[lg policy] Debunking the "language gap"

[Johnson, David C]

This paper aims to outline the misguided underpinnings of the “word gap” concept promoted by Hart and Risley (1995). This concept posits that a “30 million word gap” between children of poverty and those from affluent households accounts for widespread academic disparities. Based on this premise, there has been a recent surge in educational programs that are based on a deficit view toward the language patterns of families from economically impoverished backgrounds.

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JME-12-2014-0044


--
David Cassels Johnson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Foreign Language and ESL Education

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
University of Iowa
240 Lindquist Center North
Iowa City, IA 52242
(319) 335-6175

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