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Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Academic Performance Name Instructor Introduction Problem statement America today faces an issue of epic proportion...
Children's literacy development
Children's literacy development
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Language Development of children from low income populations continues to be an ongoing barrier for academic progress. What causes these linguistic deficiencies is a question that does not have one solid, proven answer. These linguistic deficiencies are often blamed on parents who, presumably, do not provide their children with sufficiently rich language learning environments. The 1995 groundbreaking work of Betty Hart and Todd Risley studied vocabulary development in families from different socioeconomic backgrounds and their results claim that poor children grow up in linguistically impoverished environments that limit their vocabulary development and ultimately their success in school. Further, the Hart and Risley’s study claims that children from low income environments do not receive the same quality or quantity of language as children in middle and upper income environments. Their findings report that by age 3 low income children have about a 500 word vocabulary while children from mid to upper SES have a vocabulary of over 1000 words. According to Hart and Risley, children from higher SES hear more words spoken by their parents thus they know more words. “by age 3 the children in professional families would have heard more than 30 million words, the children in working –class families 20 million, and the children in welfare families 10 million” (Pathologizing the Lanaguage and Culture of Poor Children p. 363, (Hart and Risley Study p.132)). Hart and Risley also argue that these deficiencies play a significant role in the high school dropout rate and the continuation of the poverty cycle. Ultimately, Hart and Risley stand on the ideas that there is a culture of poverty that limits the academic and vocational success ...
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...ressors on parents such as having food for the family, home security and employment security etc. “Maternal stress has been shown to be transmittable to children and to negatively influence infants and small children.”(p. 13). Mother spouse and mother child relationships are significant in language development. Poor relationships have a higher rate of stress and this has a negative influence on the child’s receptive language which suggest that there is a great number of causes in the home environment that influence language and intellect. An over- crowded home environment is a measure of stress because more the more people in the home the more noise and this decreases the chance for mental quiet. Over-crowded homes also predict less diversity in language and also a parent response that is not warm and encouraging; further there is a lack of routine and rules.
My mom is Panamanian and a very bright woman and loves school, while my dad is African American and didn’t care for school at all and isn't very educated. My mom first came to America to study at Vanderbilt University and my dad never went to college. When I was four my parents got a divorce and my mother maintained custody of me. In this day in time people would say that my odds are against me when it comes to becoming literate. Why? Well, I didn’t grow up in the best neighborhood. The area I was raised in was nicknamed "Little Mexico" because many illegal immigrants lived there. I quickly learned that most of the people around me didn’t know how to read or write and they only spoke Spanish. Imagine them living in an English speaking country. If they couldn’t read or write in their own language living in America must be pretty complicated. It would clearly seem like I wouldn't have much access to literacy sponsors at all. Literacy sponsors can be people, places, or even events that shape how a person reads and writes. Those same people, places, and events can play a big factor in a person's opinion about reading and writing as well. However, it was almost impossible for me not to have any literacy sponsors with my mom being in my
Children in families with lower incomes at or below the poverty line have been connected with poor cognitive and social development in early childhood. The studies that I chose to use evaluate the cognitive and social development during early childhood using various surveys, evaluations, and observations completed by or with the children, parents, and teachers. Development of any kind is dependent on the interplay of nature and nurture, or genetics and environment. These studies draw from a child’s environment during the earliest years of development, specifically birth, pre-school, and early elementary school. The studies propose living in an impoverished environment as opposed to an environment above the poverty line imposes certain restrictions on cognitive and social development during early childhood.
In Gwinnett county the average homeless person is 6 years old (Family Promise of Gwinnett County, 2013). As an educator, this is worrisome because these children in poverty will encounter many difficulties relating to their education. What difficulties are these children facing with and their education? According to Donald Hernandez (Hernandez, 2011), "Consequently, the children in poor families are in double jeopardy: They are more likely to have low reading test scores and, at any reading-skill level, they are less likely to graduate from high school." Growing up in poverty means there is very limited resources available to help climb out of poverty. Resources such as housing, clothing, and food are basic needs that have to be fulfilled for a child to grow up properly (Shaffer, 2014, pp158). When these basic needs are no...
As of right now in the United States, the school system is not doing its best to promote the growth of African American students who speak Ebonics at home. Obviously something has to be done, because students from predominantly AAVE speaking areas are succeeding at a level well below students who are familiar with Standard English coming into school. The way the education system is set up, schools build upon existing skills that students already have especially in primarily white communities. Adding value to these skills promotes rapid growth causing them to excel past the AAVE speaking African American students. (Rickford, 1999) Those whom are n...
Socioeconomic status (SES) is a major topic of interest within the study of language development in children. It has been indicated as one of the most widely studied constructs in the social sciences (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002). Even with the wide variety of studies involving SES, there has never been a complete consensus on what SES actually represents. Beyond the development of language, SES also affects the overall development of a child. These developmental differences then further lead to differences in language acquisition. When looking at SES, there are many factors to consider. The concept of capital seems to best embody the current meaning psychologists hold of SES, according to Bradley and Corwyn (2002). Capital is favored because of its inclusion of access to financial (material resources), human (nonmaterial resources such as education) and social capital (social connections). The current working definition of SES involves family income, education level, and occupations, which influence the theories and characteristics that children develop (Hill, 2006). The effects of socioeconomic status on children are shown through many factors that affect language development through the child’s overall growth, their cognitive development, as well as their stress management and the parenting styles that they are exposed to.
