Lab

• Two types of dialects: Geographical and sociocultural
• Dialect is characterized by variations in grammar, syntax, pronunciation, or vocabulary
• Dialectal variation can be influenced by: Geographic barriers, social barriers, race, occupation, education, age
• Dialect use is not uniform within a community of dialect users
• Code-switching involves metalinguistic awareness
• Dialect and Form: Third person singular -s absence (AAVE), devoicing final /z/ (Chicano English)
• Dialect and Content: Schmooze and Klutz in Jewish-American English
• Dialect and Use: Code-switching (voluntary or necessary), different cultural dialects may necessitate altered pragmatic behaviors
• Imperative for dialect users to be differentiated from individuals with a language disorder
• In order to ethically assess language ability - dialect use must be taken into account
• All American-English dialects are rule-governed
• Three ways to find density of nonmainstream forms

  1. Number of utterances with one or more nonmainstream form divided by the total number of utterances produced by the speaker
  2. Number of nonmainstream forms produced by the speaker divided by the total number of utterances produced by the speaker
  3. Number of nonmainstream forms produced by the speaker divided by the total number of word produced by the speaker
• Density metrics reflect the number of nonmainstream forms within a speaker's dialect, not their comprehensive use of a dialect
• Dialect Rating Scale: Listener judgement task, scale of 1 to 7
• Dialect rating scale: 1 is no dialect use
• Dialect rating scale: 7 is heavy dialect use
• Heavy dialect use is when dialect is present in 40% or more utterances
• Vocabulary knowledge


  The importance of vocabulary knowledge to a child's success
• Why is a rich vocabulary important to a child's success?

  • Enhances effective communication
  • Gives a child the ability to say what he/she means precisely
  • Bolsters their ability to grasp ideas and think more logically
  • Boosts a child's power of persuasion
• Why is a rich vocabulary important to a child's success?

  • Improves multiple aspects of reading development
  • Larger vocabulary size leads to more sensitivity to sound patterns within words, easier to learn alphabetic principles
  • Breadth of vocabulary leads to greater world knowledge and better morphological awareness (e.g., root words, derived words, etc.) which leads to better decoding of less common/unfamiliar words
• Vocabulary and Morphology


  Reciprocal Relationship
• Joint attention


  An important facilitator of children's early vocabulary development
• Joint attention


  The shared focus of two individuals on an object
• Joint attention


  Dyadic or triadic attention
• Joint attention plays a pivotal role in the word burst


  Which occurs at around 15-20 months (usually around 18)
• Parent-child book reading (a.k.a. joint book reading)


  An excellent opportunity for vocabulary expansion by learning word-object mappings in a more structured setting
• Why is parent-child book reading an excellent opportunity for vocabulary expansion?
• Approaches to vocabulary instruction in schools


  • Phonics/code based approach
  • Whole language/meaning based approach
• Phonics Approach


  • Learning to read ≠ Learning to speak
  • Emphasis is on providing explicit instructions for children to learn and use the alphabetic principles as well as word learning strategies
• Whole Language Approach


  • Learning to read = Learning to speak
  • Emphasis is on meaning of texts (i.e., text comprehension) is more important than the sounds of letters in a word
• Pros of Explicit Instruction in School


  • Particularly important for children who are at risk for language and reading disorders
• Cons of Explicit Instruction in School


  • Constant breaking down of words into parts leads to difficulty understanding the text
  • A problem in English: rote memory
• Pros of Phonics Approach

  • Emphasis on joint book reading
  • Emphasis on reading comprehension
• Cons of Phonics Approach

  • Little emphasis on word analysis
  • Problems for those with language and reading difficulties
• National Reading Panel (2000) recommendation


  Use a variety of direct and indirect methods of vocabulary instruction
• Direct methods of vocabulary instruction


  • Explicit instruction in specific words and word-learning strategies
• Indirect methods of vocabulary instruction


  • Vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to words and text
• Teaching phonics is an important aspect of beginning reading instruction, but has little long-term effect on reading comprehension
• Teaching vocabulary is an important aspect of language/reading development and has a long-term effect on reading comprehension as well as academic achievement
• Explicit instructions for phonics and vocabulary must be embedded in the context of a total reading/language arts program