Language Diversity in the Classroom - ymerleksi - home

The Persistence of Linguistic Deficit 141‘deficit’ point of view; here are two representative comments (Edwards &McKinnon, 1987: 337):Disadvantage suggests an informational and experiential inferiority...an inability to make full use of novel information and,conversely, to call upon past experiences in novel situations;[Disadvantaged children have] lack of experiences, poor languagedevelopment... usually disorganized. They usually are not motivatedby long-term rewards. Goals must be short-term. Thesestudents generally come from lower economic levels, but not always.A further characteristic of [disadvantaged] families I would say isdisorganization and a low priority placed on learning.Certainly, not all teachers phrased their feeling in such terms which,indeed, show some familiarity with the literature or, at least, the jargon but the general tenor of opinion is fairly reflected in these comments.There is some suggestion in these and other observations that teachersmay have adapted new information to old attitudes; this is particularlyevident in phrases like ‘informational and experiential inferiority’, whichare redolent of the environmental-deficit literature. This, in turn, suggestsa difficulty I have already touched upon. It is common to hear calls forteacher-training courses and in-service workshops to deal with the latestpsychological and linguistic developments of interest. Teachers may not,however, get full or adequate presentations, and may simply assimilatewhat information they do get to existing frameworks, frameworks likelyto reflect deficit perceptions.Turning to language matters specifically, teachers pointed to poorgrammar, vocabulary, articulation and reading as important aspects ofdisadvantage. Again, differences were generally seen as deficits. Somerepresentative comments will again illustrate this (Edwards & McKinnon,1987: 339):[Children often cannot] articulate their thoughts and feelings in sucha way that they satisfy both themselves and their audience;The common element of experience among all disadvantagedchildren is infrequent interaction with adults in discovery activitieswhere opinions and experiences can be shared;Both receptive and expressive skills seem to have low levels of valueand priority when it comes to developing accuracy and fluency.Again, we see beliefs that correspond strikingly with views expressed inthe deficit literature. Children are seen to be unable to communicateadequately, they lack the experiences and interactions that are necessary