This essay is about a child’s development and learning, focusing primarily on language development. It will describe the main stages of developmental "milestones" and the key concepts involved for children to develop their language skills, discussing language acquisition and social learning theory. The essay will also look into the key theorists involved in language development, primarily Vygotsky and Chomsky, and how these theories have had an impact on the way society views language and their implementation within schools. The essay will describe the factors affecting language development, both biological and environmental. While also discussing key arguments among theorists, one being the nature vs nurture debate, and how these play a part in the teaching in schools.
Cognitive Development and Language Skills Development “Cognitive development underpins all the other aspects of development as children start to explore and make sense of the world around them. It is closely linked to the development of language and communication skills as children interact with the people around them.” There are many theories written on the subjects of cognitive development and language and communication. These theories vary in several ways, but they all seem to make the link between the too subjects. Childcare settings put these theories into practise in a lot of ways, sometimes without even realising it, just through conversation.
There are approximately “20 percent of Americans in the lower class” (Long, Social Class Stratification, 18). In contrast with these 20% of Americans a long with the other 80% are a lot of differences when it comes to learning in the classroom. According to Lee Warren of Harvard University, “In many parts of the country, class differences are sharply defined by accent: people talk like the neighborhood they came from”(Class in the Classroom, 2) where as someone from a more “run-down” neighborhood might have a less sophisticated vocabulary, just because they do not speak that way on a daily basis. However, that is all stereotypical. People “wrongly anticipate the knowledge or potential of specific classes of children” and as a result “children from high-class families are sometimes viewed as being more intelligent than those from lower social classes” (Social Class-Effects 1), which is not right at all. The amount of mo...
Within my placement we had children from lower and middle class, and also a few higher class children. This allowed me to see how different classes have different language skills. A child from a low class family would use broken English, as they came from an area which used a lot of slang, and wouldn’t speak in full sentences. Where as those brought up middle class areas, have stronger English skills and are able to communicate their needs more effectively. So when they mix, some children can find it difficult to understand other children, which could discourage them from
Language is a part of our everyday lives, and we can describe the meaning of language in many ways. As suggested in Gee and Hayes (2011, p.6 ) people can view language as something in our minds or something existing in our world in the form of speech, audio recordings, and writings or we can view language as a way of communicating with a group of people. Language can be used to express our emotions, make sense of our mental and abstract thoughts and assists us in communicating with others around us. Language is of vital importance for children to enable them to succeed in school and everyday life. Everyone uses both oral and written language. Language developed as a common ability amongst human beings with the change
Language Development in Children Language is a multifaceted instrument used to communicate an unbelievable number of different things. Primary categories are information, direction, emotion, and ceremony. While information and direction define cognitive meaning, emotional language expresses emotional meaning. Ceremonial language is mostly engaged with emotions, but at some level information and direction collection may be used to define a deeper meaning and purpose. There is perhaps nothing more amazing than the surfacing of language in children.
Childhood is defined as the period in human development between infancy and adulthood(book). In a historical perspective, this is relatively new social construction. Early childhood most often refers to the months and years between infancy and school age children. Child development is influenced by a lot of factors. These factors influence a child both in positive ways that can enhance their development and in negative ways that can change developmental outcomes. To understand why childhood is such a crucial time in human life it is important to study the development before and after birth along with any factors that may alter life in between.
The aim of this essay is to explore language acquisition and compare and contrast different theories of language acquisition and language development. Language in its most basic form is used to communicate our needs and wants. It encompasses a range of modes of delivery including signing, spoken and written words, posture, eye contact, facial expressions and gestures. So how do we learn ‘language’? Are we born with the skills for communication, or is it something that we have to learn or have taught to us? Four theories are looked at in this essay to determine how children acquire and then develop language. These theories include behaviourist, nativist, cognitivist and sociocultural. This essay will highlight some similarities and differences in each theory and what impact these have on a child’s acquisition and development of language. Lastly we will look at the implications of these theories when working with children. Can a classroom teacher deliver a quality literacy program based on just one of these theories or does it need to incorporate components of all four? Sims, (2012) pp. 21 states ‘’High-quality learning experiences in the early years of life enhance children’s cognitive and language skills’’. This places a great responsibility on educators and teachers alike to provide an environment which is rich in learning opportunities that will encourage both the acquisition and development of language.
Living in poverty exposes children to disadvantages that influence many aspects in their life that are linked to their ability to do well in school. In the United States of America there are an estimated 16.4 million children under the age of 18 living in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). “The longer a child lives in poverty, the lower the educational attainment” (Kerbo, 2012). Children who are raised in low-income households are at risk of failing out before graduating high school (Black & Engle, 2008). U.S. children living in poverty face obstacles that interfere with their educational achievement. Recognizing the problems of living in poverty can help people reduce the consequences that prevent children from reaching their educational potential.
Poverty is immensely one of the main causes of illiteracy, which is the reason that minorities are so greatly affected. People of a lower socioeconomic status cannot afford to send their children to schools of adequate competency nor can they afford the materials needed for their children to succeed. Cultural influence can be an impacting factor in illiteracy because children mimic the things that they see. Parents are encouraged to read with or to their children to attempt to bre...