Language characteristics of black children: Implications for assessment

After delineating a number of phonological and syntactic characteristics of black English a review of recent comparative studies is presented. The authors conclude that, while evidence is mixed concerning the question of whether whether a language deficit exists among the lower-class balck children along with a dialect difference, there is clear evidence of the existence of a dialect. The problem facing educators is that no standardized tests have been developed for use with speakers of the dialect. The authors conclude that the use of available tests with dialect speaking children may result in gross errors in educational placement of these children.     

The development of attitudes toward dialect in Italian children

In the Italian public school system, local dialects are explicitly discouraged and children are pressured to master standard Italian. In this study, 95 southern Italian children were given a series of tasks to determine their level of dialect production and their attitudes toward their local dialect. Production of dialect decreases sharply from the first to the third grade, but then tends to stabilize, with a slight increase in dialect use by fourth and fifth grade boys. Hence the schools have not been entirely successful in eradicating dialect. However, attitude measures indicate that by the third grade children prefer Italian over the dialect at close to the 100% level. The schools have placed many children in a conflict situation, in which they have learned negative attitudes toward their own code but cannot completely master standard Italian. Sex differences may be related to a tendency to view dialect as more masculine. Implications of this study for bidialectical school programs in Italy and the United States are discussed.     

No evidence for reduced Simon cost in elderly bilinguals and bidialectals

We explored whether a bilingual advantage in executive control is associated with differences in cultural and ethnic background associated with the bilinguals' immigrant status, and whether dialect use in monolinguals can also incur such an advantage. Performance on the Simon task in older non-immigrant (Gaelic-English) and immigrant (Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Malay, Punjabi, Urdu-English) bilinguals was compared with three groups of older monolingual English speakers, who were either monodialectal users of the same English variety as the bilinguals or were bidialectal users of a local variety of Scots. Results showed no group differences in overall reaction times as well as in the Simon effect thus providing no evidence that an executive control advantage is related to differences in cultural and ethnic background as was found for immigrant compared to non-immigrant bilinguals, nor that executive control may be improved by use of dialect. We suggest the role of interactional contexts and bilingual literacy as potential explanations for inconsistent findings of a bilingual advantage in executive control.     

拼音在方言儿童字词学习中的作用

本研究比较了以普通话与以方言为口语的儿童在根据拼音来学习生词或再认熟词时的成绩。研究结果发现 ,与普通话组相比 ,拼音对方言组儿童学习字词的积极作用在帮助他们再认已学过的词时最大。由于方言的影响 ,除了再认已学过的词汇外 ,拼音对方言儿童的积极作用明显不如学普通话的儿童。而对于普通话组来说 ,拼音更能够帮助儿童学习口语中熟悉的生词 ,而且对由一个生字组成的概念熟悉的词的积极影响大于由两个生字组成的概念熟悉的词。     

Distinguishing norm-based from exemplar-based coding of identity in children: evidence from face identity aftereffects

Children's performance on face identification tests improves dramatically between age 4 and adolescence, yet the source of this improvement is controversial. We used face identity aftereffects to examine whether changes in the organization of face-space during childhood could be a source of this improvement. Specifically we tested whether 7- to 9-year-old children, like adults, show patterns of aftereffects predicted by coding facial identity relative to a norm or the patterns predicted by exemplar-based coding. Consistent with use of norm-based coding children's aftereffects were larger (a) for opposite than non-opposite adapt-test pairs equated for perceptual similarity, and (b) for adaptors far from the average than for adaptors closer to the average. In addition, face identity aftereffects were present by age 5, suggesting adult-like face-space properties by 5, though we did not conduct specific tests to distinguish norm-based from exemplar-based coding in this age group. We conclude that children's poor face identification skills cannot be attributed to a failure to use norm-based coding.     

