SRCLD Presentation Details
  Title  
       
    Beyond Ain't and Be: Cultural-linguistic Mismatch in Teacher-Child Interactions  
Author(s)
Megan-Brette Hamilton - University of Illinois
Laura S. DeThorne - University of Illinois

SRCLD Info
SRCLD Year: 2015
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Poster Number:
Presentation Time: (na)
Categories
Abstract
We will present a study that examined the complexities of teacher-student interactions, focusing on the potential role of cultural-linguistic mismatch, with a child who speaks African American English. Using ethnographic methods paired with a social-cultural framework and mismatch theories, data collection included field note data from classroom observations, classroom videos of teacher-child interactions during literacy lessons, home videos of child-caregiver interactions, and interviews. Analyses included categorical coding of field notes and discourse analyses of video transcripts. Three key findings emerged: (a) power differential between teachers and children that tended to privilege Mainstream American English; (b) use of semiotic resources, including language and physicality, in mediating/scaffolding interactions; and (c) complex patterns of both alignment and mismatch between teacher and child that included linguistic, paralinguistic, and nonlinguistic features. Implications include the need to consider cultural influences on communication more broadly (beyond psycholinguistics) and to more explicitly annotate cultural-linguistic differences within both educational and research practices.