This document discusses variations in language and literacy development. It covers several topics: 1. Dialects - Variations within a language distinguished by phonology, syntax, meaning and use. Standard dialects are spoken by educated people while nonstandard dialects are spoken by socially depressed minorities. 2. Evidence of language bias - Biased language can insult people and create divisions. Teachers have shown negative judgments toward students' dialects which can lower expectations and achievement. 3. Differences perspective - Rather than viewing differences as deficits, this perspective sees different dialects as equally sufficient for expression. Communication styles may vary between families and cultural groups.

1. VARIATIONSIN LANGUAGEANDLITERACY DEVELOPMENT
DAGDAGAN,R.A. M.,
DE LEON,L. C.,
SALCEDO,S. M. N.
Different styles for talking
 Social Group
isa collectionof people whointeractwitheachotherand
share similarcharacteristicsanda sense of unity.
 DIALECT – are distinctvariationswithinalanguage
that are distinguishedbyphonology,syntax,meaningand
use.
 StandardDialect– spokenbyeducatedperson
 Nonstandarddialect –spokenbysociallydepressed,
minoritypersons.
 The interactionof social,cultural,andregional variations
producesa complex overlappingof dialectsinmost
countries.
 Sensitivitytodialectuse isoftenaccompaniedbynegative
perceptionsof the speechof others.
 Because childrencome toschool withthe language of their
homesandcommunities,anydenigrationof thatdialectis
alsoa denigrationof themandtheirfamilies.
 On the otherhand,if childrenadhere toa dialectthatis low
inprestige,theyare likelytofindfewopportunitiesfor
successful employmentoutside theirspeechcommunity
(Shuy1971).
The Evidence For Language Bias
 Biasedlanguage
insultsthe personorgroupto whichit isapplied.In
denigratingothers,biasedlanguagecreatesdivisionandseparation.
In usingbiasedlanguage aboutracesandethnicor cultural groups,
speakersandwritersriskalienatingmembersof those groups,thus
underminingthe communicationandsharedunderstanding
language shouldpromote.”
(RobertDiYanni andPat C. HoyII, The ScribnerHandbookfor
Writers. AllynandBacon,2001)
 Gender-biasedlanguage
implies thatpeopleare male unless'proven'tobe female.
Female gendermaybe designatedbyeithertaggingona feminine
descriptor(e.g.ladyprofessor,womendoctor,female engineer) or
by belongingtoa stereotypicallyfemalegroup(e.g.,kindergarten
teacher,social worker)."
(JanetB.Ruscher, PrejudicedCommunication:A SocialPsychological
Perspective.Guilford,2001)
 Economicstatus
Nonstandarddialectstendtobe fromthe lowerclasses;their
lowerclassstatusand differentdialectcomplicate effortstomake
schoolingequal.
Implicitbiasestowardpupil’slanguage mayinterfere with
learningif teacherslowertheirexpectationsfortheirstudents’
success.

2.  Teachersheldnegative judgmentstowardblackchildren
and theirblackEnglishdialect(Williams1970)
 Low expectationsbyteachershasbeenfoundtoresultin
lowachievement.
 If the teacherwasof the same race as the children,the bias
was reduced,butthisfindingwastrue onlyif the children
were of a highersocioeconomiclevelthanthe teacher.
 It isimportantthat professionalsmake everyeffortto
reduce anynegative biastheymayholdtowardstudentson
the basisof those students’dialect.
The Deficit View
Socioeconomic
 The IQs of blackchildrenwere lowerthanthose of white
children.(Deutsch,Brown)
 Beingpoorand/ora memberof a minoritygroupresultedin
a tendencytohave poorerlanguage functioningthanbeing
white andmiddle class.
 Lowerclass motherstendedtoprovide lessverbal
explanationtotheirfour-yearoldchildreninproblem
solvingtasksthanblackmiddle classmothersdid.
Auditorydiscrimination
 C. Deutschfoundpoorauditorydiscriminationinlowerclass
blackfirstgraderswho were unsuccessful inbeginning
reading.
poverty
 The language of childrenof povertylackedsufficient
structure and meaningforappropriate learning.
 The Difference View
 Ratherthan lookingtothe individualandthe individual’s
cognitionforthe sourcesof educational problems,these
linguistsexaminedthe languageof nonstandardspeakers
withthe viewthatdifferentforms(dialects)of language are
equallysufficientforexpression.
 Creolization
The processin whichcreole culturesengage inthe new
world.Asa resultof colonizationthere wasamixture between
people of indigenous
 Creole Language (Creole)
a stable natural language thathas developedfromapidgin
or simplifiedversionof alanguage.
Continual modificationof the dialectafterslaveryended
broughtthisdialectclosertootherformsof AmericanEnglish.
There have beenlexical borrowingsfromblacktostandard
Englishdespite of showninfluenceof standardAmericanEnglishto
the black English
SUCH AS…
 man – comrade
 the man – cool,hot,etc.
 gigor pad – (olderjazzterm)

