Valuing linguistic diversity: grammatical features of First Nations school-aged children's spoken and written language
Students who speak local varieties (i.e., dialects) of English that differ from the codified variety promoted in school are at a disadvantage. Research illustrates that differences in sound systems, grammar, vocabulary, and usage can negatively affect literacy development and achievement in math and...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Other Authors: | , |
Format: | Thesis |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1828/11425 |
id |
ftuvicpubl:oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/11425 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftuvicpubl:oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/11425 2023-05-15T16:15:41+02:00 Valuing linguistic diversity: grammatical features of First Nations school-aged children's spoken and written language Hart Blundon, Patricia D'Arcy, Alexandra McGhie-Richmond, Donna 2019-12-24 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1828/11425 English en eng http://hdl.handle.net/1828/11425 Available to the World Wide Web English variety English dialect school-aged children grammatical features oral narrative written narrative First Nations Thesis 2019 ftuvicpubl 2022-05-19T06:13:08Z Students who speak local varieties (i.e., dialects) of English that differ from the codified variety promoted in school are at a disadvantage. Research illustrates that differences in sound systems, grammar, vocabulary, and usage can negatively affect literacy development and achievement in math and science, and lead to misunderstandings and changes in teacher attitudes toward students. Moreover, the use of inappropriate assessment tools may result in unnecessary pathologization and inappropriate pedagogical approaches. Since many Indigenous children may speak local varieties, it is reasonable to assume that the same issues that hinder school success for speakers of other varieties affect many Indigenous students in Canada in similar ways. However, to date, research concerning Indigenous Englishes in Canada is scant. Similarly, virtually no empirical evidence has been gathered on use in Canadian schools. By extension, the trajectory of use of features as children progress through grades remains unknown. The goal of this research was to begin to address the crucial necessity of learning more about Indigenous English varieties, in order that appropriate language assessment and pedagogical practices can be implemented. The research, conducted in a remote community in Northern British Columbia, Canada, concentrates on differences in grammar used by a group of First Nations school-aged children. I analyzed oral narrative language samples of Kindergarteners, and oral and written narrative language samples of students in Kindergarten to Grade 5, over a three-year period. Results reveal the presence of at least 23 distinct grammatical features, many of which may have been influenced by the structure of the ancestral language. At school entry, students used grammatical features at high rates, regardless of whether or not they later required speech-language pathology or special education services. As children progressed through the grades, the rate at which they produced features appeared to follow a curvilinear ... Thesis First Nations University of Victoria (Canada): UVicDSpace British Columbia ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) Canada |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Victoria (Canada): UVicDSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftuvicpubl |
language |
English |
topic |
English variety English dialect school-aged children grammatical features oral narrative written narrative First Nations |
spellingShingle |
English variety English dialect school-aged children grammatical features oral narrative written narrative First Nations Hart Blundon, Patricia Valuing linguistic diversity: grammatical features of First Nations school-aged children's spoken and written language |
topic_facet |
English variety English dialect school-aged children grammatical features oral narrative written narrative First Nations |
description |
Students who speak local varieties (i.e., dialects) of English that differ from the codified variety promoted in school are at a disadvantage. Research illustrates that differences in sound systems, grammar, vocabulary, and usage can negatively affect literacy development and achievement in math and science, and lead to misunderstandings and changes in teacher attitudes toward students. Moreover, the use of inappropriate assessment tools may result in unnecessary pathologization and inappropriate pedagogical approaches. Since many Indigenous children may speak local varieties, it is reasonable to assume that the same issues that hinder school success for speakers of other varieties affect many Indigenous students in Canada in similar ways. However, to date, research concerning Indigenous Englishes in Canada is scant. Similarly, virtually no empirical evidence has been gathered on use in Canadian schools. By extension, the trajectory of use of features as children progress through grades remains unknown. The goal of this research was to begin to address the crucial necessity of learning more about Indigenous English varieties, in order that appropriate language assessment and pedagogical practices can be implemented. The research, conducted in a remote community in Northern British Columbia, Canada, concentrates on differences in grammar used by a group of First Nations school-aged children. I analyzed oral narrative language samples of Kindergarteners, and oral and written narrative language samples of students in Kindergarten to Grade 5, over a three-year period. Results reveal the presence of at least 23 distinct grammatical features, many of which may have been influenced by the structure of the ancestral language. At school entry, students used grammatical features at high rates, regardless of whether or not they later required speech-language pathology or special education services. As children progressed through the grades, the rate at which they produced features appeared to follow a curvilinear ... |
author2 |
D'Arcy, Alexandra McGhie-Richmond, Donna |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Hart Blundon, Patricia |
author_facet |
Hart Blundon, Patricia |
author_sort |
Hart Blundon, Patricia |
title |
Valuing linguistic diversity: grammatical features of First Nations school-aged children's spoken and written language |
title_short |
Valuing linguistic diversity: grammatical features of First Nations school-aged children's spoken and written language |
title_full |
Valuing linguistic diversity: grammatical features of First Nations school-aged children's spoken and written language |
title_fullStr |
Valuing linguistic diversity: grammatical features of First Nations school-aged children's spoken and written language |
title_full_unstemmed |
Valuing linguistic diversity: grammatical features of First Nations school-aged children's spoken and written language |
title_sort |
valuing linguistic diversity: grammatical features of first nations school-aged children's spoken and written language |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1828/11425 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) |
geographic |
British Columbia Canada |
geographic_facet |
British Columbia Canada |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/1828/11425 |
op_rights |
Available to the World Wide Web |
_version_ |
1766001453884768256 |