6—The Daily Collegian Tuesday, April 14, 1981
Dialects affect learning
By DIANE MASTRULL
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
A student who regularly uses black dialectwill usual
ly be discriminated against by his or her teachers, Mary
M. Dupuis, associate professor of education said.
"For instance, a child whose language is sprinkled
with "ain'ts" causes some teachers to regard him as
inferior and less intelligent," Dupuis said. "This, in
turn, causes interference with the learning process."
The College of Education and education departments
statewide have begun participating in programs to help
teachers develop a more accepting attitude when they
are dealing with black children who speak a dialect
which differs from the middle-class white dialect spo
ken by most teachers.
"Teachers need to be aware of the diversity of
background, cultural variables and language bases
fotind in their classrooms in order to react positively to
them and to help all students reach their full poten
tials," Dupuis said.
For example, if a teacher criticizes a student's
language the only language he has known throughout
his infancy and the only one ,used at home and in his
neighborhood. 7 - the child will not talk gr write volun-,
tarily in class, Dupuis said. • T , ,
"He will clam up," Dupuis exPlaihed,' , ' and this 'is
what you don't want to have happen. In education, you
must encourage interaction."
"The goal should be to help teachers understand
what.language is and to also teach them to identify the
difference between dialect problems and real mistak
es," she said.
Dupuis and Eunice N. Askov, professor of education,
co-directed a Content Area •Reading Project at Penns
Valley Junior High School and at some Harrisburg
schools.
• For one year, they conducted workshops to instruct dard English is not easy, she said. A student must want
teachers how to properly teach kids from different to change and, just as importantly, he or she must be
backgrounds to read and speak better. encouraged by his parents.
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Kids kick TV habit
CHICAGO (AP) Eleven-year-old
David Kahn adopted a trombone as
a new close friend after dumping a
companion he once spent 10 hours a
day with television. He says he
doesn't miss TV.
And Monica Pencz, also 11, doesn't
spend five hours a day in front of the
television anymore. Her grades are
better, she plays basketball and is
seeing friends more often.
These sixth graders and dozens of
other children kicked the TV habit
with a five-week psychology course
aiming at developing "an interest in
activities outside. TV," said Patty
Rebek, director of the DePaul Uni
versity program.
By the end of the course, children
should be watching no more than
two hours of television on weekdays
and three hours on weekends. Kahn
and Pencz were among the first
graduates this month.
"Once I got hooked on it, I couldn't
get,off," Kahn said. "I just watched
any show." His mother, Florence
Kahn, said, "anytime he walked by
the set it had to be turned on it had
"It was most important to teach the instructors to
accept that the student's language is an important part
of his culture not worse, just different," Dupuis said.
However, Dupuis said, it is important for black
speakers to learn standard English so they can be
successful in dealing with the dominant middle-class
culture in situations outside of school, such as employ
ment interviews.
"From our research conducted in Harrisburg, we
discovered that black teachers, who are the most
articulate among teachers, believed that the black child
needed lots of dialects to make it in the world —.not just
the one they are taught at home," Dupuis said.
In teaching black students standard white English,
the best approach is to' alk about the appropriateness
and unappropriateness of their dialects, she said.
"The real purpose of language is to communicate,
and the language which best accomplishes communica
tion is the right language to use," Dupuis said. "The
real skill of the . teacher, therefore, is not in correcting
`wrong' '
responses, but in- creating situations in which
the student is induced to respond appropriately," she
said..
Teashers cando,,,this by allowing;tlieAla4 child to
ruse his dia'lecf pieilalls, on the playgrouildi,or during
informaLrap sesSions, , Dupuis said. However, a teacher
must tell a student he used the incorrect dialect if he
uses the same grammar in a term paper.
"Black English should not be replaced," Dupuis
said. "A dialect is a sign of belonging, a part of group
membership, and to take it from a child would be to
deprive him of his own culture, his. own roots. This is
why we encourage the teaching of a second dialect, an
alternate dialect, to be used for certain purposes, in
' certain situations."
However, motivating a black student to learn stan-
to be on even if he wasn't watching
it."
Pencz confessed, "I couldn't get
away from it. My homework wasn't
getting done. I just forgot about all
my friends."
The psychology program operates
on a "point system" that rewards
children for staying away from tele
vision. Points are lost for each show
watched, and gained for other activ
ities, such as reading, seeing
friends, playing games, exercising,
or doing homework and household
chores.
