Language and the Powerful Mainstream by Bridget Erickson

It is no secret we have an achievement gap in education. In my home state of Minnesota, overall proficiency in reading was close to 60% on last spring’s state assessment whereas 40% of students qualifying for free and/or reduced lunch reached proficiency. Even greater gaps were seen in the state math and science assessments between economic student groups. This is not new information. We are all well aware that students in the middle class, or from the “mainstream”, perform better as measured by written assessments than students from the working class.

But who this "mainstream?" Sociolinguist Shirley Brice Heath (1983) states in her influential text Ways With Words that mainstream sects of society are found  throughout the world and are "literate, school-oriented, aspiring to upward mobility through success in formal institutions, and looking beyond the primary networks of family and community for behavioral models and value orientations" (p.392). Using Brice Heath's definition, we can see how school, or academia, is a mainstream institution. Those who influence it, organize it, and teach in it represent this culture of the mainstream, and like any culture, language is at the center. Those who are wise in its ways will experience immediate familiarity. Those who are not, will need to acquire it.

For the past 40 years (Mehan, 1979, Heath, 1983, Wells, 1989, Schleppegrell, 2004), it has repeatedly been demonstrated that the achievement gap is really a language gap. Parents familiar with the academic structures of schooling pass this familiarity on to their children; whereas, others, not having similar experiences, cannot. Thus, on the first day of school, a linguistic gap exists, and consequently, an achievement gap does as well. This gap grows and continues to widen as the language becomes denser and more complex in the later elementary, middle and high school years. This language gap is not just focused on English Learners (ELs). As Brice Heath shows, a language gap will exist with any student outside of the powerful the mainstream, not just ELs.

How do we close the gap? Start making the register of school explicit for all students. This includes but also goes beyond academic vocabulary. We’re talking about showing our students how school texts work – the language structure, the text structure. To do this, we, as teachers, need to deautomatize our own comprehension of text Think about: how do I know what I know? How was I able to figure out the “key words?” How do I know this is an accurate summary? What language in the text tells me this? This isn’t an easy task for us as representatives of the mainstream ourselves -  we’ve been fluent in this school register for many, many years. But, it’s vital for all of our students to have full access to our curriculum. Join the journey as we explore language and literacy.