Impact of dialect use on a basic component of learning to read

Abstract

Can some black-white differences in reading achievement be traced to differences in language background? Many African American children speak a dialect that differs from the mainstream dialect emphasized in school. We examined how use of alternative dialects affects decoding, an important component of early reading and marker of reading development. Behavioral data show that use of the alternative pronunciations of words in different dialects affects reading aloud in developing readers, with larger effects for children who use more African American English (AAE). Mechanisms underlying this effect were explored with a computational model, investigating factors affecting reading acquisition. The results indicate that the achievement gap may be due in part to differences in task complexity: children whose home and school dialects differ are at greater risk for reading difficulties because tasks such as learning to decode are more complex for them.

How does dialect exposure affect learning to read and spell? An artificial orthography study.

“…We start by reporting a conceptual replication of Simulation 1 in Brown et al (2015) that examines effects of dialect exposure on learning to read an inconsistent artificial orthography 1 . (Experiment 1).…”

“…In the variety mismatch conditions half of the words underwent phonological changes between exposure and reading training to loosely resemble a situation in which learners initially are exposed to a dialect at home before being introduced to the standard variety at school. However, because Experiment 1 was conceived as a replication of Brown et al (2015), it did not include spelling training and did not vary orthographic consistency, two factors which need to be considered to be able to generalize cross-linguistically. To address these two limitations, we compared variety match and mismatch conditions on learning to read and spell a consistent (Experiment 2a) and an inconsistent (Experiment 2b) orthography.…”

Identifying Pathways Between Socioeconomic Status and Language Development

“…Additional research suggests that children whose home and school dialects differ are at greater risk for reading difficulties because tasks such as decoding rely heavily on Standard American English (SAE; Brown et al 2015). Whereas children from middle-and high-SES backgrounds may acquire knowledge that can be transferred to a classroom/test setting seamlessly, children from low-SES backgrounds might experience a mismatch between expectations in their home and classroom environments (Dyson & Genishi 2009).…”

“…Children with low phonological awareness are at risk of having reading difficulties (Lonigan 2003), which further leads to negative attitudes toward reading (Oka & Paris 1986), less engagement in reading practices (Allington 1984), and lower reading comprehension skills (Brown et al 1986). Children from high-SES backgrounds also showed a higher level of phonological awareness (Bowey 1995, McDowell et al 2007) than children from low-SES homes.…”

A Prekindergarten Curriculum Supplement for Enhancing Mainstream American English Knowledge in Nonmainstream American English Speakers

“…For example, African American children from low-SES families generally use a variety of morphosyntactic, phonological, and pragmatic features that are characteristic of African American English (AAE; Craig, Thompson, Washington, & Potter;Craig & Washington, 2002;Horton-Ikard & Miller, 2004;Washington & Craig, 1998, 2002a, 2002b. These linguistic differences between MAE and AAE may make learning to read more difficult (Brown et al, 2015) and hinder academic progress more generally.…”