Examining the Language Skills of Racially and Linguistically Marginalized Children in Early Childhood

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Oral language skills are a foundational skill that supports children’s academic and social well-being. For racially and linguistically marginalized children in early childhood, however, misconceptions and misinterpretations of language variation may contribute to misdiagnoses and under- or over-representation in special education (Lee-James & Washington, 2018). Investigating the language development of marginalized children is critical for informing educators and practitioners on how to create contexts that best support children’s learning. Much of the research, however, has tended to focus on how marginalized children’s language skills compare to middle-class White children (Wang et al., 2021), contributing to a deficit-perspective and leaving less known about within-group variability and the factors associated with marginalized children’s language development.

To address this gap in the literature, the symposium presents three studies focused on the language skills of Black, Latinx, and/or Dual Language Learners. The first paper presents indicators of children’s story retelling competencies and demonstrates that their oral language skills include features not typically assessed in standardized metrics. The second paper examines the influence of race matching on Black children’s language outcomes and highlights a need for more comprehensive language assessments. The third paper presents a study of Black children’s development of oral narrative competency, while indicating factors that support growth in oral narrative skills. Together these papers offer a varied perspective on the oral language skills of marginalized children, focused on the developmental competencies that children bring to their learning experiences.

Sub Unit

• Language, Communication

Chair

• Nicole Gardner-Neblett, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Discussant

• Ximena A. Portilla, MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) - New York City

Individual Presentations

• Centering the Oral Language Skills of Minoritized Children: Evidence from Boston’s Universal PreK Program - Presenting Author: Olivia Horne, Harvard University; Catherine E Snow, Harvard University; Christina J Weiland, University of Michigan; Meghan Patricia McCormick, MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) - New York City

• Racial/Ethnic Match and Language and Social Outcomes for Black Children Enrolled in High-Quality Preschools - Presenting Author: Sandra L Soliday Hong, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Kamilah Legette, University of Denver; Laura J Kuhn, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Eleni Zgourou, Kean University; Kirsten L Kainz, UNC Chapel Hill; Noreen Yazejian, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Iheoma U. Iruka, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Developing as Storytellers: How African American Children Grow in Oral Narrative Competence - Presenting Author: Nicole Gardner-Neblett, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor