Subtractive bilingualism and the survival of the Inuit language: Heritage- versus second-language education.

A longitudinal study examined the impact of early heritage- and second-language education on heritage- and second-language development among Inuit, White, and mixed-heritage (Inuit/White) children. Children in an arctic community were tested in English, French and Inuttitut at the beginning and end of each of the first 3 school years. Compared with Inuit in heritage language and mixed-heritage children in a second language, Inuit in second-language classes (English or French) showed poorer heritage language skills and poorer second-language acquisition. Conversely, Inuit children in Inuttitut classes showed heritage language skills equal to or better than mixed-heritage children and Whites educated in their heritage languages. Findings support claims that early instruction exclusively in a societally dominant language can lead to subtractive bilingualism among minority-language children, and that heritage language education may reduce this subtractive process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cross-cultural examination of some of Jensen's hypotheses.

Examined Level 1 and 2 intelligence in Inuit and White 2nd–5th graders through an examination of several of Jensen's major hypotheses. The sample consisted of 559 80–150 mo old students. Of the 559, there were 148 middle-class urban White children, 173 low socioeconomic urban children, 175 White children living in Labrador, and 63 Inuit children also living in Labrador. The Level 1 and Level 2 intelligence measures were a series of digit span tests and the Raven Progressive Matrices, respectively. Results do not support the generality of some of A. R. Jensen's propositions. However, there can be no clear-cut rejection of the genetic hypothesis based on the present results. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Getting off to a better start in reading and spelling: The effects of phonemic awareness instruction within a whole language program.

In the present study the effect of providing phonemic awareness instruction, at school entry, on the reading and spelling progress of 5-yr-old children was examined within a whole language program. In Exp 1, which focused on spelling acquisition, 15 children received phonemic awareness training twice weekly, each time for 20 min, over a 10-wk period, while another group of 15 children was involved in "process writing." In Exp 2, which focused on reading acquisition, 17 children received phonemic awareness training while a 2nd matched group of 17 children participated in other language and reading activities that did not involve phonemic instruction, and a 3rd matched group of 17 children received no extra instruction at all. Overall, the training in the 2 experiments had significant effects on spelling and reading performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Access to justice for deaf Inuit in Nunavut: The role of "Inuit sign language."

Presents a personal perspective on the issue of access to justice (in the context of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) for the deaf Inuit population of Canada's newest Territory—Nunavut. The author's experience in assessing a deaf Inuit in Baker Lake R v. Suwarak (1999) who apparently had no known language, followed an earlier Nova Scotia case R v. Roy (1994) which involved a deaf man who could not hear, speak or use sign language. In the case of Suwarak, the possibility was raised that an indigenous form of sign language, tentatively termed "Inuit Sign Language" was being used. The results of a preliminary study of the status of signed languages in Nunavut based on field visits and interactions with deaf people and their families in 3 communities is described. The possibility that "Inuit Sign Language" exists is discussed within the framework of various theories of language development and also within the context of earlier literature which indicates that many Aboriginal communities had (and possibly still have) flourishing signed languages. Finally, the need for increased research by psychologists on the complex linguistic environment of deaf persons in Nunavut is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linking teachers' memory-relevant language and the development of children's memory skills.

This longitudinal study was designed to (a) examine changes in children's deliberate memory across the 1st grade; (b) characterize the memory-relevant aspects of their classrooms; and (c) explore linkages between the children's performance and the language their teachers use in instruction. To explore contextual factors that may facilitate the development of skills for remembering, 107 first graders were assessed 3 times with a broad set of tasks, while extensive observations were made in the 14 classrooms from which these children were sampled. When the participating teachers were classified as high or low in terms of their "mnemonic orientation," in part on the basis of their use of metacognitive information and requests for deliberate remembering during instruction in language arts and mathematics, differences were observed in the use of mnemonic techniques by the children in their classes. By the end of the year, the children drawn from these 2 groups of classrooms differed in their spontaneous use of simple behavioral strategies for remembering and in their response to training in more complex verbally based mnemonic techniques. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem and organization of valenced information about others: The "Jekyll and Hyde"-ing of relationship partners.

The authors theorize that individuals with high self-esteem functionally integrate positive and negative partner information in memory, whereas those low in self-esteem segregate such information. The authors obtained support for this view in 7 studies. In a first set, participants judged whether positive and negative traits presented in an alternating or nonalternating order applied to a partner. Low but not high self-esteem individuals were slowed by the alternating order when judging relationship partners (but not inanimate objects). In a 2nd set, participants answered questions tapping integrated thinking, self-esteem, and other attributes. Higher self-esteem was associated with more integrated thinking when other attributes were controlled. In a final study, anxiously attached individuals were more labile in rating their spouse over a 5-day period. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive abilities in Inuit and White children from similar environments.

