| African American preschoolers' language, emergent literacy skills, and use of African American English: a complex relation. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 16908874 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
PURPOSE: This study examined the relation between African American preschoolers' use of African American English (AAE) and their language and emergent literacy skills in an effort to better understand the perplexing and persistent difficulties many African American children experience learning to read proficiently. METHOD: African American preschoolers' (n = 63) vocabulary skills were assessed in the fall and their language and emergent literacy skills were assessed in the spring. The relation between students' AAE use and their vocabulary and emergent literacy skills was examined using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), controlling for fall vocabulary and other child, family, and school variables. Children's use of AAE was examined across two contexts-sentence imitation and oral narrative using a wordless storybook prompt. RESULTS: There was a significant -shaped relation between the frequency with which preschoolers used AAE features and their language and emergent literacy skills. Students who used AAE features with greater or lesser frequency demonstrated stronger sentence imitation, letter-word recognition, and phonological awareness skills than did preschoolers who used AAE features with moderate frequency, controlling for fall vocabulary skills. Fewer preschoolers used AAE features during the sentence imitation task with explicit expectations for Standard American English (SAE) or School English than they did during an oral narrative elicitation task with implicit expectations for SAE. CONCLUSIONS: The nonlinear relation between AAE use and language and emergent literacy skills, coupled with systematic differences in AAE use across contexts, indicates that some preschoolers may be dialect switching between AAE and SAE, suggesting emerging pragmatic/metalinguistic awareness. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Carol McDonald Connor; Holly K Craig |
Related Documents
:
|
11316944 - Early reading for low-ses minority language children: an attempt to 'catch them before ... 16272004 - Perceptions of speech and language therapy amongst uk school and college students: impl... 10624244 - A creative writing program to enhance self-esteem and self-efficacy in adolescents. 1425854 - The use of selected theatre rehearsal technique activities with african-american adoles... 19309694 - How long does a mindfulness-based stress reduction program need to be? a review of clas... 2120724 - Providing cost efficient detoxification services to alcoholic patients. |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR Volume: 49 ISSN: 1092-4388 ISO Abbreviation: J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res. Publication Date: 2006 Aug |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2006-08-15 Completed Date: 2007-07-30 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 9705610 Medline TA: J Speech Lang Hear Res Country: United States |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 771-92 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
|
Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA. cconnor@fcrr.org |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
African Americans* Child Language* Child, Preschool Early Intervention (Education) Educational Status Female Humans Language Tests Linguistics* Male Multivariate Analysis Phonetics Reading* Socioeconomic Factors Verbal Learning* |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: Tense and agreement morphemes in the speech of children with specific language impairment during int...
Next Document: Mean length of utterance in children with specific language impairment and in younger control childr...