What strikes me the most about this week's readings is how much of our language policies were and still are influenced by the debunked Hart and Risley study of the Word Gap. The study pushed an idea of language deficiency (which turned to languagelessness in emergent bilinguals for some educators) and pushed the blame of that “deficiency” onto working class families and students. This type of deficient thinking can lead to teachers to underestimate their students and put them in remedial classes that “dumb down” lessons or put them in English only ESL programs, as described in the Garcia reading, to “catch the students up". Neither of these approaches really help the students as we know utilizing student’s existing funds of knowledge and providing scaffolding for students are strategies that actually work instead of the “sink or swim” approach or remedial classes. Another issue is that by placing the blame on students and their families, it puts the responsibility on students when it is the responsibility of the education system to be prepared for their students who will be starting school with different strengths, weaknesses, and circumstances. Furthermore, the idea of language deficiency is built on the belief that there is standardized English language in the first place, which we have learned is a social construct perpetuated by the “white listener”.
It still astounds me the amount of things wrong with the study, which I only realized after taking my sociology research methods class. The study started with the assumption that there was a word gap and picked and chose evidence to support the belief. The sample size of the study is too small to be generalizable, especially with the racial bias at play, and the researchers didn’t account for any other potential factors for students from working class families having a harder time in school like stress. The researchers also didn’t account for the changes in the behavior of the parents when being observed, especially when they are only being observed for 1 hour each month.
Educational researchers need to find the balance in acknowledging how different circumstances and systemic issues can cause minority groups to have a harder time in schools while not pushing the blame onto the students and their families. I am reminded of the study we read in Ed 14, Unequal Childhoods, where Lareau observed how social class affects parenting styles which impact the way that children interact with authority figures. Middle class families use a concerted cultivation approach which fosters a sense of individuality in their children that helps with interacting with authority figures while sometimes leading to a sense of entitlement. Working families have an accomplishment of natural growth approach that leads to more independence, but also being less comfortable and assertive with authority figures. Although this study also acknowledges how different parenting styles in different social classes can impact the development of children, this study doesn’t push the blame onto the families like the Hart and Risley study. The purpose of Lareau’s study is to identify the issue and find ways to support the students. On the other hand, Hart and Risley blame the families and also push a bleak message that there is no way to remedy the word gap as the students have spent 3 years with language deficiency in their home and 1 year of intensive learning will not resolve it.