Accumulated non-television points
go toward a treat a bigger allow
ance, an outing, sports equipment or
entertainment.
By not watching television, David
earned a new bicycle, a trip to the
circus, and now he gets 25 cents for
every 100 points he earns.
Children often watch television to
escape problems, Rebek said. Ex
cessive watching, she says, makes a
child "withdrawn. They do not de
velop initiative because it's such a
passive activity.
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By PAMELA MACLEOD
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
Education majors at the University
and around the country should be tested
rigorously in basic skills, said Mary M.
Dupuis, associate professor of education
and coordinator of the secondary teacher
education program.
Dupuis and her collegues are experi
menting with a program designed to spot
deficiencies early and correct them, or
route the students into a different are a of
study.
She said reading, writing and speaking
are basic tools in education that are
extremely hard to measure in prospec
tive teachers.
Dupuis said the tests administered as a
part of the program should go a long way
toward gauging teacher competence be
fore graduates enter the classroom.
"It's part of a curriculum in effect for
over a year now," Dupuis said.
Last year, more than 40 University
secondary education majors, most of
whom will graduate this term, were the
first participants in tests specifically
designed to measure their reading,
speaking and writing skills, she said.
Since then, a second cycle of testing
has been completed and a third cycle is
being performed now. The tests are con
tinually being developed and refined by
faculty members, but basically have
been the same for the first three cycles.
"Our intent is for students to demon
strate mastery of specific skill areas
before they graduate and are certified to
teach," she said.
The reading measurements devised for
the students involve a widely-known
standard test the Nelson-Denny
combined with an exam gauging how
well students understand concepts and
points made in professional journals.
"Both sets of results were encourag
ing," Dupuis said. "On the widely used
standardized test, our students' average
score was close to the 60th percentile."
The 50th percentile is the midway point
in the Nelson-Denny test with half doing
better and half worse on the national
results, she said.
Encouragement from his or her parents cannot be
assured, Dupuis said. Parents who want their child to do
better than they did in life' will support their learning
another dialect. However, those black parents hostile to
the white society will not accept such learning, Dupuis
said.
"Those parents who want their children to remain
living at home forever won't approve of their children
learning standard English because they fear such an
education will cause a split in the family.
Dupuis said by the time blacks enter junior high
school, most are able to comprehend and use standard
English. However, she said, effective teaching prac
tices and proper attitudes about language and culture
which are now being taught to education majors as a
regular part of the secondary education program
could enable black children to overcome earlier the
problems of dealing with standard English in schools.
"Ideally, teachers should speak the same dialect as
their students," Dupuis said.
"If they can be bi-dialectal, and move their students
with them as the opportunities arise from a dialect
spoken by a minority to one spoken by the majority --
then they may be able to.achieve the transfer without
making students feel rejected or that their own hOme
language is inadequate," Dupuis said.
Research on this problem has been conducted for 20
years, she said. However, she said action has only just
recently been taken because of a recent court ruling in
Ann Arbor, Michigan.
In the case, a black couple charged that their
children were not being taught in black dialect. In his
opinion, the judge said teachers should not be .required
to teach black dialect, but they should understand the
difference between standard English and black dialect
and must be sensitive in determining their usages.
Dupuis said it is important to treat children equally
which means overlooking these differences in di-
Students given skills
Program measures reading, writing, speaking abilities
An educational program
developed at the University
is now being used all over
the country. Here a worker
tests children at Dover Air
Force base in Delaware for
physical disabilities and
learning problems.
"On our own test, which measured
vocabulary, data interpretation and dif
ferent comprehension levels, the stu
dents' average was just over 82 percent
correct, '; Dupuis said.
The speaking test involved evaluating
videotapes of formal speaking perfOr
mances by 43 students.
Criteria included organization and de
velopment, adaptation to audience, lan
guage usage, ability to motivate,
delivery, and overall impression, she
said.
A rating scale was devised and tested
for statistical reliability before it was
used, to evaluate the speeches.
Sandra L. Snyder, a research assistant
who developed the scale, said the Univer
sity's "prospective teachers speak quite
well according to test results.
Seven of 43 students, she said, were
screened out for further diagnosis and
instruction in oral communication skills.
The rest turned in acceptable perfor
mances.
Short essays by the 43 students were
evaluated through a method developed at
the University which includes, among
other measurements, some use of Col
lege Entrance Examination Board com
position criteria.
