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- Title
Dialect Variation of Copula and Auxiliary Verb BE: African American English-Speaking Children With and Without Gullah/Geechee Heritage.
- Authors
Berry, Jessica R.; Oetting, Janna B.
- Abstract
Purpose: We compared copula and auxiliary verb BE use by African American English-speaking children with and without a creole heritage, using Gullah/Geechee as the creole criterion, to determine if differences exist, the nature of the differences, and the impact of the differences on interpretations of ability. Method: Data came from 38 children, aged 5 to 6 years (19 with Gullah/Geechee and 19 without Gullah/Geechee heritage). All were developing language typically, with groups matched on gender, maternal education, and, when possible, test scores. The children's productions of BE were elicited using a screener, probes, and language samples. Results: Although many similarities were documented, the 2 groups' BE systems differed in 3 ways: use of unique forms (i.e., də), unique use of shared forms (i.e., BEEN), and rates of use of shared forms (e.g., am, is, was/were, was for were). Although most noticeable in the language samples, differences surfaced across tasks and showed the potential to affect interpretations of ability. Conclusions: Dialect variation that is tied to children's creole heritage exists, involves 3 types of variation, and potentially affects interpretations of ability. Effects of a heritage language and different types of variation should be considered in research and clinical endeavors with African American English-speaking children.
- Subjects
UNITED States; SOUTH Carolina; DIALECT research; BLACK English; COPULA (Grammar); ENGLISH language -- Verb; AFRICAN American children; SEA Islands Creole dialect; ENGLISH language ability testing; LANGUAGE &; culture; LANGUAGE &; languages; ANALYSIS of variance; T-test (Statistics); DIALECTS; RESEARCH funding; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; DATA analysis software
- Publication
Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 2017, Vol 60, Issue 9, p2557
- ISSN
1092-4388
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1044/2017_JSLHR-L-16-0120