ERIC Number: ED012282
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1966
Pages: 39
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
MATERIAL LANGUAGE STYLES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN'S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT.
OLIM, ELLIS G.; AND OTHERS
PART OF A LARGER STUDY OF THE COGNITIVE ENVIRONMENTS OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN, THIS EXPERIMENT EXAMINED THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MOTHERS' LANGUAGE STYLES AND THE CONCEPT ATTAINMENT OF THEIR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN. SPEECH SAMPLES WERE OBTAINED FROM 160 URBAN NEGRO MOTHERS OF FOUR SOCIOECONOMIC GROUPS (MIDDLE-CLASS, UPPER-LOWER, LOWER-LOWER, AND LOWER-LOWER FAMILIES RECEIVING PUBLIC ASSISTANCE) BY ASKING EACH OF THEM TO TELL HER CHILD A STORY ABOUT THE "LION-MOUSE" CARD OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT TEST. SAMPLES WERE SCORED ON NINE LANGUAGE SCALES DEVELOPED TO MEASURE VARIOUS DIMENSIONS OF SPEECH COMPLEXITY. MIDDLE-CLASS MOTHERS SCORED HIGHEST ON ALL MEASURES, UPPER-LOWERS NEXT, AND THE TWO LOWER-LOWERS NEXT (PRESUMABLY A REFLECTION ON THEIR SIMILAR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND). THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES OCCURRED BETWEEN THE MIDDLE-CLASS MOTHERS AND THE REST OF THE GROUP, WHICH REFLECTS THE HIGHLY ELABORATE LANGUAGE STYLE OF THE MIDDLE-CLASS MOTHERS. CHILDREN'S CONCEPTUAL STYLES WERE THEN MEASURED, AND DATA FROM BOTH STUDIES WERE ANALYZED STATISTICALLY ON THE SIGEL CONCEPTUAL SORTING TASK FOR CHILDREN. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION BETWEEN MOTHERS' AND CHILDREN'S SCORES, WHICH INDICATES THAT THE MOTHER'S ABSTRACT LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR HAS A MAJOR EFFECT ON HER CHILD'S DEVELOPMENT OF ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALIZATION. (JG)
Descriptors: Black Mothers, Blacks, Cognitive Development, Cognitive Measurement, Comparative Analysis, Data, Disadvantaged, Intelligence Quotient, Language Patterns, Language Research, Language Tests, Lower Class, Middle Class, Preschool Children, Research, Social Status, Statistical Analysis, Verbal Ability
Publication Type: N/A
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Illinois (Chicago)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A