ACF OPRE: American Indian-Alaska Native Head Start Research and Outcomes Assessment (AIAN)

LANGUAGE AND LITERACY ACQUISITION

Issues and Observations

Children typically master language by the time they enter elementary school at age five or six, so those who experience delays in developing English language skills are at a distinct disadvantage in both their ability to learn and to perform according to mainstream expectations.

Commentators on AI-AN education point to a lack of information about the effect of diverse cultural and linguistic environments on language development (Robinson-Zanartu, 1996; Swisher and Deyhle, 1987).
Many call for system-wide reform that would lessen the tendency to characterize culturally based language differences as deficits and build on the strengths that Native children bring to their education, but there is a notable absence of specific proposals for how this might be accomplished, largely because the research base on language development necessary to inform such proposals remains in the very preliminary stages (Talley, 1994).
The strong oral tradition among some tribes provides the opportunity to ground literacy development in children’s family and community relationships (Zepeda, 1995).
The research base on language acquisition among AI-AN children is heavily concentrated in the area of assessment. Research specifically addressing the actual language development status of these children is virtually absent, mainly because educational researchers have only recently begun to join the field (Harris, 1985; Long, 1998).

Research Findings: Language and Literacy Acquisition
Author	Sample, Measures, and Methods	Major Findings Reported by Author
Batchelder, 2000	48 tribal members, representing 20 Navajo communities, responded to written questionnaires and in-person interviews regarding their beliefs about Native language instruction, including the qualifications of teachers, role of schools, and level of student mastery. Respondents include parents, community members, teachers, and teacher assistants.	Although there is strong support for including Navajo culture and language in schools, study participants differ in their opinions as to the content and extent of instruction. Some elders, traditional members, and young people living in towns believe that the teaching of Navajo religion and ceremonies does not belong in schools; others believe that traditional stories, history, and the clan system could be taught in schools. Some believe that Navajo elders who are members of the community should be instructors, whereas others would prefer a certified teacher. The degree to which students should know Navajo varied by the respondent’s community: members in isolated areas prefer fluency, members in mid-size communities prefer competency, and members in off-reservation or large communities prefer that students learn the basics of the Navajo language.
Fayden, 1997	24 kindergarten students (67 percent AI, 25 percent Hispanic, 8 percent Anglo) in a rural New Mexico school were tested before and after being exposed to “shared reading,” using Clay’s Reading Strategies measures and scores on the Sand Test (which measures basic knowledge of print materials).	Over a 10-week period, students were exposed daily to about one-half hour of “shared reading,” which is a whole language technique that focuses on acquiring certain reading skills. Ancillary activities related to the book were conducted for 45 minutes each day. For instruction, a teacher used a different “big book” each week; the big book allows all students to see the print and share in the reading process. Analysis shows significant improvement in reading skills on both sets of measures. The author notes that future research should compare the use of big books and “shared reading” against other methods for teaching reading skills.
Guilmet, 1979	Four Navajo and four Caucasian children (balanced by gender and verbal behavior and ranging in age from about 3-5 years old) were videotaped in a Los Angeles preschool, then typical portions of the videotapes were extracted and viewed by 23 Navajo and 20 Caucasian mothers. Mothers rated the children’s behavior using ten Semantic Differential Scales.	Out of 80 possible differences in ratings between Navajo and Caucasian mothers, seven showed significant differences. The Navajo mothers were more disapproving of intense speech and physical activity; Caucasian mothers were more tolerant of intense speech and physical activity. Navajo mothers viewed intense speech and active behavior as disrespectful and undisciplined, whereas the Caucasian mothers saw the same kind of behavior as exciting and beneficial for the child. The author notes that despite the strong findings from the study, several questions remain unanswered, such as whether fathers would form the same conclusions, whether more traditional AI parents perceive behavior differently from less traditional AI parents, and reasons for the measured differences in opinions.
Guilmet, 1983	To ascertain the appropriateness of using standardized achievement tests with AI children, the Circus Receptive Vocabulary Test and Circus Quantitative Concept Test were administered to 17 Navajo and 7 white children enrolled in Tribal American Consulting Corporation preschool and daycare programs in the Los Angeles area. Their scores were compared with scores of (1) 66 children enrolled in the same programs and (2) national results. The author developed a questionnaire to assess the frequency of spoken Navajo in the home and used Price’s acculturation indices to measure the extent to which families were acculturated.	Although all children tested scored below the national average, Navajo children scored lower on both the Receptive Vocabulary Test and the Quantitative Concept Test than their white or AI peers. The white children achieved the highest scores on the tests. Children experiencing the most difficulty taking the tests were young and from households that were among the least acculturated. The author observes that some children were unfamiliar with testing situations and concludes that using a test without consideration of cultural backgrounds produces misleading assessments.