Previous studies have emphasized the differential abilities of Inuit and White children, concluding that the Inuit have well developed spatial abilities and less well developed verbal-educational and inductive reasoning abilities when compared with White Ss. However, in many studies White and Inuit Ss have not been matched for either socioeconomic status or grade placement. The present study examined Inuit and White Ss from subsistence level fishing communities. Ss were 22 Inuit 1st graders with a mean age of 84.2 mo and White 1st graders as follows: 14 with a mean age of 89.4 mo, 16 with a mean of 83.1, and 22 with a mean of 86 mo. Vocabulary and arithmetic tests adapted from the Wechsler Pre-School and Primary Scale of Intelligence were utilized. There were no significant differences between Inuit and White Ss in spatial, verbal-educational, or inductive reasoning abilities. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cross-language transfer on first-language phonological awareness and literacy skills in Chinese children receiving English instruction.

The present investigation consists of two studies examining the effects of cross-language transfer on the development of phonological awareness and literacy skills among Chinese children who received different amounts of English instruction. Study 1 compared Chinese students in regular English programs (92 first graders and 93 third graders) with peers who did not receive English instruction (86 first graders and 91 third graders). Study 2 was a 2-year longitudinal study that followed Chinese children from the beginning of Grade 1 to the end of Grade 2; the children attended either an intensive English program (79 children) or a regular English program (80 children). In both studies, children received phonological awareness tasks in English and Chinese, and literacy measures in Chinese. Results suggest that (a) English instruction accelerates the development of Chinese phonological awareness and Pinyin skills through cross-language transfer; (b) the pattern of cross-language transfer reflects the phonological features of English, the source language; and (c) a threshold level of 2nd language proficiency is required before any positive effects can be detected in the 1st language. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Collective self-esteem and ingroup bias.

In addition to personal self-esteem, we propose that there is a second type of self-esteem, collective self-esteem. People who are high in trait collective self-esteem should be more likely to react to threats to collective self-esteem by derogating outgroups and enhancing the ingroup. In a study using the minimal intergroup paradigm, trait personal and collective self-esteem were measured, and subjects received information about the average performance of their group. Subjects high in collective self-esteem varied their ratings of above-average and below-average scorers on the test in an ingroup-enhancing fashion, whereas those low in collective self-esteem did not. Analyses based on personal self-esteem did not show this interaction. We conclude that collective self-esteem is an individual difference variable that may moderate the attempt to maintain a positive social identity. The relation between collective and personal self-esteem is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accelerating language development through picture book reading: A systematic extension to Mexican day care.

Previous research demonstrates linguistic advances in middle-class 2-yr-olds in the US resulting from training parents to read with their children following a particular style. This style, called dialogic reading, encourages children to talk about picture books and gives them models and feedback for progressively more sophisticated language use. This research extends these procedures to a day-care setting using 20 Mexican 2-yr-olds from low-income backgrounds. Children in the intervention group were read to individually by a teacher using dialogic reading techniques. The control group children were given individual arts and crafts instruction by the same teacher. Effects of the intervention were assessed through standardized language tests and by comparing the children's spontaneous language while they shared a picture book with an adult who was unaware of their group assignment. Differences favoring the intervention group were found on all standardized language posttests and on some measures of language production. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Language of learning and language of computing: The perceptual-language model.

A process-diagnostic orientation for assessment of special needs and for evaluation of instructional outcomes was implemented with a sample of 120 language-impaired preschool children. In one study, children's language impairments were characterized with respect to language processes associated previously with successful classroom learning. These classroom language processes were assessed with the Preschool Language Assessment Instrument, which operationalizes a "perceptual-language" model of classroom communication and learning outcomes. As predicted by the perceptual-language model, individual responses were characterized by a simplex structure. In a second study, children who participated in an environment that included instruction in the LOGO programming language demonstrated higher levels of perceptual-language skills postinstruction when compared with counterparts who either participated in a second software environment or were in a control condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Level and stability of self-esteem in relation to academic behavior of second graders.

The Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale was administered to 87 White, Black, and Mexican-American 2nd graders on 2 occasions (4 mo apart). Stability of self-esteem for each S was calculated by determining the agreement among item responses on the 2 occasions. Ss estimated their own reading ability, and their percentile scores on the reading subtest of a standardized achievement test were collected. Results indicate that level and stability of self-esteem were not related to one another, that stability of self-esteem was related to the accuracy of Ss' perceptions of their academic ability, and that both level and stability of self-esteem were positively correlated with academic achievement. However, only stability of self-esteem remained predictive of achievement once ethnic differences were controlled for. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The intriguing role of spanish language vocabulary knowledge in predicting English reading comprehension.

