Early reading and writing instruction in the homes and school of three five-year-old children from Black working class families.

Abstract

The problem of poor performance on measures of reading achievement by Black children from low-income and working-class families has been studied for over thirty years. Researchers have made progress however, little is known about: what Black parents do at home to help prepare their children for reading and writing at school and; what counts as reading and writing in the homes and schools of Black children from working-class families. This dissertation is a sociolinguistic ethnographic study to address the following research questions: How is language used in reading and writing instruction provided to Black children in their homes prior to the children entering school? How is language used in reading and writing instruction at school? What are the similarities and differences in how language was used during the reading and writing instruction that occurred in the home and school? How did language used in the reading and writing instruction in the homes, prior to formal school entry, change after the children began school? The major finding were: The language used during the reading and writing instruction in the school and homes consisted primarily of reciting written texts and restating oral texts. The language that was used in the home and at school during reading and writing instruction was similar, the language in both settings was used to reproduce written texts and to restate oral texts. Parents used rule governed interaction patterns to define rules for communicating in different contexts. The expectations for children were: to repeat after parents, copy patents print, and to read texts verbatim. The language used during reading instruction at home did not change after the children had begun school. Parents used the same teacher-like stylistic patterns across observations. The study resulted in the following grounded hypothesis for further investigation: Black working-class parents approximate that the reproduction of traditional school roles in their homes enhance their children's success in reading and writing before formal school entry and during early formal schooling. The conception of reading adopted by Black working-class parents in their instructional interactions with their children in home settings may be an effective strategy for socializing students to school and for promoting school success, given traditionally organized school reading and writing instruction. The conception of reading adopted in home instructional settings setting may be related to children's long term understanding and affinity for reading both in school and outside of school. Social and emotional relationships between children and their parents may be constrained by the school-like style of interaction found in the home reading and writing instructional events.