"Only four of the 43 samples were
rated unacceptably low," said Edward
R. Fagan, professor of language educa
tion. He said another eight papers con-
tained enough technical errors to be
marginal.
"Obviously, counseling and remedial
work was recommended for those 12
students," he said.
Fagan said the students with deficien
cies were referred to the Reading and.
Writing Center on campus.
He said overall the program now has
101 students, of which 10 to 15 percent are
receiving help at the clinic.
"The students are aided in any prob
lem areas they may have," he said.
"Some are only having problems in one
area while others are having difficulties
in all areas."
He said others who fared poorly on the
tests decided to enter another field.
"We lost some along the way," Fagan
New tests detect
learning problems
By KATHY GOOD
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
Johnny is five years old, and about to
enter his first kindergarten class. His
parents are concerned about how he will
relate to his schoolmates, because he has
a problem. He just can't seem to keep up
with neighborhood children while play
ing tag or dodge ball.
The Higher Competencies for Young
Children program, developed at the Uni
versity, can solve this hypothetical situa
tion and other real problems parents of
young children. face everyday concern
ing kids' learning abilities.
As many as 60,000 Pennsylvania pre
schoolers haVe minor physical and learn
ing sdsabilities that go untreated, says a
U.S. Department of Welfare report.
The report says subtle problems in
language progression, social and emo
tionsal disorders, and other factors de
laying normal development afflict up to 8
percent of children form birth to age 5 in
the state.
Using HICOMP's 20-minute testing
method, schools can determine if kids
from birth to five years have these disa
bilities. Once the source of the problem is
found, proper - treatment can be assigned.
"The earlier testing begins the better
is the general, rule, but with cautions
,"said Dr. Carol A. Cartwright, professor
of curriculum and intruction. "Parents
often go off the deep end if they see any
little difference between their child and
someone else's of the same age.
"Children who need help in infancy are
very obvious," Cartwright said, "since
they were most likely born with the
defect. Some are often tricky to detect,
such as hearing, for example. Nothing
different shows up until the child ap
proaches school and begins failing
tests."
Cartwright said the test can be admin
istered at community centers and shop
ping malls as well as in schools. If the
test diagnoses a problem, the child is
scheduled for an in-depth test at home.
, Parents can work along with teachers
in solving their children's developmental
difficulties, Cartwright said. Along . with
other literature, each parent keeps a
chart called "Jotty Giraffe," which mea
sures accomplishments at home. Re
corded on it are the dates at which the
child can walk backward or count to five,
not always simple tasks, Cartwright
said.
Research for HICOMP began seven
years ago, under the direction of Dr.
John T. Neisworth, professor of special
education. He, along with various stu
dents, Cartwright said, spent the first
three years developing a curriculum
suitable for testing.
Working with a University sponsored
preschool class, they created a diversi
fied system of tests for different age
groups, categorizing them into four do
mains: problem solving, communication
skills, motor development and social
interaction.
Further work by Cartwright and Indi
vidual and Family Studies Professor
Donald L. Peters enabled the program to
be packaged and sent out to educators
during the next three years. This "Out
reach" phase entailed going to schools,
Air Force bases and Head Start pro
grams across the country, teaching in-
said, "we have a fairly high attrition
rate, but that's good. The students didn't
flunk and they weren't forced out of the
program they were counseled and
many chose other areas.
"The students that have stayed with us
have demonstrated a real change," he
added.
Dupuis said the reading, writing and
speaking measurements must still be
retested and refined before they are
considered reliable indicators of whether
students know their skills.
"Devising effective measurements is
time-consuming," Dupuis said. "Great
care must be taken to ensure statistical
reliablility because the ultimate question
is whether children learn when these
teachers teach."
'We have a fairly high attrition rate, but that's `
1,
good. The students didn't flunk and they weren't ',
forced out of the program they were
, I
counseled and many chose ,other fields.' , ~1
—Edward R. Fagan, professor of language .1,
education.
The University's revised curriculum,
in addition to emphasizing mastery of
skills, also focuSes on getting prospective
teachers more time in the classroom
with field experiences added in the soph
omore and junior years as well as the
traditional student teaching experience
in the senior year.
Dupuis said teachers would have more
time for field experience if education
majors are required to take a 5-year
program because of the switch from a
term system to a semester system.
Fagan said so far the program seems
to be very successful.
"We've had people come in from the
Pennsylvania Department of Education
who are supporting wholeheartedly."
