Language Variation in the Writing of African American Students: Factors Predicting Reading Achievement

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Lisa Fitton ◽  
Lakeisha Johnson ◽  
Carla Wood ◽  
Christopher Schatschneider ◽  
Sara A. Hart
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Reading Achievement ◽  
African American Students ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Family Income ◽  
American English ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Sample Length ◽  
Reading Vocabulary ◽  
American Students

Purpose This study aims to examine the predictive relation between measures obtained from African American students' written narrative language samples and reading achievement, as measured by standardized academic assessments. Method Written language samples were elicited from 207 African American students in Grades 1–8. The samples were examined for morphosyntactic variations from standardized written Generalized American English (GAE). These variations were categorized as either (a) specific to African American English (AAE) or (b) neutral across AAE and standardized written GAE (i.e., considered ungrammatical both in AAE and in standardized written GAE). Structural equation modeling was employed to then examine the predictive relation between the density of AAE-specific forms in students' writing and their performance on standardized assessments of literacy and reading vocabulary. This relation was examined while accounting for the density of dialect-neutral morphosyntactic forms, reported family income, age, and written sample length. Results The written samples were highly variable in terms of morphosyntax. Younger students and those from lower income homes tended to use AAE-specific forms at higher rates. However, the density of AAE-specific forms did not significantly predict standardized literacy scores or reading vocabulary after accounting for dialect-neutral variations, income, and sample length. Conclusions These results support the ongoing need to better understand the language, literacy, and overall academic development of students from all backgrounds. It may be essential to focus on dialect-neutral language forms (i.e., morphosyntactic forms that are consistent across both AAE and standardized written GAE) in written samples to maximize assessment validity across students who speak varying dialects of English. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16879558

scholarly journals Variable Production of African American English Across Oracy and Literacy Contexts

2004 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connie A. Thompson ◽  
Holly K. Craig ◽  
Julie A. Washington
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Oral Reading ◽  
African American Students ◽  
American English ◽  
African American English ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Dominant Feature ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
American Students ◽  
Picture Description

Many African American students produce African American English (AAE) features that are contrastive to Standard American English (SAE). The AAE-speaking child who is able to dialect shift, that is, to speak SAE across literacy contexts, likely will perform better academically than the student who is not able to dialect shift. Method: This investigation examined the AAE productions of 50 typically developing African American third graders across three language contexts—picture description, oral reading of SAE text, and writing. Results: All participants produced AAE during picture description. A downward shift in contrastive AAE features was evident between spoken discourse and the literacy contexts. More students produced more AAE features during picture description than writing. Both morphosyntactic and phonological features characterized the picture description context. Phonological features predominated during oral reading. In contrast, morphosyntactic features were the most dominant feature in writing. Clinical Implications: The findings are discussed in terms of dialect-shifting abilities of African American students and the role of writing as a special context to support their entry into dialect shifting.

scholarly journals Performance of Elementary-Grade African American Students on the Gray Oral Reading Tests

2004 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly K. Craig ◽  
Connie A. Thompson ◽  
Julie A. Washington ◽  
Stephanie L. Potter
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Oral Reading ◽  
African American Students ◽  
American English ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Reading Tests ◽  
Poor Reading ◽  
Standard American English ◽  
American Students ◽  
Elementary Grade

Purpose: African American students perform disproportionately more poorly on standardized reading assessments than their majority peers. Poor reading performances may be related to test biases inherent in standardized reading instruments. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the appropriateness of the Gray Oral Reading Tests-Third Edition (GORT-3; Wiederholt & Bryant, 1992) for assessing the reading abilities of elementary-grade African American students. Method: Performances of 65 typically developing African American second through fifth graders were examined on the GORT-3. Results: African American English (AAE) was produced by most students while reading passages from the GORT-3 that were written in Standard American English (SAE). A scoring correction for AAE resulted in a statistical improvement in the performance distributions, but this did not appear to be educationally significant. Measures of total feature production predicted reading accuracy and rate, but not comprehension. Clinical Implications: Findings are discussed in terms of the appropriateness of this instrument for use by speech-language pathologists as they contribute to curricular and classroom placement decisions in schools with large numbers of typically developing African American students.

Adaptation to college among African American students: The role of trauma and PTSD

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guler Boyraz ◽  
Sharon G. Horne ◽  
Archandria C. Owens ◽  
Aisha P. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African American Students ◽  
American Students ◽  
Adaptation To College

Making Youth Matter

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-93
Author(s):  
Celeste Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African American Students ◽  
African American Male ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Educational Experiences ◽  
Male Students ◽  
African American Male Students ◽  
American Students ◽  
And Gender ◽  
K 12

This article focuses on findings from a subgroup of African-American male students as part of a broader qualitative dissertation research study, which explored how exclusion and marginalization in schools impact the lives of African-American students. The study focused on the perspectives of youth attending both middle and high schools in Michigan, and investigated how students who have experienced forms of exclusion in their K–12 schooling viewed their educational experiences. Key themes that emerged from the study were lack of care, lack of belonging, disrupted education, debilitating discipline, and persistence and resilience. These themes were analyzed in relation to their intersectionality with culture, ethnicity, race, class, and gender.

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