Work

Grade-Related Changes in the Production of African American English

Year: 2004

Type: article

Abstract: This investigation examined grade as a source of systematic variation in the African American English (AAE) produced by students in preschool through fifth grades. Participants were 400 typically developing African American boys and girls residing in low- or middle-income homes in an urban-fringe community or midsize central city in the metropolitan Detroit area. Between preschoolers and kindergartners, and between first through fifth graders, there were no significant differences in the amounts of dialect produced during a picture description language elicitation context. However, there was a significant downward shift in dialect production at first grade. Students who evidenced dialect shifting outperformed their nonshifting peers on standardized tests of reading achievement and vocabulary breadth.

Source: Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research

DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2004/036)

Authors: Holly K. Craig, Julie A. Washington

Institution: University of Michigan

Language: English

Topic: Linguistic Variation and Morphology

Subfield: Linguistics and Language

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Quality education, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funders: U.S. Department of Education, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders