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LITERACY FOR BLACK CHILDREN.   Term Paper ID:20509 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Theories & practices affecting teaching of language to black elementary school students.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Theories & practices affecting teaching of language to black elementary school students. Paper Introduction: Cultural Patterns Affecting Literacy: Theory and Practice for Elementary Teaching Educators everywhere speak of literacy as a desirable aim for their students, but few define it in terms that translate to practice in the classroom. Scribner says the promise of literacy requires involvement and value in reading and writing incorporating the values of knowledge, rationality, power, and a state of grace. A fifth grade teacher, Mr. Allen, says it is when you sit down with a book and read for the fun of it. It is widely known that students vary in their ability to perform and enjoy the language arts and that these variances may be related to cultural differences. It is the purpose of this paper to explore cultural patterns affecting literacy, especially the black culture, and to discuss theories and practices important to Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. [5]Ibid., 139. One piece of research called the Briston Study involved observationof children in their home environment and school environment in order tocompare their linguistic usage. Peters, and Charles W. In ghetto homes,however, the parent may have unrealistic ideas about what the child is ableto do. Bernstein calls this anelaborated code.[5] William Labov noticed during his research on the different socialdialects found in urban centers that black children appeared linguisticallyincompetent in classroom interactions with teachers and other adults butshowed perfectly normal linguistic ability out on the playground or even ininformal conversation with adults. Most educatorsare of the opinion (although they might deny this) that the child'slanguage is deficient or defective and is the only thing wrong in themismatch. Theyknow the child's actual ability level. Research does notshow this method to be successful because of the heavy influence of peerson black children's speech. It is the purpose of this paper to explore culturalpatterns affecting literacy, especially the black culture, and to discusstheories and practices important to effective elementary school teaching ofliteracy with black children. BibliographyHandel, Ruth D. According to his account, the educationallysignificant difference between children from advantaged homes and childrenfrom disadvantaged homes is not in their underlying linguistic abilitiesbut in the ways they use their language. Peer influence is stronger in the lower classes. The classroom merelyreflects basic inequalities of power and control present in the society atlarge. Neuman and Roskos advocate strong intervention in the classroomenvironment to improve child literacy. Another problem with this approach is theimplication of rejection of the child's language and his culture.Proponents of the Standard English method, however, strongly believe thatproductive mastery of classroom English is necessary for adult success insociety. The Partnership for Family Reading: Benefits forfamilies and schools," The Reading Teacher, 46 (October 1992): 125.----------------------- 9 Black children show considerable improvement in therepetition of sentences with simple grammatical structures during the firstthree grades of school.[9] Susan Smith of Drake University found children as early as age fourfrom lower income homes are already at a disadvantage compared to theirmiddle class age mates. Ghetto children rely on a specific context involvinga specific person within the outline of a narrow class of actions whichtake place at a specific time. (Editor). ReadingProblems: A Multidisciplinary Perspective. [14]Susan B. There were class-related differences in the ability of childrento cope with tests and test-like situations. Peters. [3]Ibid., 4. Johns, Editor, Literacy for Diverse Learners: PromotingReading Growth at All Levels (Newark, Delaware: International ReadingAssociation, 1973), 3. He went so far asto argue that the children he studied were in no way linguisticallydeficient. "The social contexts of school and personal literacy."Reading Research Quarterly 27 (1992): 297-323.Neuman, Susan B., and Kathy Roskos. Cultural Patterns Affecting Literacy: Theory and Practice for Elementary Teaching Educators everywhere speak of literacy as a desirable aim for theirstudents, but few define it in terms that translate to practice in theclassroom. In his discussion of social class and language, Wayne Otto notes thatthe ghetto child is not likely to be well-tutored in the uses of languagefor interaction with persons outside his social group. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1987.----------------------- [1]Jamie Myers, "The social contexts of school and personal literacy,"Reading Research Quarterly 27 (1992): 297. [8]Wayne Otto, Nathaniel A. Therefore when the report cardcomes home, either the child does as the parent expects or does evenbetter. It is understood without other clues such as whois speaking or where. She noted alarming voids in such homes (fewerbooks, infrequent reading to children, and no encouragement for children toengage in pretend reading and writing activities).[1 ] She purports thatreading and literacy begin long before school with children noticing printin the world around them and trying to figure out how people use it. This discrepancy causes a mismatch in the child's language andthe language of the school creating challenges for both the students andthe teacher. Bernstein argued that the membersof different classes emphasize different types of relationships within thefamily and enact the relationships with different types of linguisticusage. The deliberate enrichment of the environment withwords and word use increases writing, exploring, reading, labelling, andplay with words or letters.[14] Ruth Handel, the Director of the Partnership for Family Readingadvocates a program in which the parents, grandparents, and others whospend time with the child are welcomed into the school with refreshmentsand enjoyable workshops. These differences were notstrictly related to race or class.[7] However, at school the picturechanged. "Reducing the Risks for At-Risk Learners."Reading Improvement 29 (Winter 1992): 248-255.Wells, Gordon. Rather they merely lacked competence in standardEnglish, the dialect used and valued by their teachers. "The Partnership for Family Reading: Benefits forfamilies and schools." The Reading Teacher 46 (October 1992): 116-125.Johns, Jerry L. Different solutions are available. This creates a happy situation for the child. The Meaning Makers: Children Learning Language andUsing Language to Learn. Literacy for Diverse Learners: PromotingReading Growth at All Levels. [1 ]Susan Robinson Smith, "Reducing the Risks for At-Risk Learners,"Reading Improvement 29 (Winter 1992): 249. Teachers must face their prejudicesand differing expectations for students of different races and take strongaction to equalize the literacy experiences available to all children.Until this happens, black children simply do not have access to aneducation that fosters literacy. She advocates helping children understandthat recognizing stop signs and McDonald's signs is a type of reading.Another approach advocates teaching the black dialect child to read withreading materials written to conform to his dialect. He does not knowhow to solve problems with language. Reading, Massachusetts:Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1977.Smith, Susan Robinson. "Literacy objects as culturaltools: Effects on children's literacy behaviors in play." ReadingResearch Quarterly 27 (1992): 2 3-223.Otto, Wayne, Nathaniel A. [6]Ibid., 14 . A fifth grade teacher, Mr.Allen, says it is when you sit down with a book and read for the fun ofit.