He said the department has even sup-
Jotty Giraffe,/.!elps
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"Jotty Giraffe," used in ;a University
developed educational program, helps
diagnose children's disabilities: ,
structors how to use HICOIViP
effectively
"People become interested in the pto
gram by seeing it in magazinesi or com
ing to our presentations,"Cartwrtt
said. "After every meeting vtfe get a
flurry of requests for more inforinatical."
HICOMP is used in more than 50 pe
schools throughout America ; but only as
an institution sees fit. Cartwright slid
the project is so comprehensive that
teachers can pick up on different aspe4ts
according to their needs.
Cartwright said the program is not jiist
a diagnostic tool„ and actually is usedito
teach handicapped and non-handicappOd
children basic communication skips, '
self-care and grooming, motor coordirla-''
tion, and problem solving..
As a part of the project, graduate
students Frances M. , ,Hunt and Elizabath
Llewellyn designed a training program
that uses modern learning theories Ito
help children achieve specific deve4
opmentargiiiilg:
Childrepaocl l iastructors both receive
continuous ,reialarcement, and, find testa
learning is fun, too.
Very young children perform simple
tasks like answering the question, "Hm
big are you?" or turning the pages of, a
book.
Tasks for older children are more
difficult.
A 4-year-old must use a pair of tweez
ers to pick a yellow button from a pile of
colored ones. The child uses communica
tion skills to understand the task, prob
lem-solving skills to find the right button,*
and motor skills to picic up the button
with the tweezers.
tests
plied some funds to the program to help
with further testing and research.
He said independent studies by the
state department, members of the Unil
versity faculty and others seem to indi
cate the program is fullfilling its
objective.
"We are a pioneer in this program,"
Fagan said. "It's the Pennsylvania De
partment of Education's, idea that we
should be a model program.l"
Fagan said the only similar program
that he knows of was developed at the
Unviersity of Georgia. '
But, he said, Georgia's testing is done
after the students graduate and it uses an
informal "pencil and paper" method.
'Fagan said he thinks the program will
be copied by other universitieS, and instil
tutions and he said the faculty has Oil
ready received many inquires about tile
program.
Dupuis said," It's going atong better
than we every could have imagineld..t
Somewhere over 80 percent of the sin
lents in each cycle have demonstratrd
competence in all areas."
Dupuis said the results frrm the ft
and second cycles of testing will
presdnted next month at a conferencedof
the International Reading Association'l 0
She said the association has express&l
interest in the testing and she said the
presentation will be a good opportunity
for the University program to receive
further recognition.
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Auction sells bikes, beds, boards
By KAIA K. SMITH
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
rOld, Beaver Stadium scoreboards,
abandoned bicycl6 and University beds
and trucks were typical of the items
available at the University's annual sal
vage auction Friday.
A large crowd turned out and bought
up most of the second-hand goods
except for the used fleet automobiles.
One grumbling customer said the cars
did not sell well because the University
priced them too high. Several cars re
mained unsold because customers bid
lower than the asking price.
All eyes were on the auctioneer Friday at the University's annual salvage auction. The used vehicles from Fleet Services were part of a sale which included more than
p 0 bicycles, some beds and the old scoreboards from Beaver Stadium.
Looking for answers?
Call the new flpril tapes:
Academic tapes:
10 - college of Business Administration
12 - College of Education
16 - College of Liberal Arts
Student Life topes;
326 - Alononudeosl.s
614 - Fear of Flunking Out
616 - Feeling lonely
************ * * * * * * * * * * * *
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1438)*4 *
*
ji.:st 's ci iiwr
ist, APRIL 15 -18 *
st 114,161,\R - *
Tickets Available
*
sec sk
• '4%*at Main Desk of Hotel State College
_ A _
$12.00 dinner/show $3.50 show alone
•
For Information 237-4350 w
curtain 8:30 p.m. *
4 0 7
loellio
*
Presented by
*
CENTER STAGE PLAYERS *
A RAIKE STAGE COMPANY *
*
********* * -A- * * * *
BASKIN-ROBBINS
ICE CREAM STORE
Order early for Easter
Ice Cream Rabbits
Ice Cream Easter Baskets
Individual Easter Treats
Don't forget the Ice Cream
Superbowl tomorrow
The most memorable items sold were
the old Beaver Stadium scoreboards.