This study explored a holistic model of English reading comprehension among a sample of 135 Spanish-English bilingual Latina and Latino 4th-grade students This model took into account Spanish language reading skills and language of initial literacy instruction. Controlling for language of instruction, English decoding skill, and English oral language proficiency, the authors explored the effects of Spanish language alphabetic knowledge, fluency, vocabulary knowledge, and listening comprehension on English reading comprehension. Results revealed a significant main effect for Spanish vocabulary knowledge and an interaction between Spanish vocabulary and English fluency, such that faster English readers benefited more from Spanish vocabulary knowledge than their less fluent counterparts. This study demonstrates the existence of literary skills transfer from the 1st to the 2nd language, as well as limits on such transfer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors related to English reading performance in children with Chinese as a first language: More evidence of cross-language transfer of phonological processing.

Parallel measures of phonological, syntactic, and orthographic processing skill and reading were administered in English and in Chinese to 65 children whose 1st language (L1) was Cantonese and whose 2nd language (L2) was English. Phonological skill was correlated across L1 and L2. Phonological skill in both L1 and L2 was correlated with L2 reading and contributed a unique variance to L2 reading, even though the children's L1 was not written in an alphabetic orthography, whereas the 2nd language had an alphabetic orthography. This research adds to a growing body of evidence for cross-language transfer of phonological processing in L2 learning of English-as-a-Second-Language students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of parent counseling on the family system.

To study the impact of a parent counseling program, all members of 11 experimental families and 9 lecture-control families were evaluated before and after 7 wkly counseling sessions and at a 6–8 mo follow-up. Parents in both conditions reflected a significant increase in perceived marital adjustment (Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale) at posttesting and at follow-up. The children of parents in both groups demonstrated significant increases in self-esteem (Self-Esteem Inventory) after treatment; improvement was maintained at follow-up. Findings suggest that for educated, middle-income families, the critical components in parent counseling may be the mere presentation of information and didactic instruction. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonword repetition and child language impairment

A brief, processing-dependent, nonword repetition task, designed to minimize biases associated with traditional language tests, was investigated. In Study 1, no overlap in nonword repetition performance was found between a group of 20 school-age children enrolled in language intervention (LI) and a group of 20 age-matched peers developing language normally (LN). In Study 2, a comparison of likelihood ratios for the nonword repetition task and for a traditional language test revealed that nonword repetition distinguished between children independently identified as LI and LN with a high degree of accuracy, by contrast with the traditional language test. Nonword repetition may have considerable clinical utility as a screening measure for language impairment in children. Information on the likelihood ratios associated with all diagnostic tests of language is badly needed.     

Do early talkers become early readers? Linguistic precocity, preschool language, and emergent literacy.

25 children, selected for verbal precocity at 20 mo of age, participated in a longitudinal study investigating predictors of later language and literacy skills. Although children remained verbally precocious, there was a low incidence of precocious reading. Exposure to instruction in letter names and sounds was a significant predictor of children's knowledge of print conventions, invented spelling, and phonological awareness at age 4? yrs. Frequency of story reading in the home and child engagement in a story reading episode at age 24 mo were significant predictors of children's language ability at age 2? yrs and 4? yrs and knowledge of print conventions at age 4? yrs. It is concluded that story reading with parents as well as literacy instruction contributes to the development of emergent literacy in verbally precocious children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Savoring Versus Dampening: Self-Esteem Differences in Regulating Positive Affect.

Five studies examined the hypotheses that when people experience positive affect, those low in self-esteem are especially likely to dampen that affect, whereas those high in self-esteem are especially likely to savor it. Undergraduate participants' memories for a positive event (Study 1) and their reported reactions to a success (Study 2) supported the dampening prediction. Results also suggest that dampening was associated with worse mood the day after a success (Study 2), that positive and negative affect regulation are distinct, that self-esteem is associated with affect regulation even when Neuroticism and Extraversion are controlled (Studies 3 and 4), and that self-esteem may be especially important for certain types of positive events and positive affect regulation (Study 5). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological adaptation and birth outcomes: The role of personal resources, stress, and sociocultural context in pregnancy.

Prenatal psychosocial predictors of infant birth weight and length of gestation were investigated in a prospective study of 120 Hispanic and 110 White pregnant women. Hypotheses specifying that personal resources (mastery, self-esteem, optimism), prenatal stress (state and pregnancy anxiety), and sociocultural factors (income, education, ethnicity) would have different effects on birth outcomes were tested using structural equation modeling. Results confirmed that women with stronger resources had higher birth weight babies (β?=?–.21), whereas those reporting more stress had shorter gestations (β?=?–.20). Resources were also associated with lower stress (β?=?–.67), being married, being White, having higher income and education, and giving birth for the first time. There was no evidence that resources buffered the effects of stress. The importance of personal resources in pregnancy is highlighted along with implications for understanding the etiology of adverse birth outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)