An Interprofessional Approach to Dialect-Shifting Instruction for Early Elementary School Students

Area of Science:

• Education
• Linguistics
• Speech-Language Pathology

Background:

• Students speaking nonmainstream dialects, like African American English (AAE), can face academic challenges.
• Dialect-shifting instruction shows potential for improving academic outcomes.
• Limited research exists on interprofessional approaches using multiple instructional methods for dialect-shifting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a dialect-shifting curriculum for early elementary students speaking AAE.
• To assess the curriculum's feasibility and preliminary impacts on dialect-shifting skills.
• To explore an interprofessional approach involving classroom teachers and speech-language pathology clinicians.

Main Methods:

• A 7-week dialect-shifting curriculum was co-taught to 41 kindergarten through third-grade students by teachers and a graduate clinician.
• Student dialect-shifting and density were measured using retells in AAE and mainstream American English and specific tasks.
• Teacher surveys and interviews assessed curriculum feasibility and perceived impacts.

Main Results:

• The curriculum increased dialect awareness in all students, with notable grade-level differences in explicit dialect-shifting proficiency.
• Second- and third-grade students demonstrated greater proficiency in shifting specific AAE features.
• High satisfaction rates were reported by administrators, teachers, and students, alongside evidence of teacher generalization and maintenance of instruction.

Conclusions:

• Literacy and play-based instruction are feasible methods for creating tailored dialect-shifting curricula for young learners.
• An interprofessional approach enhances the feasibility and effectiveness of dialect-shifting interventions.
• The study supports the use of contrastive analysis instruction in classroom activities for AAE-speaking students.