Pre-Referral Track: Preventing Overrepresentation: Language and Culture Implications Anne H. Charity...

Pre-Referral Track:Preventing Overrepresentation: Language and

Culture Implications

Anne H. Charity Hudley, Ph.D. The College of William and Mary

Developed for the Virginia Department of Education

Thank You For Being Here

• We face these challenges together and we will create solutions together.

What students ask themselves about their school culture and climate

• Am I safe here?• Will I be successful here?• Is there something in this for me?

Region, Culture, Language, and Education

• Educational dilemmas due to linguistic / cultural mismatches between School English and non-standardized varieties• misbehavior• wrong answers• reading/writing difficulty

Tension in the Language

• A compromise –A key question: How do we value the

home language and build on it while learning standardized English, without demeaning students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds?

Burden of Communication

• When there is a perceived language barrier, the person with the non-standardized accent is often expected to do more work to help the other person understand

When Linguistic and Cultural Mismatches Occur

• Unequal burden of communication• Unequal access to education• Prejudice and bias• Unequal access to services

Psychological Effects of Unequal Burden of Communication

• Trying even harder to be understood• Feeling like it’s

“my fault”• Shame/

embarrassment

•Raising my voice• Feeling offended• Feeling devalued•Withdrawing/

disengaging• Silence

School English• “School English” may be unfamiliar to

many students, regardless of background, dialect, or language variety

• Wrong answers and inappropriate behavior might arise because a child doesn’t understand what s/he is being asked or told, rather than because s/he doesn’t know the answer or is disobedient

Educational Outcomes of Linguistic and Cultural Mismatches in Schools

• The language of school and schooling may be unfamiliar to many students

• Wrong answers when a student doesn’t understand a question

• Misbehavior when a student doesn’t understand a direction


• May be characterized as impolite, uncooperative

• May be called on less often in class• May receive lower grades, fewer

recommendation letters, less encouragement


• May be referred for speech/language services or special education

• May face increased disciplinary action, often due to “tone” or attitude

• Disproportionate number of students receive special education services, are suspended, and are reported for disciplinary actions that were extreme for the behavioral problems

• Particularly African-American and Latino children

Communication and Discipline

Implications for Behavior

• Other frequently misunderstood student behaviors include not making eye contact, shrugging one’s shoulders

• Such differences are often culturally mediated• When behaviors co occur‐ , teachers’ and

tutors’ misimpressions may be intensified

• Right of response for punishment

• Repeated punishment decreases perception of self-worth and creates identity conflict


Classroom Behavior Strategy

• Have you ever seen a student be accused of disrespect and then respond that they were not being disrespectful?

• What was taken as disrespect:– Intonation? – Lack of eye contact? – Shrugging shoulders?

• Lexical issues: e.g. head of the line vs. front of the line

• Grammatical issues: e.g. direct vs. implied commands

• Time conceptualization: e.g. when to begin an assignment


The Case for Learning Language Features

• Educators who want to tackle linguistic mismatches in their classroom need a clear understanding of the systematic differences between non-standardized English and standardized English to do so

The Case for Learning Language Features

• How can educators obtain information about how linguistic forms differ?• Sociolinguistic materials that are

geared toward educators that include language features

Phonological (Pronunciation) Features of Language Variation

1. * ask/aks alternation

2. * The consonant /r/ can sound more like a vowel.Ex: in hurry, bird, four, father

3. * A "long i" can sound like ah Ex: oil and all may rhyme

*features found in multiple varieties of English


4. * A "short e" sounds like "short i" before n/m/ng Ex: pen sounds like pin

5. * Stress can shift from the second to the first syllable Ex: POlice, Umbrella

6. * Final consonant clusters may be reduced Ex: find sounds like fine, cold sounds like code



7. * A th sound can be /d/, /t/, /s/, /z/, /f/, or /v/Ex: with-whiff, with-wit, and they-day can be

homophones

8. * /s/ can become /d/ before /n/ or /m/ Ex: isn't --> idn’t, wasn't --> wadn’t



9. Final /m/ and /n/ can sound like nasal vowels Ex: in ran

10. A final consonant may not be produced Ex: five and fine sound like fie

11. Final voiced stop consonants can be devoicedEx: bad sounds like bat or ba’



12. A yu vowel can become oo after a consonant Ex: computer --> compooter

13./t/ can become /k/ in a /str- / cluster Ex: stream sounds like scream


Grammatical Features of Language Variation

1. * Negative concord Ex: She don't know nothing. Didn't nobody see it. It ain't nobody can't get in no trouble here.

