.
This plays an important role in children’s
identities.
This can be viewed as a strength & resource like
any part of their home environment.
Cheatham, Armstrong,& Santos, 2009
Tapping Into the
“Home Language”
Current research illustrates the benefits of
tapping into children’s nonstandard dialects to
enhance learning.
Children’s dialects are resources from which to
expand their language repertoire.
Building on what children know is an excellent
approach for all children, including those that
speak NMAE dialects.
Chealtham, Armstrong,& Santos, 2009; Dyson &
Smitherman, 2009; Murray, 1997
Tapping Into the
“Home Language”
Educators need to:
bridge the gap between the home language and
the school language
respect/ preserve the home language
facilitate the development of a school language.
Families’ Language Use
Across Classes
Measures
& Scores
PRO
Parent
PRO
Child
WC
Parent
WC
Child
FSA
Parent
FSA
Child
Average
utterances
per hour
487
310
301
223
176
168
Average of
different
words per
hour
382
297
251
216
167
149
Class Key:
PRO= Professional
WC = Working Class
FSA= Families Receiving State Aid
Hart & Risley, 2003
Vocabulary Gap
The children’s language exposure during a 100hour week differed with the following exposure
to vocabulary:
Professional families: 215,000 words
Working-class families: 125,000 words
Families receiving state aid: 62,000 words
Hart & Risley, 2003
Encouragement/
Discouragement
Social Class
Affirmatives
Prohibitions
Professional
32
5
Working Class
12
7
Families receiving
state aid
5
11
Hart & Risley, 2003
Importance of Early Year
Experiences
By age 3, children in various social classes have
differences in vocabulary exposure.
From ages one to three, exists a period of great
brain plasticity, during which early intervention
can have long term effects.
Hart & Risley, 2003
Parenting Styles
Laureau (2005) identified that parents differed
by social class in the way that they define their
roles in a child’s life.
Middle Class – “concerted cultivation”
Poor/ Working Class – “accomplishment of natural
growth”
“Concerted Cultivation”
This encourages the child’s sense of entitlement.
This class group utilized:
Reasoning
Child contestation of adult statements
Extended negotiations between parent & child
This use of language fostered language development.
Laureau, 2005
“Accomplishment of
Natural Growth”
This encourages an emerging sense of
constraint.
This class group utilized:
Directives
Rarity of child questions
General acceptance of child directives
Laureau, 2005
Educational Implications
An obstacle to children speaking NMAE dialect
is an educators’ negative perception (Cheatham,
Armstrong, & Santos, 2009).
Negative perceptions significantly impact a
child’s motivation to learn, self-efficacy, selfconfidence and their ability to feel confident
speaking SAE (Blake & Cutler, 2003).
Educational Implications
Teacher’s also must be aware of the parenting
styles that influence language use.
Students come into the classroom with different
exposures to vocabulary based on social class.
Final Statement
Don’t denigrate the home language!
References
Au, K.H., & Mason, J.M. (1983). Cultural congruence in classroom participation
structures: Achieving a balance of rights. Discourse Processes, 6, 145-167.
Blake, R. & Cutler, C. (2003). AAE and variation in teacher’s attitudes: A question of
school philosophy? Linguistics and Education, 14, 163-194.
Cazden, C.B. (2001). Classroom discourse: The language of teaching and learning.
Portsmouth, NH: Heineman.
Cheatham, G.A., Armstrong, J., & Santos, R.M. (2009). “Y’all Listenin?”: Accessing
Children’s Dialects in Preschool YEC. Young Exceptional Children, 12(2), 214.
References
Damico, J.S., & Damico, S.K. (1993). Language and social skills from a diversity
perspective: Considerations for the speech-language pathologist. Language,
Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 24, 236-243.
Dyson, A.H., & Smitherman, G. (2009). The right (write) start: African American
language and the discourseof sounding right. Teacher’s College Record,
111, 973-998.
Hart, B., & Risley, T.R. (2003). The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap By Age 3.
American Educator, 27(1), 4-9
Heath, S.B. (1982). Questioning at home and at school: A comparative study. In G.
Spindler (Ed.), Doing the ethnography of schooling (pp. 105-131). New York:
Holt, Rinehrt and Winston.
References
Laureau, A. (2005). Invisible inequaltiy: Social class and child rearing in
Black and White Families (pp. 71-93). In Public & Private Families: A
Reader, (4th Edition), Edited by Andrew J. Cherlin, New York: The
McGraw-Hill Company.
Murray, D. (1997). TESOL speaks on Ebonics. TESOL Matters, 7(3), 1-22.
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (1995). Responding to
linguistic and cultural diversity: Recommendations for effective early
childhood education. Retrieved March 6, 2013, from
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSDIV98.PDF
National Council of Teachers of English. (2004). NCTE beliefs about the teaching of
writing. Retrieved March 6, 2013, from
http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/writingbeliefs 2013, from http://
www.ncte.org/cee/positions/diverselearnersinee
References
National Council of Teachers of English. (2005). Supporting linguistically and
culturally diverse learners in English education. Retrieved March 6,
Stubbs, M. (2002). Some basic linguistic concepts. In L. Delpit & J.K. Dowdy (Eds.),
The skin that we speak: Thoughts on language and culture in the classroom
(pp.63-86). New York: New Press.
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (1997). Position statement of
the TESOL Board on African American Vernacular English. Retrieved March
2013 fromhttp://www.tesol.org/advance-the-field/position-statements/positionstatement-of-the-tesol-board-on-african-american-vernacular-englishmarch-19
Vigil, D.C., & Hwa-Froelich, D.A. (2004). Interaction Styles in Minority Caregivers:
Implications for Intervention. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 25(3),
119-126.
6,
References
Wolfram, W. (1991). Dialects and American English. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
Questions?
After this webinar, you may email any
content-related questions to Kyomi
Gregory kyomig@hotmail.com
You may email any grant-related
questions to Melanie Lemoine
lemoinem@lsu.edu
www.laspdg.org
The contents of this PowerPoint presentation were developed under a grant from the US Department of
Education, #H323A110003. However those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US
Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.