[1] It is widely known that students vary in their ability to performand enjoy the language arts and that these variances may be related tocultural differences. [15]Ruth D. There are two points of view concerning the mismatch. Both the deficit and difference viewpoints accept theassumption that the mismatch between the black child's language and theschool language is a major factor in reading problems. [2]Jerry L. [4]Gordon Wells, The Meaning Makers: Children Learning Language andUsing Language to Learn (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1987) 139. According to Herbert D. Smith advocatesthe following ideas for classroom teachers, especially those in the earlygrades--read stories to the children every day, especially in very smallgroups; encourage the children to read; give children copies of books totake home and keep; encourage children to play with print; set up aliteracy center in the classroom; make the classroom "print-rich"; and helpchildren understand what reading is and how people do it.[11] Dr. Smith believes that children need opportunities to play withprint much as children learning to speak babble before putting togethersentences in normal fashion. Proponents of this modelwould require that schools change in order to accommodate children whospeak black dialect. They cite studies in which eacharea and object in the classroom is labeled and the dramatic effect on thechild's use of language. Other class differences affect literacy in black children. Scribner says the promise of literacy requires involvement andvalue in reading and writing incorporating the values of knowledge,rationality, power, and a state of grace. The child senses this, even if it is not spoken, and thechild's self-esteem suffers. They simply needed for their teachers to value the languagethat they use.[6] Bernstein held that the fundamental problem in dealing with culturaldifferences in literacy lies in society as a whole. [13]Myers, 298. It is imperative that elementary classroom teachers educatethemselves in these cultural differences between students and implementclassroom strategies to foster literacy in black children while respectingtheir first language. Peters, and Charles W. It is imperative that elementary teachers concerning themselves withliteracy of black children, particularly low income black children, becomesensitive to the very real differences in how these children use language.In his discussion of the theories of linguistic disadvantage, Gordon Wellsnotes that earlier explanations of literacy difficulties of black childrenstemmed merely from the fact of fewer linguistic resources. The parent is often displeased and disappointed in the child'sperformance. [9]Ibid., 83. Simons, black children as a group do notlearn to read as well as white children, and black language differs fromthe language used in schools.[2] To be more specific, black children speakblack dialect while the generally accepted language in schools is standardEnglish. Myers discusses these ideas in thecontext of respect for three dimensions--meaning making, purpose, andposition. The Family Reading workshop model includesintroductory activities, presentation of books, demonstration of readingstrategies, practice in pairs, group discussion, and preparation forreading at home.[15] Whatever theories believed and methods used, it is imperative thatresponsible elementary classroom teachers address literacy inequality forthe black students in their classroom. Neuman and Kathy Roskos, "Literacy objects as culturaltools: Effects on children's literacy behaviors in play," Reading ResearchQuarterly 27 (1992): 22 . Peters, ReadingProblems: A Multidisciplinary Perspective (Reading, Massachusetts:Addison-Wesley Publishing Company), 76. [11]Ibid., 253. Operation Head Start in the 196 's arose from thistheory.[4] Basil Bernstein of Britain proposed an altogether different theory oflinguistic disadvantage. Ghetto parents do not use languagevery productively for these purposes either, and they may not use languageto teach their children how to deal with the world.[8] Middle class speechis free from its context. Classroom teachers may establish literacy clubs or achievement clubswhich are largely run by the students. Evidence also isgrowing that certain language skills develop earlier in some social groupsthan in others. This involves teaching the child standard English and eliminatingblack dialect.[3] A second point of view, often called the difference model, is thatthe black dialect is an acceptable way of communication which is differentfrom the school language of standard English. Newark, Delaware: International ReadingAssociation, 1973.Myers, Jamie. [7]Ibid., 142. There was a wide variation in the qualityof the conversation, ranging from the number of utterances between parentsand children (36 to 36 in eighteen different 9 second samples) andincluding quality of types of use of language such as asking children toconsider imaginary of hypothetical situations. They differ intheir proposed remedies. Middleclass parents tend to have realistic expectations for their children. This method can becalled the dialect reader approach which involves radical changes in thebooks used to teach reading.[12] The Standard English approach systematically teaches black childrenEnglish and reading with a second language technique. On the basis of this assumption it becomes the teacher's job tochange the language of the child so it conforms to the language of theschool. Labov argued that these children didnot lack language. In the view ofthis theory, the solution is to provide a highly structured compensatoryeducational program. He proposed that teachers need to adjust to the differentorientations to meaning and, at the same time, expose black children to theuses of a more elaborate code. Handel. That is, the child's literacy behavior should originate fromwithin himself, an authentic desire that does not have to do with simplypleasing the teacher.[13] Such clubs can include secret notebooks, passingmessages, and printing newsletters. [12]Johns, 4. Lower class families emphasize positional relationships and enactthem with a restricted linguistic code in which the meaning is implicit,already known from the immediate context. More advantaged familiesemphasize personal relationships in which speakers make their own viewexplicit and set it in a more universal context. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.