The sociolinguistic intersection of Spanish and English

1. The sociolinguistic intersection of Spanish and English William Labov, University of Pennsylvania James E. Alatis plenary Philadelphia TESOL Convention March 29, 2012

2. The program 1. The sociolinguistic dimensions of dialect shifting: black/white/Latino 2. Effects of learning to read in Spanish first a. The (sh/ch) variable: a superficial substrate effect b. The possessive: effects of dialect differences c. The soft-c rule: greater use of the alphabet

3. The sociolinguistic intersection of Spanish and English

4. S. Poplack. Dialect Acquisition among Puerto Rican bilinguals Careful Careful Casual Casual [əɪ] [a:] Language in Society 7:89-103, 1978

5. S. Poplack. Dialect Acquisition among Puerto Rican bilinguals Careful Careful Casual Casual [əɪ] [a:] Language in Society 7:89-103, 1978

6. Sociometric diagram of sixth grade at St. Veronica’s

15. 1. The sociolinguistic dimensions of dialect shifting: black/white/Latino 2. Effects of learning to read in Spanish firsta. The (sh/ch) variable: a superficial substrate effect b. The possessive: effects of dialect differences c. The soft-c rule: greater use of the alphabet

16. Are there significant differences in reading error profiles to be found among different ethnic groups with different language backgrounds? If so, are different strategies needed to improve the teaching of reading to members of those groups?

17. from the contrastive analysis of Spanish and English Spanish [tʃ] = [ʃ] mucho che English [tʃ] ≠ [ʃ] chip ≠ ship

18. The reading research program Number of subjects by language/ethnic group and geographic region for the year 2003-2004 (N=246) Language/ethnic group in Phila in Calif Total African American 19 33 52 Caucasian 40 17 57 Latino Spanish readers 37 37 74 Latino English readers 37 26 63 Total:_____________________133_______ 113_____ 246

19. Diagnostic readings at Park School, Philadelphia

20. The cat took one bite and let out a wail. • Ray said, "Darn, those chips are stale! • It's a shame that you went and bought them on sale. • They taste like the food that's served in a jail."

21. ch_ and sh_ words in the diagnostic reading Ray and His Cat Come Back Ray grabbed Matt’s chips ..those chips are stale… The cat spit out the chips. . . Matt didn’t reach up to Ray’s chin I don’t choose to listen… . . .tried not to shake. It’s a shame that. . . Now I’m going to show you. . . His teeth are as sharp as the edge of a knife . .

22. chips chin choose shame shake show sharp [3] cheer ch-- ch-- sham sh-- sh-- shape cheer cha sham shack + shock shape cheers chain chase sham shick shoe shape cheese chain chase sharing short + shop shape cheese chair cheat shim shrayke short sharpy chest chairs chees shim shuck + shop children chan cheese shimmy shop children cheer cheese shlame shpore children chic cheese shom + shrop children chine cheese short children chip chew-s children chips chose children chips chose chip chips chrose chip chipsh chuss chip xxx grammatical errors chip chip chip chip chip chippies chirpings chosing church church Errors with initial sh- ch- for 109 Philadelphia African-Americans

23. sh_ ch_ errors for 51 Philadelphia Latinos who learned to read in Spanish first chips chin choose shame shake show sharp [3] ch-- ch-- ch-- chamechairchow shap cheapesscheen chalks chame shack shah shar cheepscheen chew shamuh shack shahw shar+ chipcheen chinsen shay shack shar sharpt chip chic choice shem shack + shoes shblatt chip chine + choise shem+ sheck shout chipchins choise shime shock chip chip + chose shirm chipsheenchose shome chipshinchose chipshinchose chipshinchose chipshinchose chipshinchose chup chosexxxgrammatical error sheese chosey xxx sh/ch alternation ship choss xxx/i/ -> /iy/ shipshoesxxxgrammatical & phonological ship shoort shipshoose shipshoose shipsshows shipsshows ships ships ships ships ships ships ships

24. ch_ reading errors per student by ethnicity, language and region

25. Spanish language influence on reading of English Proportion of de-affrication errors (chips -> ships) Proportion of /i/-tensing errors (chips -> cheaps)

26. Proportion of ch -> sh errors, before and after intervention

27. Proportion of de-affrication errors that are the only errors in the word

28. In responding to oral reading, we must distinguish between differences in pronunciation and mistakes in reading. How can we do this?

29. Absence of –ed in oral reading: Janal M., 7 stepped jump The cat spit out the chips and jumped in Ray’s coat True error Potential error

30. Absence of verbal /s/ in oral reading: Jason P., age 7 Hey Black doesn’t eat cats, not even one He just likes to growl and watch them run. like grow which True error Potential error True error

31. How to determine whether a potential error is a true error in the decoding of the text The Semantic Shadow Hypothesis: An error in the identification of a given word increases the probability of errors in the decoding of the following text. A potential error type has a significant probability of being a true reading error if the rate of following errors is significantly greater than the rate for correct readings. W. Labov & B. Baker. What is a reading error? Applied Psycholinguistics 31:735-757.

