Communication Sciences

The Latino population of which English Language Learners (ELLs) is a subset, has demonstrated substantial growth in recent years (U.S Census Bureau, 2008), highlighting the need for normative information regarding their language skills. However, requisite to obtaining normative information is determining appropriate norming methods. The principal purpose of the present study was to ascertain appropriate norming procedures for the language variables: Mean Length of Utterance (MLU), Number of Different Words (NDW) and Words Per Minute (WPM) in English and Spanish narratives of Spanish-speaking ELLs. The issues were 1) whether age or grade norms should be used as an index of language development, 2) whether cross-sectional or longitudinal data should be utilized, and 3) whether the inclusion or exclusion of children with missing data or grade repeats affects the language measures. It was hypothesized that due to the syntactic and lexical differences that are present across languages, there would be a different developmental schedule of development for the language variables in the English and Spanish of ELLs. Participants were typically developing kindergarten to second grade Spanish speaking ELLs enrolled in transitional bilingual programs. A total of 605 children comprised the cross-sectional dataset and a total of 679 children were included in the longitudinal dataset. From these initial datasets, additional datasets were created to provide separate age and grade groups (for the cross-sectional and longitudinal datasets) as well as three different longitudinal datasets. Narratives in English and Spanish were elicited from each child using a story retell procedure. Analyses were carried out using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), Univariate Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance procedures. Results of both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses indicated that age and grade are comparable indices of time for studying MLU, NDW, and WPM. Results also indicated that longitudinal data is superior to cross-sectional data for examining the language variables and that including or excluding subjects with missing data or grade repeaters does not significantly affect MLU, NDW, and WPM scores. Additionally, results confirm the findings from the research literature that MLU, NDW, and WPM are valid variables for studying narrative development.

Temple University – Theses

Communication Sciences

Although the research literature supports the notion of language growth trajectories, primarily in monolingual English children, the shape and direction of English-language learners' (ELLs) language growth trajectories are largely unknown. The present study examined the shape of ELLs' language growth trajectories by estimating the initial status and the growth rates of specific oral language skills (mean length of utterance in words (MLUw), number of different words (NDW), and words per minute (WPM)) in each language during the first 3 years of formal schooling. This study was framed from the perspective of language as a dynamic system, composed of linguistic subsystems that change over time. This study utilized secondary data from a larger project, the Bilingual Language Literacy Project (BLLP), which collected narrative retell language samples produced in Spanish and English from ELL children. The final longitudinal dataset used in this study consisted of 12,248 oral narrative language samples (6,516 Spanish; 5,732 English) that were produced by 1,723 ELLs. This study examined the effect of three predictors on language growth: academic semester (metric of time), gender, and schooling. Growth curve model (GCM) testing was used to profile the longitudinal growth of the ELLs' oral language skills in Spanish and English over time. This study had a number of important findings regarding change over time, intra- and inter-individual variability, and the impact of initial status on growth. With regard to change over time: MLUw, NDW, and WPM demonstrated growth over time in Spanish and English; the shapes of Spanish (curvilinear, non-monotonic, and continuous) and English growth (linear, non-monotonic, and discontinuous) were similar within-language; language growth in Spanish was predicted by academic semester and gender; and language growth in English was predicted by academic semester, gender, and schooling. With regard to intra- and inter-individual variability: significant intra-individual differences in the growth of all the oral language measures, across each wave of measurement, were found for both languages; significant intra-individual differences in the initial status of participants for all the oral language measures were found for both languages; significant inter-individual differences in the growth rates were found for WPM-Spanish; and significant inter-individual differences in the growth rates were found for all the oral language measures in English. With regard to the impact of initial status on growth: the growth of MLUw-Spanish was systematically related to initial status (lower performers at initial status may not catch up to higher performers); the growth of NDW- and WPM-Spanish were unrelated to its initial status (lower performers at initial status may, or may not catch up to higher performers); and the growth of MLUw-, NDW-, and WPM-English was systematically related to initial status (lower performers at initial status may catch up to higher performers). With regard to…

Communication Sciences

Children with Tourette Syndrome (CWTS) frequently exhibit a high prevalence of disfluent speech behaviors which are often labeled stuttering. The present study analyzed the fluency characteristics of CWTS, in comparison to children who stutter (CWS) and typically developing peers (TDP). It was predicted that CWTS would be less fluent than TDP but more fluent than CWS. A related purpose was to explore whether differences existed in the pattern of disfluencies demonstrated by these groups. To this end, it was predicted that CWTS would demonstrate significantly lower proportions of stuttering-like disfluencies than CWS and significantly higher proportions of stuttering-like disfluencies than TDP. Participants included eight CWTS, eight CWS and eight TDP. Speech samples, collected during a narrative story telling task, were analyzed to determine whether significant differences in the type and frequency of disfluencies were evident between the groups. Results revealed that CWTS were significantly more fluent than CWS and that CWTS produced significantly lower proportions of stuttering-like disfluencies than CWS. Although not statistically significant, CWTS were twice as disfluent as TDP and CWTS produced significantly higher proportions of stuttering-like disfluencies than TDP. These findings confirmed that CWTS present with an atypical disfluency pattern which can be differentiated from that of CWS and TDP based on the total disfluency level and the proportion of stuttering-like disfluencies.

