Language in Infants Through Preschoolers

5538V - Past Tense in Language Sample Analysis for African American English

ON-DEMAND

Format: Technical Research (Virtual)

Audience: Students, Researchers, Related Professionals, Assistants, Early Career Professionals (under 5 years)

Keywords: Language sample, African American English, Past tense, Past participle, Assessment

Presenting Author(s)

Denise Finneran

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

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Author Only (Not Presenting)(s)

Sixia Chen

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
John Heilmann

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Maura Moyle

Marquette University

Language sample analysis of grammar involves verbs in past tense form (e.g., he jumped) and past participle form (e.g., he had fallen). These occur in the speech of young children but might not be consistently and correctly identified. For children who use African American English (AAE), past markers (e.g., I had saw it; I seen it) have some characteristics that contrast with Mainstream American English (MAE). In this session we will discuss simple past and past participle markings in MAE and AAE, and present a study of narrative language samples from young African American children (mean age = 53.55 months) in which we demonstrate that past participle coding methodology had clinically significant effects on measures of vocabulary, grammar, and AAE.

Learning Objectives:

Identify past tense markers that differ across dialects
Analyze language samples with consideration for dialectical differences
Explain the importance of culturally appropriate assessment