32. Frequency of following errors for clear errors and correct reading by dialect type

33. Frequency of following errors for clear errors, potential errors and correct reading by dialect type [N=567]

34. Frequency of following errors for clear errors, potential errors and correct readings by dialect type for African American and Latino (S) readers [N=238] Potential errors

35. Relation of morphosyntactic zeroes to correct readings and clear errors from frequencies of following errors. C= correct readings; X = potential errors; E = clear errors. African-American Latino(Spanish) Verbal -s C ≠ X ≠ E C ≠ X = E Possessive –s C ≠ X ≠ E C ≠ X = E Copula –s C ≠ X ≠ E C ≠ X = E Past tense –ed C = X ≠ E C ≠ X ≠ E

36. 1. The sociolinguistic dimensions of dialect shifting: black/white/Latino 2. Effects of learning to read in Spanish firsta. The (sh/ch) variable: a superficial substrate effectb. The possessive: effects of dialect differences c. The soft-c rule: greater use of the alphabet

37. The bilingualism of possession Tonya Wolford. Variation in the expression of possession by Latino children. Language Variation and Change 18: 1-13.

38. Margarita M., 8, California: well there's two men alive and one woman alive -- and . . . . . . and -- and the other -- the brother of the other woman has a book and he reads iT. . . . and -- and the man comes to life Tutor. . . . Do you ever get to baby-sit her? Mark S., 7, Philadelphia. Yeah. Sometimes. At my cousinz house. z Tutor. Can you tell me the story? Carlos L., 9, Philadelphia: He's a killer and he try to - ah - the -- he kills people and then he cuts in -- in people bodies

43. 1. The sociolinguistic dimensions of dialect shifting: black/white/Latino 2. Effects of learning to read in Spanish firsta. The (sh/ch) variable: a superficial substrate effect b. The possessive: effects of dialect differences c. The soft-c rule: greater use of the alphabet

44. The soft-c rule (orthographic) The letter “c” is pronounced as /s/ before the letters /i, e, y/ elsewhere, as /k/. English city cent icy call cot cute Spanish cielo Cebuano cantar con Cuba Exceptions: none Celtics cepstrum

45. Soft-c words in the diagnostic reading Ray and His Cat Come Back On Friday, I was in Aunt Cindy's store, And Ray was with the same old cat that I saw before I pulled out of my pocket a rusty old dime. I said, "Go spend it, cat, if you've got the time." Ray stared at me and said, "Ten cents? You really think that I am that dense?” When I got to two, Ray and his cat ran. Ray certainly fell for my new cat plan.

46. Soft-c errors of 109 Philadelphia African-American readers Cindy’s cents certainly Cindy charl dk cancoins dk are crut dk cindy chatee dk cancoins dk called curtail dk candia'scindy dk canscoins dk came curtain dk candiescities dk canscoins dk cant dk dk candily's clan's dk can'tcoins dk care dk dk candy collie's dk cants+ coins dk carefully dk feel Candy condy's dk catcoins dk carried dk for Candy condy's dk catcoinsk- +cart dk fount candy criedk-catscoins +kennycartenly dk itches candy crying'sk-catscomekentscasidell dk k- candy cryme'skala catscountskentscat dk kangily candy c's kare-de catscountskents +caught dk kartimitly candy dk kate centcountsketscayrent dk kaynly candy's dk kendy'centcoy kitscert dk k-cera candy's dk kenny's cent dk kittensclearly dk kelly candy's dk kiddy's cent dime kittensclearly dk kert Candy's dk kindy's ceret dk sentcontinue dk over Candy's dk Kindy's close dk tets cota dk quite candy's dk kindy's coats dk your+ could dk reach candy's dk kins coin dk couldn't dk said candy's dk sally coin dk couldn't dk scared him candy's dk seal + coin dk couldn't dk scored him candy's dk sender coins dk counted dk screwed candy's dk story coins dk cracked dk sentiny candy's dk why coins dk crackilly dk seriously candy's dk coins dk crah dk ser-really candy's dk coins dk cried dk suntalaly card dk coins dk cried dk Carry's dk coins dk cried dk

47. Soft-c errors of 109 Philadelphia Latinos who learned to read in Spanish first Cindy's cents certainly cindykin dincantcair-thansay-ur-tenly cindykindyce- candilyscratchly cindys- cenentscarefullysearched cindyseat cent centainly senentenly cindysee cent centerly sentree cindysid centercertain-olly sentrin candysidi's cert cert-aint-ly seranly childrensidy dk certaynly sernly cidysindings dk cer-ten-in-lee sert+ cindsin's dk certully set cindysunday's dk certully set cindysunday'skentcet-lonely sintanely cindykets dk sirtenly cindy +sen dk st cindy+sense dk startlet citysent dk citysentkar citysets+kertenn cleande reclinely dk s- dk said dk sair-ten-lee dk san+ dk sardtangent kinsayree

48. don’t know African Americans: 79 Latinos who learned to read in English first: 14

49. Soft-c reading of Cindy’s, cents, certainly

50. Soft-c and hard-c reading by ethnic group, language and region