Levels of causal understanding in chimpanzees and children

We compare three levels of causal understanding in chimpanzees and children: (1) causal reasoning, (2) labelling the components (actor, object, and instrument) of a causal sequence, and (3) choosing the correct alternative for an incomplete representation of a causal sequence. We present two tests of causal reasoning, the first requiring chimpanzees to read and use as evidence the emotional state of a conspecific. Despite registering the emotion, they failed to use it as evidence. The second test, comparing children and chimpanzees, required them to infer the location of food eaten by a trainer. Children and, to a lesser extent, chimpanzees succeeded. When given information showing the inference to be unsound - physically impossible - 4-year-old children abandoned the inference but younger children and chimpanzees did not. Children and chimpanzees are both capable of labelling causal sequences and completing incomplete representations of them. The chimpanzee Sarah labelled the components of a causal sequence, and completed incomplete representations of actions involving multiple transformations. We conclude the article with a general discussion of the concept of cause, suggesting that the concept evolved far earlier in the psychological domain than in the physical.     

Influence of dialect use on early reading and spelling acquisition in German-speaking children in Grade 1

During literacy acquisition, children learn to match written and spoken language. Little is known about how this is achieved by children who grow up speaking a dialect. The present study examined literacy-related skills before school in 71 children (mean_age: 7.61y) with a differing degree of exposure to Swiss-German (SwissG) dialect and tested their reading and spelling skills at the end of Grade 1. No differences in Grade 1 reading and spelling were found between groups of children with different SwissG exposure. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) revealed that SwissG exposure was negatively associated with Grade 1 spelling and reading, when statistically controlling for early literacy-related-skills. At the same time, SwissG exposure was positively associated with early literacy-related skills that drive reading and spelling development. Thus, literacy acquisition in children speaking a dialect is characterised by disadvantages due to a linguistic mismatch, but also by compensatory advantages of higher metalinguistic skills.     

Development of Phonological Constancy: Toddlers' Perception of Native- and Jamaican-Accented Words

ABSTRACT— Efficient word recognition depends on detecting critical phonetic differences among similar-sounding words, or sensitivity to phonological distinctiveness , an ability evident at 19 months of age but unreliable at 14 to 15 months of age. However, little is known about phonological constancy , the equally crucial ability to recognize a word's identity across natural phonetic variations, such as those in cross-dialect pronunciation differences. We show that 15- and 19-month-old children recognize familiar words spoken in their native dialect, but that only the older children recognize familiar words in a dissimilar nonnative dialect, providing evidence for emergence of phonological constancy by 19 months. These results are compatible with a perceptual-attunement account of developmental change in early word recognition, but not with statistical-learning or phonological accounts. Thus, the complementary skills of phonological constancy and distinctiveness both appear at around 19 months of age, together providing the child with a fundamental insight that permits rapid vocabulary growth and later reading acquisition.     

Using Kindergarten Language,Dialect Variation,and Child Behavior to Predict Second Grade Reading Ability in African American Children

Previous research has demonstrated mixed findings pertaining to the risk conferred by variation from Mainstream American English (MAE) for African American children in our education system. Based on the research on language, behavior, and reading, the present study sought to examine the relative and combined contributions of culturally appropriate measures of risk status for disordered language and density of dialect use and classroom behavior (both competencies and problems) in predicting reading ability in a sample of typically developing African American elementary school students. 53 African American Kindergartner's (27 boys, 26 girls) were followed up with two years later in 2nd grade. In Kindergarten, children were screened for density of dialect use and risk of language impairment; teachers rated each child on behavior, social/emotional adjustment, and academic performance. Reading achievement was assessed in 2nd grade. Risk for disordered language development was the best predictor of 2nd grade reading, outperforming density of dialect use. Positive classroom behaviors were more predictive of reading than negative behaviors. This research supports the notion that language, classroom behavior, and reading achievement are intertwined in a complex manner and that when designing interventions for one, the entire system must be considered.     

Use of the mathematical principle of inversion in young children

An important issue in the development of mathematical cognition is the extent to which children use and understand fundamental mathematical concepts. We examined whether young children successfully use the principle of inversion and, if so, whether they do so based on qualitative identity, length, or quantity. Twenty-four preschool children and 24 children in Grade 1 were presented with three-term inversion problems (e.g., 3+2-2) and standard problems of similar magnitude (e.g., 2+4-3). Problems were presented in three conditions to determine whether children used inversion at all and, if so, whether their decisions were based on quantitative or nonquantitative features of the problems. Both preschool and Grade 1 children showed evidence of using inversion in a fully quantitative manner, indicating that this principle is available in some form prior to extensive formal instruction in arithmetic.     

