Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2022
Publisher
Wiley
Source Publication
Journal of Research in Reading
Source ISSN
0141-0423
Abstract
Background Numerous studies have observed a significant and unique relationship between children's use of nonmainstream dialect and reading outcomes. We aimed to examine the relationship between nonmainstream dialect and reading at its roots by completing a preliminary evaluation of the relationship between African American English (AAE) dialect and multiple dimensions of emergent literacy skills in young African American children enrolled in Head Start. Methods Seventy-eight African American preschoolers completed the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening-PreK (PALS-PreK) and a narrative retell of the wordless picture book, Frog, Where Are You? The narratives were used to generate three measures of narrative productivity and the dialect density measure (DDM). Results Structural equation modelling found that the PALS-PreK measures significantly loaded onto a single print-related emergent literacy latent variable and that the three narrative measures significantly loaded onto a single language-based emergent literacy latent variable. There was a significant relationship between print-related emergent literacy skills and DDM, but the overall model had a poor fit, showing that the relationship between emergent literacy and DDM was weak. Conclusions We conclude the manuscript by discussing implications of this research and suggestions for further study.
Recommended Citation
Baldwin, Erika; Heilmann, John J.; Finneran, Denise A.; Cho, Chi C.; and Moyle, Maura Jones, "Dialect Density, Language Abilities, and Emergent Literacy Skills of Prekindergarten Children who Speak African American English" (2022). Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications. 68.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/spaud_fac/68
Comments
Accepted version. Journal of Research in Reading, Vol. 45, No. 4 (2022): 567-586. DOI. © 2022 Wiley. Used with permission.