Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Communication Disorders Quarterly
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Smith, T. T.
Right arrow Articles by McDade, H. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

An Investigation of T-Units in African American English-Speaking and Standard American English-Speaking Fourth-Grade Children

Tina T. Smith

University of South Carolina, tsmith{at}sophe.sph.sc.edu

Evan Lee

National Health Care

Hiram L. McDade

University of South Carolina

This study investigated the dialectal sensitivity of the T-unit to determine if it provides a nonbiased alternative for assessing the oral grammatical skills of school-age, nonstandard English speakers. Language samples obtained from 9-year-old children (14 African American English [AAE] speakers and 14 Standard American English [SAE] speakers) were analyzed using words per T-unit, clauses per T-unit, and words per clause across three speaking conditions: questions task, picture task, and story task. The samples were also analyzed to examine the frequency of occurrence of complex syntax for speakers of AAE versus speakers of SAE. The results revealed no significant differences between the groups for any of the measures taken under any of the speaking conditions. The findings suggest that the T-unit may be a culturally fair, dialectally nonbiased measure with which to assess the language abilities of school-age children. However, the results also suggest that AAE and SAE fourth-grade children may not use all types of complex syntax in a similar manner.

Communication Disorders Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 3, 148-157 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/152574010102200304
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?