2. * Irregular verbs may be regularized when marking tense

Ex: I seened/seent her.



3. * The word done may be used to mark past tense Ex: He done failed the test.

4. * The word ain't may be used as an auxiliary verb or copula

Ex: I ain't seen her. He ain't shy.



5. * The word had may be used to mark the simple past tense

Ex: What had happened was

6. * Double modals may be used Ex: I might could have done that.



7. Subject-verb case/number agreement of SE is not required

Ex: She weren't there. They is coming.

8. A plural, possessive, or present-tense-singular /s/ may be unmarked

Ex: my mama house, fifty cent He talk too much.



9. A copula (linking "be" verb) can be deleted rather than contracted

Ex: She ugly. He crazy.

10. Stressed BIN may be used Ex: I BIN finished my homework.



11. Habitual BE may be used Ex: He be talking all the time.

12. Hypercorrection Ex: I sended it. I hadded to go to the store.


Intonation: Implications for Students

• Differences in intonation affect how students are perceived by teachers and peers, because intonation is tied to notions of politeness, friendliness, and enthusiasm

Implications for Behavior

• African American males might have ‐ less melodic variation in their voices, in contrast to white females

Intonation: Implications for Students

• Student A: Why am I taking this test. • Student B: Why am I taking this test?

• What tones of voice make students sound polite? Respectful? Curious? Enthusiastic?

• What about bored? Withdrawn? Disengaged? Disrespectful? Non-compliant? Angry?

• The topics are related by a common theme, though this relationship may not be made explicit to the listener

• The topics may not be presented in a linear way with a clear beginning, middle, and end

Discourse Features:Topic-Associating Storytelling

• This style differs from the single topic narrative style that is considered normative in standardized English

• The normative style is expected in school settings and in assessments of “kindergarten readiness” (Reid & Valle 2004)

– Reid, K., & Valle, J. W. (2004). The discursive practice of learning disability: Implications for instruction and parent-school relations. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37(6), 466–481.


1. I live on Green Street2. its a nice place3. I got a- my auntie lives up there4. I was gonna go to my- another school5. this year I’m going to a different new

school6. so I might be happy there

Topic-Associating Narrative: 8-year-old Girl

7. but about my house8. I just love being at my house9. my cousins come over to play with me10. and sleep over sometimes11. sometimes I have slumber parties12. and then in the morning sometimes my

mother takes us- my grandpa take us to the park


13. get us Mcdonald’s or ummm all of that14. sometimes he take us to the zoo15. and see all the animals16. it was fun at the zoo17. I saw the animals, bears18. it was great!



• Topic-associating style of storytelling is perceived negatively when it is inconsistent with what educators expect.


• Educators who did not understand this style:•Were more likely to interrupt African

American students during circle time•Had trouble predicting the direction

of their stories•Often became frustrated

Different Types of Teacher Strategies

1. Strategies for effectively teaching standardized forms to non-standardized-speaking students

2. Strategies for encouraging written and oral participation and expression among non-standardized English-speaking students

3. Strategies for teaching language diversity to all students

Strategies for Teaching Standardized Forms• Check for patterns in students’ “mistakes” in

speech and writing

• Is there a possibility that “mistakes” are language-based?

• Can the language patterns be explained to students and contrasted with standardized forms?

Strategies for Teaching Standardized Forms

• Avoid correcting language forms without explanation

• Frequently corrected students may also avoid speaking in class and learn that form is more important than content in the classroom

Classroom Behavior Strategy

• Teachers can involve their students in defining what respect and disrespect look and sound like, both individually and as a whole class

Strategies You Can Use: With Your Students

• Talk to students about language variation• Teach students about “School English” without

devaluing home language• Help students identify dialect variation in their

own speech and their peers’ speech• Teach students to vary their language in

different situations

Thank You!

Anne H. Charity Hudley, Ph.D.William and Mary Professor of Community Studies

Associate Professor of Education, English, Linguistics, and Africana Studies

Director, William & Mary Scholars Program The College of William and Mary

Williamsburg, Virginia [email protected]

Pre-Referral Track: Preventing Overrepresentation: Language and Culture Implications Anne H. Charity...

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