Effectiveness of Positive Hypothesis Testing in Inductive and Deductive Rule Learning

In a positive hypothesis test a person generates or examines evidence that is expected to have the property of interest if the hypothesis is correct, whereas in a negative hypothesis test a person generates or examines evidence that is not expected to have the property of interest if the hypothesis is correct. Two experiments assessed the effectiveness of positive versus negative hypothesis tests on inductive and deductive rule learning problems. In Experiment 1 problem solvers induced a rule by proposing hypotheses and selecting evidence in the eight conditions of a factorial design defined by instructions to use a positive or negative hypothesis test on each of trials 1-5, 6-10, and 11-15. Instructions to use positive tests resulted in more examples, fewer strategic hypotheses, and a higher weighted score for five types of hypotheses than instructions to use negative tests. In Experiment 2 problem solvers identified 1 of a possible 1296 correct rules in the deductive rule learning game Mastermind. When problems were classified in the 16 possible combinations of positive or negative hypothesis tests on trials 2, 3, 4, and 5 there were fewer trials to solution for positive tests on each of the four trials and fewer trials to solution with increasing positive tests. We conclude that positive hypothesis tests are generally more effective than negative hypothesis tests in both inductive and deductive rule learning. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.     

Children's understanding of the relation between addition and subtraction: inversion, identity, and decomposition.

In order to understand addition and subtraction fully, children have to know about the relation between these two operations. We looked at this knowledge in two studies. In one we asked whether 5- and 6-year-old children understand that addition and subtraction cancel each other out and whether this understanding is based on the identity of the addend and subtrahend or on their quantity. We showed that children at this age use the inversion principle even when the addend and subtrahend are the same in quantity but involve different material. In our second study we showed that 6- to 8-year-old children also use the inversion in combination with decomposition to solve a + b - (b + 1) problems. In both studies, factor analyses suggested that the children were using different strategies in the control problems, which require computation, than in the inversion problems, which do not. We conclude that young children understand the relations between addition and subtraction and that this understanding may not be based on their computational skills.     

Socio-economic differences in size-judgments of discs and coins by Chinese primary VI children in Hong Kong.

The present experimental data provide some cross-cultural support for Bruner and Goodman's (1947) hypothesis about perceptual accentuation. 20 Hong Kong Chinese children from a lower socio-economic level over-estimated valued coins more than 15 children from a high socio-economic level. The two Primary Class VI samples used were matched for education and age, and both spoke the Cantonese dialect. There was also some evidence for Tajfel's (1957) "interserial" and "intraserial effects" more particularly for the lower socio-economic children, although similar trends were apparent for the smaller group of higher socio-economic children.     

Evidence against the myth of adjustment problems of people with high intellectual abilities

Personal and social adjustment of high-ability children and adolescents is a very important issue in the specialized literature. The differences found between data for and against appropriate adjustment in gifted children and adolescents could be explained by conceptual or methodological biases. In this work, the relation between adjustment and high abilities are contrasted in a sample of teenagers from the Canary Islands, using a screening procedure based on their scores in intelligence tests. Results show that, although gifted adolescents differ significantly from their peers in the control group in socio-economic variables and academic performance, there are no differences in personal, social and educational adjustment. We conclude that adjustment problems and high ability are independent variables, and there is no evidence to support that gifted individuals have adjustment problems.     

Maternal education and children's academic achievement during middle childhood

Despite much evidence that links mothers' educational attainment to children's academic outcomes, studies have not established whether increases in mothers' education will improve their children's academic achievement. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth on children between the ages of 6 and 12, this study examined whether increases in mothers' educational attainment are associated with changes in children's academic achievement and the quality of their home environments. Results suggest that children of young mothers with low levels of education perform better on tests of academic skills and have higher quality home environments when their mothers complete additional schooling, whereas increased maternal education does not predict improvements in the achievement or home environments of children with older and more highly educated mothers. The estimated effects of additional maternal schooling for children of these younger mothers appear to be more pronounced for children's reading than math skills.     

