VARIATIONS IN LANGUAGEAND LITERACY DEVELOPMENT

DAGDAGAN, R. A. M.,

DE LEON, L. C.,

SALCEDO, S. M. N.

Different styles for talking

Formal, technical We obtained some sodium chloride.

Formal, non-technical We obtained some salt.

Informal, technical We got some sodium chloride.

Informal, non- technical We got some salt.

Social Group

is a collection of people who interact with each other and share similar characteristics and a sense of unity.

DIALECT – are distinct variations within a language that are distinguished by phonology, syntax, meaning and use.Standard Dialect – spoken by educated personNonstandard dialect – spoken by socially depressed,

minority persons.

The interaction of social, cultural, and regional variations produces a complex overlapping of dialects in most countries.

Sensitivity to dialect use is often accompanied by negative perceptions of the speech of others.

Because children come to school with the language of their homes and communities, any denigration of that dialect is also a denigration of them and their families.

On the other hand, if children adhere to a dialect that is low in prestige, they are likely to find few opportunities for successful employment outside their speech community (Shuy 1971).

The Evidence For Language Bias

Biased language 

insults the person or group to which it is applied. In denigrating others, biased language creates division and separation. In using biased language about races and ethnic or cultural groups, speakers and writers risk alienating members of those groups, thus undermining the communication and shared understanding language should promote.”

(Robert DiYanni and Pat C. Hoy II, The Scribner Handbook for Writers. Allyn and Bacon, 2001)

Gender-biased language

 implies that people are male unless 'proven' to be female. Female gender may be designated by either tagging on a feminine descriptor (e.g. lady professor, women doctor, female engineer) or by belonging to a stereotypically female group (e.g., kindergarten teacher, social worker)."(Janet B. Ruscher, Prejudiced Communication: A Social Psychological Perspective. Guilford, 2001)

Economic status

Nonstandard dialects tend to be from the lower classes; their lower class status and different dialect complicate efforts to make schooling equal.

Implicit biases toward pupil’s language may interfere with learning if teachers lower their expectations for their students’ success.

Teachers held negative judgments toward black children and their black English dialect (Williams 1970)

Low expectations by teachers has been found to result in low achievement.

If the teacher was of the same race as the children, the bias was reduced, but this finding was true only if the children were of a higher socioeconomic level than the teacher.

It is important that professionals make every effort to reduce any negative bias they may hold toward students on the basis of those students’ dialect.

The Deficit View

Deficit View

Socioeconomic statusImpairment of auditorypoverty

Socioeconomic

The IQs of black children were lower than those of white children. (Deutsch, Brown)

Being poor and/or a member of a minority group resulted in a tendency to have poorer language functioning than being white and middle class.

Lower class mothers tended to provide less verbal explanation to their four-year old children in problem solving tasks than black middle class mothers did.

Auditory discrimination

C. Deutsch found poor auditory discrimination in lower class black first graders who were unsuccessful in beginning reading.

poverty

The language of children of poverty lacked sufficient structure and meaning for appropriate learning.

The Difference View

Rather than looking to the individual and the individual’s cognition for the sources of educational problems, these linguists examined the language of nonstandard speakers with the view that different forms(dialects) of language are equally sufficient for expression.

Creolization

The process in which creole cultures engage in the new world. As a result of colonization there was a mixture between people of indigenous

Creole Language (Creole)

a stable natural language that has developed from a pidgin or simplified version of a language.

Continual modification of the dialect after slavery ended brought this dialect closer to other forms of American English.

There have been lexical borrowings from black to standard English despite of shown influence of standard American English to the black English

“uh-huh”

SUCH AS…

man – comradethe man – cool, hot, etc.gig or pad – (older jazz term)

Common Phonological Patterns ofBlack English

Reduction of /r/ and /l/ at the ends and in the middle of words

Simplification of final consonant clusters so that only the first of the two consonants is sounded

A general weakening of final consonants

Combinations of these consonant characteristics

Some variation in medial vowel sounds in certain contexts

Mostly for very young black English speakers - /f/ instead of //: “roof” for “Ruth”

r- lessnessguard – God court – caught terrace - tess

nor – gnaw fort – fought

sore – saw Paris – pass

l- lessnesstoll – toe all – awe

help – hep Saul – saw

tool – too fault - fought

simplification of consonant clustersrift – riff box – bock wind – wine

past – pass mix – Mick hold - hole

meant – men mend – men

weakening of final consonantsseat – seed – see feed - feet road - row

bit – bid - big

combinationpicked – pick raised – raise fine – find – fined

miss – mist – missed stream – scream strap - scrap

vowel soundspin – pen find – fond sure – shore

since – cents peel –pail boil - ball

beer – bear poor - pour

BLACK ENGLISH STANDARD ENGLISH

He going. He is going.

He be here. He is here all the time

John cousin. John’s cousin.

