Language and Literacy Predictors of Dialect Density Among School-Age African American Children From Two Geographic Regions

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 807-820
Author(s):  
Lena G. Caesar ◽  
Marie Kerins
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Multiple Regression ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
School Age ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Geographic Regions ◽  
American Children

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oral language, literacy skills, age, and dialect density (DD) of African American children residing in two different geographical regions of the United States (East Coast and Midwest). Method Data were obtained from 64 African American school-age children between the ages of 7 and 12 years from two geographic regions. Children were assessed using a combination of standardized tests and narrative samples elicited from wordless picture books. Bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to determine relationships to and relative contributions of oral language, literacy, age, and geographic region to DD. Results Results of correlation analyses demonstrated a negative relationship between DD measures and children's literacy skills. Age-related findings between geographic regions indicated that the younger sample from the Midwest outscored the East Coast sample in reading comprehension and sentence complexity. Multiple regression analyses identified five variables (i.e., geographic region, age, mean length of utterance in morphemes, reading fluency, and phonological awareness) that accounted for 31% of the variance of children's DD—with geographic region emerging as the strongest predictor. Conclusions As in previous studies, the current study found an inverse relationship between DD and several literacy measures. Importantly, geographic region emerged as a strong predictor of DD. This finding highlights the need for a further study that goes beyond the mere description of relationships to comparing geographic regions and specifically focusing on racial composition, poverty, and school success measures through direct data collection.

Early Positive Predictors of Later Reading Comprehension for African American Students

2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly K. Craig ◽  
Carol M. Connor ◽  
Julie A. Washington
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
African American Students ◽  
Shape Matching ◽  
First Grade ◽  
American Students ◽  
American Children

Purpose: This investigation examined the performance of 50 African American children on a reading comprehension test. Method: Longitudinal data were compared for two groups of students who were preschoolers or kindergartners at Time 1 and elementary-grade students at Time 2. Outcomes were examined for positive predictive relationships based on their oral language and cognitive skills as preschoolers and kindergartners at Time 1. The Time 1 preschoolers were all from low-income homes, whereas the Time 1 kindergartners were all from middle-income homes. All students were urban dwellers and speakers of African American English. Results: Two measures predicted later reading comprehension levels for the Time 1 preschoolers: use of complex syntax and shape matching. The Time 1 preschoolers and kindergartners showed no significant differences in reading comprehension at the end of first grade, but the preschoolers were significantly ahead of the kindergartners in reading by third grade. Clinical Implications: The potential of preschools that emphasize early language and literacy for improving the reading outcomes of African American students is discussed.

The Effects of Visual Stimuli on the Spoken Narrative Performance of School-Age African American Children

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique T. Mills
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
African American Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Visual Condition ◽  
Visual Tasks ◽  
American Children ◽  
Narrative Performance ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance

Purpose This study investigated the fictional narrative performance of school-age African American children across 3 elicitation contexts that differed in the type of visual stimulus presented. Method A total of 54 children in Grades 2 through 5 produced narratives across 3 different visual conditions: no visual, picture sequence, and single picture. Narratives were examined for visual condition differences in expressive elaboration rate, number of different word roots (NDW) rate, mean length of utterance in words, and dialect density. The relationship between diagnostic risk for language impairment and narrative variables was explored. Results Expressive elaboration rate and mean length of utterance in words were higher in the no-visual condition than in either the picture-sequence or the single-picture conditions. NDW rate was higher in the no-visual and picture-sequence conditions than in the single-picture condition. Dialect density performance across visual context depended on the child's grade, so that younger children produced a higher rate of African American English in the no-visual condition than did older children. Diagnostic risk was related to NDW rate and dialect density measure. Conclusion The results suggest the need for narrative elicitation contexts that include verbal as well as visual tasks to fully describe the narrative performance of school-age African American children with typical development.

scholarly journals Oral Language Expectations for African American Children in Grades 1 Through 5

2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly K. Craig ◽  
Julie A. Washington ◽  
Connie A. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
African American Children ◽  
American Children

Emotion Correlates of Bullies, Victims, and Bully-Victims in African American Children

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 688-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Kelsey ◽  
Janice Zeman ◽  
Danielle Dallaire
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Internalizing Symptoms ◽  
Emotion Dysregulation ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
School Age ◽  
Elementary School Age ◽  
Bully Victims ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
American Children ◽  
Peer Reports