Teaching apes to ape language: explaining the imitative and nonimitative signing of a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

Fifteen videotaped conversations of a chimpanzee signing with his trainers were examined in order to determine (a) whether the ape was using imitation to learn about new language forms as some human children do and (b) whether the ape's nonimitative utterances implied knowledge of linguistic structures. The answers to both questions were negative. The evidence suggests that the utterances lacked the semantic and syntactic organization found in the utterances of most children. Instead of learning to use signs as symbols for communicating propositional messages, the ape learned to use gestures as nonsymbolic instrumental responses under the stimulus control of objects in the signing context and verbal and nonverbal cues from the trainers. Other research now underway with chimpanzees may eventually reveal whether this performance is characteristic of chimpanzees in general or is the result of particular training strategies used to teach language to chimpanzees.     

Dialect and authography: some differences between American and British spellers

Two experiments examined whether American and British university students make different kinds of spelling errors as a function of the differences between their dialects. The American students spoke a rhotic dialect, pronouncing an /r/ in such words as leper, hermit, horde, and gnarl. The British students, with their nonrhotic dialect, did not include an /r/ in such words. The dialect differences led to different spelling errors in the 2 groups. For example, the British students sometimes misspelled horde as "haud" because its vowel has the alternative spelling au in their dialect. They sometimes spelled polka as "polker" because its final vowel is often spelled as er in other words. The U.S. students were much less likely to make such errors, although they did make other errors that reflected aspects of their dialect. Phonology, far from being superseded by other strategies in the development of spelling, continues to be important for adults.     

Developmental aspects of verbal fluency and confrontation naming in children

Developmental changes in children's verbal fluency and confrontation naming were explored in this study. One hundred and sixty children (ages 5 years and 11 months to 11 years and 4 months) completed two verbal fluency tasks (phonemic and semantic) and the Boston Naming Test (BNT). Normative data were compiled for the BNT and the phonemic and semantic fluency tasks. With the exception of the phonemic fluency task, all tests showed a linear increase from year-groups I to V, with a significant increase between year-groups I and II. Principal Component Factor Analysis was conducted to determine whether the tests evaluated similar or different functions. Two factors emerged: the first involving all of the measurements and the second explaining exclusively the phonemic fluency. These results make it possible to conclude that children also seem to have different subsystems responsible for the analysis and processing of different aspects of language.     

Who can escape the natural number bias in rational number tasks? A study involving students and experts

Many learners have difficulties with rational number tasks because they persistently rely on their natural number knowledge, which is not always applicable. Studies show that such a natural number bias can mislead not only children but also educated adults. It is still unclear whether and under what conditions mathematical expertise enables people to be completely unaffected by such a bias on tasks in which people with less expertise are clearly biased. We compared the performance of eighth‐grade students and expert mathematicians on the same set of algebraic expression problems that addressed the effect of arithmetic operations (multiplication and division). Using accuracy and response time measures, we found clear evidence for a natural number bias in students but no traces of a bias in experts. The data suggested that whereas students based their answers on their intuitions about natural numbers, expert mathematicians relied on their skilled intuitions about algebraic expressions. We conclude that it is possible for experts to be unaffected by the natural number bias on rational number tasks when they use strategies that do not involve natural numbers.     

Children's and adolescents' perception of the authenticity of smiles

Recently, Thibault and colleagues described the Duchenne marker as a cultural dialect for the perception of smile authenticity. The current study had the goal to follow up on this finding and to investigate the cues that French Canadian children use to evaluate the authenticity of smiles from members of three ethnic groups. The authenticity of six smiles differing in intensity and presence of orbicularis oculi (Duchenne marker) was rated by 1206 children from 4 to 17 years of age. No differences were found as a function of encoder group. All children perceived medium Duchenne smiles as more authentic than equally intense medium non-Duchenne smiles. Furthermore, results suggest a decrease in the reliance on intensity across the age span. Younger children use the intensity marker along the whole continuum to infer authenticity. In contrast, older children (14- to 17-year-olds) rated all smiles that did not contain the Duchenne marker as roughly equally low in authenticity.