I got five cents. I have five cents.

John he live in New York. John lives in New York.

I drunk the milk. I drank the milk.

Yesterday he walk home. Yesterday he walked home.

She have a bicycle. She has a bicycle.

You go home. You’ll go home.

I ask did he do it. I asked if he did it.

I don’t got none. I don’t have any.

I want a apple I want an apple

He book. His book.

He over to his friend house. He is over at his friend’s house.

Further Characteristics of Black English

Optional deletion of possessive marker

Deletion of noun plural in some instances

Insertion of pronoun after the proper noun

Alternate forms of variant verbs

Different systems of noun-verb agreement

Variant structure of embedded questions

Differential transformational rules for some negatives

Indefinite article differences

Possessive and other pronoun differences

Prepositions that vary in some settings

The Communication View

Communication View

Children learn the language of their familiesStyles of interaction may vary by family and by cultural

group

Metaphor in Black English

Bible story metaphorically to represent current issues

Metaphor in Black English

Signify – speech form which negative meaning is portrayed in an INDIRECT even hidden, manner.

Marking – narrative form in which EXAGGERATION and EMPHASIS establish the nonliteral meaning as the real one.

Sounding – is a popular form of exchange among adolescents. Initially an insult about someone’s family member.

Differences betweenParent-ChildExchanges

Black Children

growing up in TracktonLearn to communicate in a different styleLittle dialogue, play songs and monologueWith an emphasis on creation and embellishment,

children needed to interrupt to talk with adults

White Children

growing up in Roadville

Working-class family

Considerable attention to the set time, the set place and the set way of talking

Much on baby talk than in Trackton

Parents spent sharing books with their children until they enter school

Parents knew that their role was to teach the children

But did not establish links between early literacy experiences

TRACKTON Reading that took place over

notices and bills

Group talk

Used reading in religious activities

On the other hand, children on Trackton has lack on Experience with set times for things

ROADVILLE Learned different method for

communication

Much baby talked occurred

Sharing books with their children until school entrance

not linked between early literacy experiences and life of the community did not used reading and writing very much.

Children had difficulty extending their knowledge into new areas when school came

Parents stopped their teaching, believing that it was the job of the school

The separateness of school and home was not helpful to the children.

Tough concluded that there are important class differences in the talk between child and parent, differences that are carried into school.

three year-old Jimmie comes to his mother:

Jimmie: Look – look what I’ve found

Mother: Just look at your hands – black bright aren’t they?

Jimmie: Look at this thing – the ladybird – look it’s right little.

Mother: Go wash your hands now – just look at the color of them.

Jimmie: It’s a ladybird. I want to keep it . . .

three year-old Mark and his smaller sister play with their mother close by:

Mark: What’s this funny thing for?

Mother: Let me look – oh yes, see, it’ a hook. Can you find something that will fasten on behind the lorry?

Mark: Yes – I see – well it might be a breakdown one couldn’t it?

Mother: Oh, do you think so? What are breakdown lorries like? – do you remember? ….

Parents influence how their children think

Communication view of language differences rests upon the concept that discourse styles in families influence language development

The apparent lack of understanding of school expectations comes from differences in communication rather than from inability to communicate

Language Differences in literacy

Questions:

Questions:

Does dialect and language variation influence reading and writing?

What is the extent of the influence, if any, are explored?

Answers:

keep the regular school talk and materials Adjust to the mismatch through teaching

or to revise the material to meet the children’s language.

Dialect and reading

Does dialect affect reading?Does changing the dialect will help the students

in reading?How does emergent language affect reading?

Evidence for direct interference

SchoolReading writting

Evidence for indirect interference

Oral reading

Spelling

Writing Requires the encoding of one’s language knowledge into representative graphemes

Bilingualism

having some ability to use two or more languages. 

have equal competence (thus native ability)in using two languages

Acquisition of a second language at home.

Does bilingualism affects children’s overall language and cognitive development?

(Linhom 1980) acquiring two language suggest very little harm and some advantage derived from simultaneous acquisition.

The explanation lies in social roots

Acquisition of a second language at school.

(Carrow- Woolfolk and lynch 1982)there is no evidence that lexical, syntactic, and meaning structure of second language are more easily acquired by children

Schooling and Bilingualism

Beneficial educational environments should offer the opportunity for children to acquire a second language in naturalistic ways.

Language Immersion

Immersion Program (Lambert, 1970)

Immersion and underlying language competency

To the extent that instruction in Lx is effective in promoting cognitive/ academic proficiency in Lx, transfer of this proficiency to Ly will occur provided there is adequate exposure to Ly (either in school or environment)and adequate motivation to learn Ly(1981, 141)

PRESENTOR

DAGDAGAN, RIC ANGELO M.

DE LEON, LEYNETTE C.

SALCEDO, SAIRAH MYRRH N.