African American Preschoolers' Language, Emergent Literacy Skills, and Use of African American English: A Complex Relation

Autor/inn/en	Connor, Carol McDonald; Craig, Holly K.
Titel	African American Preschoolers' Language, Emergent Literacy Skills, and Use of African American English: A Complex Relation
Quelle	In: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49 (2006) 4, S.771-792 (22 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1092-4388
Schlagwörter	North American English; Vocabulary Skills; Phonology; African American Children; Sentences; Reading Skills; Metalinguistics; Imitation; Emergent Literacy; Preschool Children + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Amerikanisches Englisch; Aktiver Wortschatz; Fonologie; African Americans; Child; Children; Afroamerikaner; Kind; Kinder; Sentence analysis; Satzanalyse; Reading skill; Lesefertigkeit; Metalanguage; Metasprache; Frühleseunterricht; Pre-school age; Preschool age; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Vorschulalter; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule
Abstract	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 U-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. (Author).
Anmerkungen	American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Tel: 800-638-8255; Fax: 301-571-0457; e-mail: subscribe@asha.org; Web site: http://www.asha.org/about/publications/journal-abstracts/jslhr/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10