3. Common Phonological Patternsof Black English
 Reductionof /r/and /l/at the endsandinthe middle of
words
 Simplificationof final consonantclusterssothatonlythe
firstof the twoconsonantsissounded
 A general weakeningof final consonants
 Combinationsof these consonantcharacteristics
 Some variationinmedial vowel soundsincertaincontexts
 Mostlyfor veryyoungblackEnglishspeakers - /f/insteadof
Further Characteristicsof Black English
 Optional deletionof possessivemarker
 Deletionof nounplural insome instances
 Insertionof pronounafterthe propernoun
 Alternate formsof variantverbs
 Differentsystemsof noun-verbagreement
 Variantstructure of embeddedquestions
 Differential transformational rulesforsome negatives
 Indefinite articledifferences
 Possessiveandotherpronoundifferences
 Prepositionsthatvaryinsome settings
 The CommunicationView
Communication View
 Childrenlearnthe language of theirfamilies
 Stylesof interactionmayvarybyfamilyandby cultural
group
Metaphor in Black English
Bible story metaphoricallytorepresentcurrentissues
 Signify – speechformwhichnegative meaningisportrayed
inan INDIRECT evenhidden, manner.
 Marking – narrative forminwhichEXAGGERATION and
EMPHASISestablishthe nonliteral meaningasthe real one.
 Sounding –is a popularformof exchange among
adolescents.Initiallyaninsultaboutsomeone’sfamily
member.
DifferencesbetweenParent-ChildExchanges
 Black Children
 growingupin Trackton
 Learn to communicate inadifferentstyle
 Little dialogue,playsongsandmonologue
 Withan emphasisoncreationandembellishment,children
neededtointerrupttotalkwithadults
 White Children
 growingupin Roadville
 Working-classfamily

4.  Considerableattentiontothe settime,the setplace andthe
setway of talking
 Much on baby talkthan inTrackton
 Parentsspentsharingbookswiththeirchildrenuntil they
enterschool
 Parentsknewthattheirrole wasto teach the children
 But didnot establishlinksbetweenearlyliteracy
experiences
 TRACKTON
 Readingthattook place overnoticesandbills
 Group talk
 Usedreadinginreligiousactivities
 On the otherhand,childrenonTrackton haslack on
Experience withsettimesforthings
 ROADVILLE
 Learneddifferentmethodforcommunication
 Much baby talkedoccurred
 Sharingbookswith theirchildrenuntil schoolentrance
 not linkedbetweenearlyliteracyexperiencesandlife of the
communitydidnotusedreadingandwritingverymuch.
 Childrenhaddifficultyextendingtheirknowledge intonew
areas whenschool came
 Parentsstoppedtheirteaching,believingthatitwas the job
of the school
 The separatenessof school andhome wasnot helpful tothe
children.
 Tough concludedthatthere are importantclassdifferences
inthe talkbetweenchildandparent,differencesthatare
carriedintoschool.
 three year-oldJimmie comestohismother:
Jimmie:Look – lookwhat I’ve found
Mother: Justlookat your hands – blackbrightaren’t
they?
Jimmie:Look at thisthing– the ladybird –lookit’sright
little.
Mother: Go wash yourhandsnow – justlookat the
colorof them.
Jimmie:It’sa ladybird.Iwantto keepit . . .
 three year-oldMarkand hissmallersisterplaywiththeir
motherclose by:
Mark: What’sthisfunnythingfor?
Mother: Let me look – ohyes,see,it’a hook.Can
youfind somethingthatwill fastenon behindthe lorry?
Mark: Yes – I see – well itmightbe a breakdownone
couldn’tit?
Mother: Oh,do you thinkso?What are breakdown
lorrieslike?– do youremember?….

5.  Parentsinfluence howtheirchildrenthink
 Communication viewof language differencesrestsuponthe
conceptthat discourse stylesinfamiliesinfluencelanguage
development
 The apparentlack of understandingof school expectations
comesfromdifferencesincommunicationratherthanfrom
inabilitytocommunicate
 Language Differencesinliteracy
Questions:
 Doesdialectandlanguage variationinfluence readingand
writing?
 What isthe extentof the influence,if any,are explored?
Answers:
 keepthe regularschool talkandmaterials
 Adjusttothe mismatchthrough teachingorto revise the
material tomeetthe children’slanguage.
 Dialectandreading
 Doesdialectaffectreading?
 Doeschangingthe dialectwill helpthe studentsinreading?
 How doesemergentlanguageaffectreading?
 Evidence fordirectinterference
 School
 Reading
 writting
Evidence for indirectinterference
 Oral reading
Spelling
 WritingRequiresthe encodingof one’slanguage knowledge
intorepresentative graphemes
Bilingualism
 havingsome abilitytouse twoor more languages.
 have equal competence (thusnativeability)inusingtwo
languages
Acquisitionofa secondlanguage at home.
 Doesbilingualismaffectschildren’soveralllanguage and
cognitive development?
 (Linhom1980) acquiringtwolanguage suggestverylittle
harm and some advantage derivedfromsimultaneous
acquisition.
 The explanationliesinsocial roots
Acquisitionofa secondlanguage at school.
 (Carrow- Woolfolkandlynch1982)there isno evidence that
lexical,syntactic,andmeaningstructure of secondlanguage
are more easilyacquiredbychildren

6. Schoolingand Bilingualism
 Beneficialeducational environmentsshouldofferthe
opportunityforchildrentoacquire asecondlanguage in
naturalisticways.
Language Immersion
 ImmersionProgram(Lambert,1970)
 Immersionandunderlyinglanguagecompetency
 To the extentthatinstructioninLx is effective inpromoting
cognitive/academicproficiencyinLx,transferof this
proficiencytoLywill occurprovidedthere isadequate
exposure toLy(eitherinschool orenvironment)and
adequate motivationtolearnLy(1981, 141)