Temple University – Theses

CITE/Language Arts

Ed.D.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the encoding of motion in the two languages of Russian-English bilinguals who differed in their ages of arrival in the United States. Three groups of participants took part in the study: 38 L1 Russian speakers, 31 L1 English speakers and 30 Russian-English bilinguals who differed in the ages of arrival in the US (10 early, 10 childhood, and 10 late bilinguals). The participants produced oral narratives elicited with two books, Frog, Where Are You? (Mayer, 1969) and One Frog Too Many (Mayer & Mayer, 1975), with bilingual participants producing narratives in both of their languages. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data revealed several differences between L1 Russian and English speakers, including the obligatory encoding of manner of motion in Russian but not in English, where narrators also used generic motion verbs, such as to come or to go. In the context of these differences bilinguals in all three groups were shown to perform in accordance with specific language constraints in both of their languages. At the same time, Russian-English bilinguals used fewer motion verbs in L1 Russian and displayed lower levels of lexical diversity than L1 Russian speakers. The analyses revealed no effects of the age of arrival on the maintenance of L1 Russian, nor of the L1 Russian on the motion talk in L2 English. The findings of the study deepen our understanding of motion encoding in bilingual speakers. They also have important theoretical implications, suggesting that Talmy's dichotomy may be too broad in grouping together languages, such as Russian and English, which display dramatic differences in encoding of motion.

Temple University – Theses

Communication Sciences

This two-part dissertation investigated the home language experiences and language development of 35 toddler-aged children from low-income Mexican immigrant families. These children represent a rapidly growing demographic in the United States. Because early language abilities are closely linked to later academic success, understanding the characteristics of the early language learning experiences provided in the homes of Mexican immigrant children is a foundational step to supporting their strengths and needs prior to formal school entry. In the first study of this dissertation, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the children’s mothers regarding the everyday activity settings of their young children. Degree of maternal acculturation was also assessed. Commonalities and variations in mothers’ values, beliefs, and practices regarding language teaching and learning were revealed. The commonalities included attention towards children’s early behavior and social skills, collective child-rearing practices, emphasis on the family unit and Mexican identity, and support for Spanish-English language learning and educational success, among others. A limited number of variations were also found to be associated with mothers’ affiliation with Anglo-American culture. In the second study, naturalistic recordings of the toddlers' language input in the home were analyzed in-depth to describe features of the quantity and quality of the input to which children were exposed. A wide range of variability in children’s quantity and quality was found. In addition, the relative amount of Spanish and English spoken to children was determined. Spanish was the primary language used with children, although English was also used in most homes. Children’s productive vocabulary in both languages was further measured contemporaneously; total vocabulary size ranged widely across children. There were no associations revealed between the characteristics of children’s language input quantity and quality and their productive vocabulary, although quantity and quality were related to one another. Implications of both studies to early childhood researchers and practitioners focused on early language development, including speech-language pathologists, are discussed.

Temple University – Theses

CITE/Language Arts

Ed.D.

Picturebooks play an important role in elementary education, but few teachers focus on their text-picture relationships. This qualitative study examined the impact of four narratives with different text-picture relationships on fourth graders' explicit recall and inference making, both immediately after reading and after a one week delay. The four relationships were loosely symmetrical, complementary, text carries the narrative, and ironic or contradictory. Twelve urban fourth graders, four reading at or above grade level, four reading moderately below grade level, and four reading significantly below grade level, met with the researcher on six occasions. The purpose was to read, retell, and answer questions about a story in a one-to-one setting. While each student read and responded independently, each received help with word recognition. Data consisted of transcriptions of oral retellings, interviews, and a cued recall measure. Transcriptions of story retellings were parsed into kernels and coded according to cognitive process, either explicit or implicit, and source of content. Possible sources were text, picture, text-picture overlap, and background knowledge. Five categories of inference emerged from the analysis of story retellings: local inferences, global inferences, associations, evaluations, and misinterpretations. An analysis of codes and categories and interview data revealed that the text-picture relationship influenced the sources of content readers recalled, inferences they constructed, expressed ease of story comprehension and recall, and expressed level of enjoyment. It also affected the meaning that students at three levels of reading ability constructed. Given that different text-picture interactions provide support for specific comprehension processes, this study suggests that teachers should consider the relationship of words and images when selecting reading materials for their classrooms, especially when students are reading below grade level.

Temple University – Theses