Long and Christensen, 1998	The Pediatric Development Instrument was administered to mothers of 48 children enrolled in Cherokee Nation Head Start and 37 Caucasian children from non-Head Start preschools and day care centers.	AI-AN children’s scores were lower than scores of Caucasian children, but differences between the two groups progressively decreased from younger to older children. The findings suggest there are differences in development skills between the two groups, particularly in that AI-AN children’s linguistic skill development lags behind that of Caucasian children. Enrollment in Head Start may help explain improvement in language skills. The authors caution against generalizing findings to other tribes, due to variations in background, lifestyle, and English-language influence. More research is needed on language development skills to determine developmental profiles.
McKeever, Hunt, Wells, and Yazzie, 1989	The Dichotic Consonant-Vowel Test was administered to 20 Anglo children in English, 20 Navajo children in English, and 20 Navajo children in Navajo. All children were in the 5th grade.	Previous research has suggested that some AI languages may reflect a mode of thought that draws on the right hemisphere of the brain (although results vary for groups of children as compared to groups of adults), often because studies found an absence of “right ear advantage” among Native children. This study found that the method of assessment might be the contributing factor in previous research. Both Anglo children and Navajo children showed strong right ear advantages when the test was administered in their dominant language; Navajo children tested in English showed nonsignificant right ear advantages. The authors conclude that the language and context of testing may determine assessment outcomes.
Prince, Grace, Linebarger, Atkinson, and Huffman, 2002	To determine the effectiveness of PBS’s “Between the Lions” for acquiring early literacy skills, a study was conducted of preschool and K-1 children living in rural Mississippi (n = 150 experimental and 128 control subjects) and children from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (n = 145 treatment and 151 control subjects). Each week for the 8 months of the program, children in the experimental group watched at least two episodes, read a book related to the show, and had a hands-on activity; children in the control group received no special services related to “Between the Lions.” Children were assessed using the Test of Early Reading Ability, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills.	Choctaw children who participated in the experimental group scored significantly higher on the TERA-3 reading composite measure, meaning that they did better than their Choctaw counterparts in the control group. On a subtest of the TERA-3, Choctaw children who received the “Between the Lions” intervention did better than their peers in understanding aspects of English print. No significant differences emerged on the PPVT scores or on the oral reading fluency subtest of the DIBELS. The authors conclude that the absence of more measurable effects may be due to children’s very low scores before the experiment (meaning relatively low levels of literacy) or because of differences in reading instruction. Although the results are not dramatic, they do show positive results from using the curriculum.
Reyhner, 1990	Navajo children in a bilingual education program at Rock Point Community School were assessed using standardized tests, including the California Achievement Test, the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS), and criterion referenced tests.	Rock Point instituted a bilingual curriculum in 1967. Kindergarten students learn to read in Navajo; English reading instruction begins in second grade. In kindergarten, two-thirds of instruction is in Navajo, 2nd graders are instructed half in Navajo and half in English, and students in upper grades are taught about 15-30 percent in Navajo. CTBS results from 1987-88 found that Rock Point students do as well or better than other students served through the Chinle Agency, in almost all grade levels in reading, language arts, and math, and CRT scores show improvement in Navajo language skills. Student attendance rates are high (above 94 percent), and parents are actively involved with the school.
Watahomigie and Yamamoto, 1987	Developers of the Hualapai Bilingual/ Bicultural Education Program (HBBEP) summarized their experiences. For students in grades 2-8 at Peach Springs School, they examined CTBS scores from 1975 to 1978, plus scores on the California Achievement Test from 1982 to 1984 (n = 86, n = 91, and n = 116, respectively).	The purpose of the HBBEP, begun in 1975, was to document the Hualapai language and culture, which had very few written materials in Hualapai at that time. After the language was transcribed, HBBEP produced bilingual/bicultural materials that were used in the local public school. The authors discuss the lengthy and sensitive process involved to have a non-Native linguist accepted into the tribal culture. The HBBEP has several notable accomplishments, including increased parent and community involvement in school activities, developing certified Hualapai teachers, producing published materials, and improving student performance. As evidence of the last, CTBS scores increased from 1975 (when the program began) to 1978 in six of seven grades (e.g., in 1975, 2nd graders had a grade equivalent score of 1.7, compared to the national average of 2.9; by 1978, the scores were 2.1 and 2.9, respectively). The authors report significant gains on the reading and language subtests of the California Achievement Test (up 3.1 and 1.6 points in reading, and up 10.1 and 6.8 points in language, for 1983 and 1984, respectively) from baseline measures in 1981, after a slight loss in 1982 (down 0.7 points in reading and 0.2 points in language).
Wolfe, Schwartz, and Petersen, 1996	To assess the impact of the Hualapai bilingual education program on language ability, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Revised (PPVT–R) and the Cognitive Abilities Test were administered to 206 Hualapai children in Arizona, ages 5-15.	Lower scores for receptive language were observed for Hualapai children compared to national norms, but scores were similar compared to other AI groups. The Hualapai children also scored lower on verbal reasoning abilities, compared to national norms. The authors suggest that test performance may reflect a lesser assimilation of the English language into the Hualapai culture and may not accurately reflect language abilities. They recommend that more research is needed to determine the effects of the Hualapai bilingual education program on language skills.

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