My Language, My Identity: Language Used In Households

1
My Language, My IdentityLanguage Used In
Households
www.laspdg.org

• Presented by Kyomi Gregory, M.A., CCC-SLP

2
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.disabilit
yisnatural.com/images/PDF/pfl-sh09.pdf
3
Please Note

• If you would like to download todays power
  point, you may do so at any time during the
  webinar using the FILES Pod in the bottom right
  hand corner of your screen
• Simply click on the file name and then click
  SAVE TO MY COMPUTER
• Select the destination on your computer where you
  would like the file saved

4
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.

5
Dialects
6
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
7
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).

8
Examples of NMAE dialects

• African-American English (AAE)
• Southern White English (SWE)
• Latino English
• Cajun French

9
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)

10
Dialect Differences in Narratives

• Cazdens (2001) study discussed the tendency by
  Caucasian children to sequence their narratives
  topically versus African-American children that
  provided episodic stories

11
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
12
Narratives

• African-American Students
• Produced episodic stories.
• This usually involves a main character or theme.

Cazden, 2001
13
Home Language
14
Home Language

• Children arrive to school with the language of
  their families communities.
• Many students speak a nonmainstream dialect.

Cheatham, Armstrong, Santos, 2009
15
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).

16
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.

17
Race Identity

• Dialects are often strongly linked to race,
  ethnicity, and class.
• This plays an important role in childrens
  identities.
• This can be viewed as a strength resource like
  any part of their home environment.

Cheatham, Armstrong, Santos, 2009
18
Tapping Into the Home Language

• Current research illustrates the benefits of
  tapping into childrens nonstandard dialects to
  enhance learning.
• Childrens 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
19
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.

20
Distinctive Parenting Styles Across Classes
21
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
22
Vocabulary Gap

• The childrens language exposure during a
  100-hour 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
23
Encouragement/ Discouragement
Social Class Affirmatives Prohibitions
Professional 32 5
Working Class 12 7
Families receiving state aid 5 11
Hart Risley, 2003
24
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
25
Parenting Styles

• Laureau (2005) identified that parents differed
  by social class in the way that they define their
  roles in a childs life.
• Middle Class concerted cultivation
• Poor/ Working Class accomplishment of natural
  growth

26
Concerted Cultivation

• This encourages the childs 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
27
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
28
Educational Implications
29
Educational Implications

• An obstacle to children speaking NMAE dialect is
  an educators negative perception (Cheatham,
  Armstrong, Santos, 2009).
• Negative perceptions significantly impact a
  childs motivation to learn, self-efficacy,
  self-confidence and their ability to feel
  confident speaking SAE (Blake Cutler, 2003).

30
Educational Implications

• Teachers 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.

31
Final Statement

• Dont denigrate the home language!

32
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 teachers 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). Yall Listenin? Accessing Childrens
  Dialects in Preschool YEC. Young Exceptional
  Children, 12(2), 2-14.

33
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. Teachers 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.

34
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/fil
  e/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.o
  rg/positions/statements/writingbeliefs 2013, from
  http// www.ncte.org/cee/positions/diverselearners
  inee

35
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 6, 2013
  fromhttp//www.tesol.org/advance-the-field/positio
  n-statements/position- statement-of-the-tesol-boar
  d-on-african-american-vernacular-english- march-19
  
• Vigil, D.C., Hwa-Froelich, D.A. (2004).
  Interaction Styles in Minority Caregivers
  Implications for Intervention. Communication
  Disorders Quarterly, 25(3), 119-126.

36
References

• Wolfram, W. (1991). Dialects and American
  English. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice Hall.

37
Questions?

• After this webinar, you may email any
  content-related questions to Kyomi Gregory
  kyomig_at_hotmail.com
• You may email any grant-related questions to
  Melanie Lemoine lemoinem_at_lsu.edu

38

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.