Bullying is a pervasive and widely studied problem. Less is known about the emotion correlates that accompany being a bully, being a victim of bullying, and experiencing both bullying and victimization for African American elementary-school-age students. The current study examined differences in emotion dysregulation and internalizing symptoms (depression, anxiety) across levels of bullying and victimization. Children ( N = 336, Mage = 9.58 years, 42.3% boys, 100% African American) were recruited from two inner-city elementary schools and completed self- and peer-reports of bullying and self-reports of victimization, emotion dysregulation, and internalizing symptoms. Results indicated that emotion dysregulation and anxiety symptoms were predicted by an interaction between self-reported bullying and victimization. For children low in victimization, higher levels of self-reported bullying predicted an increase in emotion dysregulation and anxiety symptoms. However, for children high in victimization, bullying was not predictive of these outcomes. Depressive symptoms were predicted by self- and peer-reported bullying and self-reported victimization. Understanding underlying emotional correlates of bullying and victimization within this context have important implications for prevention programs.

scholarly journals Structural and Dialectal Characteristics of the Fictional and Personal Narratives of School-Age African American Children

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique T. Mills ◽  
Ruth V. Watkins ◽  
Julie A. Washington
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
African American Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Narrative Skills ◽  
Complementary Role ◽  
American Children ◽  
Skills Use

Purpose To report preliminary comparisons of developing structural and dialectal characteristics associated with fictional and personal narratives in school-age African American children. Method Forty-three children, Grades 2–5, generated a fictional narrative and a personal narrative in response to a wordless-book elicitation task and a story-prompt task, respectively. Narratives produced in these 2 contexts were characterized for macrostructure, microstructure, and dialect density. Differences across narrative type and grade level were examined. Results Statistically significant differences between the 2 types of narratives were found for both macrostructure and microstructure but not for dialect density. There were no grade-related differences in macrostructure, microstructure, or dialect density. Conclusion The results demonstrate the complementary role of fictional and personal narratives for describing young children's narrative skills. Use of both types of narrative tasks and descriptions of both macrostructure and microstructure may be particularly useful for characterizing the narrative abilities of young school-age African American children, for whom culture-fair methods are scarce. Further study of additional dialect groups is warranted.

Comparison of Children in Regular and Special Education Classes on the Behavior Problem Checklist

1976 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 451-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byron W. Lindholm ◽  
John Touliatos
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Multiple Regression ◽  
Behavior Problem ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
General Information ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
American Children ◽  
Problem Checklist ◽  
Regular Classes

To establish the validity of the Behavior Problem Checklist, using the method of contrasted groups, 1,999 white and 192 Mexican-American children in regular classes and 192 white and 17 Mexican-American children in special education classes were tested. Teachers provided general information and checklist ratings. Multiple correlations and multiple regression analyses of variance were used. Children in regular classes had fewer problems on all four of the factors on the checklist than the children in special education classes. On the basis of these results and a review of previous research using the method of contrasted groups, it was concluded that all four of the factors on the checklist were valid.

Final Consonant Deletion in African American Children Speaking Black English

1993 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Moran
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Black English ◽  
African American Children ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Speech Evaluation ◽  
American Children

The purpose of this study was to determine whether African American children who delete final consonants mark the presence of those consonants in a manner that might be overlooked in a typical speech evaluation. Using elicited sentences from 10 African American children from 4 to 9 years of age, two studies were conducted. First, vowel length was determined for minimal pairs in which final consonants were deleted. Second, listeners who identified final consonant deletions in the speech of the children were provided training in narrow transcription and reviewed the elicited sentences a second time. Results indicated that the children produced longer vowels preceding "deleted" voiced final consonants, and listeners perceived fewer deletions following training in narrow transcription. The results suggest that these children had knowledge of the final consonants perceived to be deleted. Implications for assessment and intervention are discussed.

Addressing African American English in Early Literacy Assessment and Instruction

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Patton Terry
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
American English ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
African American English ◽  
Literacy Assessment ◽  
Learning To Read ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Early Literacy Assessment

Abstract Determining how best to address young children's African American English use in formal literacy assessment and instruction is a challenge. Evidence is not yet available to discern which theory best accounts for the relation between AAE use and literacy skills or to delineate which dialect-informed educational practices are most effective for children in preschool and the primary grades. Nonetheless, consistent observations of an educationally significant relation between AAE use and various early literacy skills suggest that dialect variation should be considered in assessment and instruction practices involving children who are learning to read and write. The speech-language pathologist can play a critical role in instituting such practices in schools.

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