Carl Temple, owner of Ed's Discount
Surplus and Salvage Center in State
College, bought the end zone and press
box boards for $6OO.
He said he plans to use the metal from
the structures for construction. Temple
estimated the value of the scoreboards at
$lO,OOO, including $2,000 in metal.
Other merchandise sold included old
University dining facility machines, IBM
key punch machines, file cabinets,
screen doors and fluorescent light cov
ers.
tips
100's more tapes available
EAST'
Fudge
Nut
Straw ,
Coco ,
Peanl
Butt(
We ct
purch
But bicycles attracted the majority of
the crowd during the afternoon.
About 115 bikes of every shape, size
and color were up for sale. W.E. Burget,
director of purchases at the University,
said University Police Services collects
abandoned bicycles throughout the year
and puts them in storage until the owners
claim them. If, after one year, the bikes
are not claimed, the police give them to
the University to auction.
Stan Voicheck, owner of the Strada
Bicycle Shop, 217 S. Burrowes St., was at
the auction to bid on those used bicycles.
He said he was interested in purchasing
the bikes to add to the Eco-Action Uni
versity bikes that he donated to the
campus last year. Voicheck said he was
surprised at how many people were bid
ding for used, rusty, often broken bicy
cles.
"I'Ve seen bikes go for more than they
go for new," Voicheck said. "A lot of
people don't know what they're buying."
Voicheck wasn't the only person who
thought bike bids were too high. Several
students who said they thought they
could pick up a used 10-speed for $3O or
$4O found prices to be higher than that.
- 40 - 41C/46*
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at The Train Station
COMMISSARY 4
Junction of Golle,ge sower.s
GO HOME ON A USG BUS!
Departures:
Phila.—Friday, April 17 at 5:30 p.m.
NYC—Friday, April 17 at 5:00 p.m.
Pitt—Friday, April 17 at 6:00 p.m.
Return: Phila., NYC, and Pitt.—Sunday, April 19 at 7:00 p.m.
Buses will begin loading in front of the HUB approx. 15 min.
before departure time and will stop at parking lot 80 approx. 5
min. after scheduled departure time.
Phila.—Stops at John Wannamakers in the King of Prussia
Shopping Center, and downtown at the Market St. Bus Terminal.
Arrives in Philly in approx. 4 hrs.
Pittsburgh—Stops at David Weis at Miracle Mile Shopping
Center and at Continental Trailways Bus Terminal on Penn Ave.
Arrives in Pitt. in approx. 3 1 / 2 hrs.
New York City—Stops at Port Authority and Rockaway Mall in
Dover, N.J. (lower level at Sears) Arrives in approx. 4 1 / 2 hrs.
ROUNDTRIP PHILLY PITT NYC
Greyhound $29.95 $28.85 $61.00
USG $24.25 $20.50 $45.00
Savings $5.75 $5.35 $16.00
ONE WAY
Greyhound $15.75 $13.60 $32.10
USG $12.75 $ll.OO $23.75
Savings. $3.00 $2.60 $8.35
Tickets will be on sale in the HUB April 13 through April 17 from 9:00 ,
a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
U-034 A di 11
'Biff and Al' cartoon
a youthful conception
By ROSEMARY DILLON
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
Each week the cartoon strip Biff
and Al appears in The Daily Collegian
with half a dozen other cartoons read
by University. .students. What makes
this strip special is that Biff and Al is
the conception of 13-year-old Peter
Heitmann.
Heitmann, who attends Park For
est Junior High School, likes running
track, riding horses and drawing. His
talent for art is good enough for him
to merit recognition as a contributor
to a college newspaper.
"I've been drawing for as long back
as I can remember," he said. "One
day I was drawing and the idea just
came up." It was Heitmann's 15- .
year-old brother, Noel, who encour
aged him to try to get his work in the
Collegian. His cartoon is now printed
in the paper twice each week.
Heitmann said he comes up with
most of the ideas and captions, but he
sometimes gets help from his family.
His father, George Heitmann, profes
sor of business administration, some
times helps with ideas.
"Doonesbury and Norm are two of
my favorite comics," Heitmann said.
Some of his ideas come from reading
other cartoons, and this influence
prodUces ideas witty enough to be
amusing to college students.
Heitmann gets encouragement
from home and expressed a distinct
interest in continuing his cartoons
once he gets out of school. But for
now, he said he is content with his art
classes at school and doodling in his
notebooks.
The Daily Collegian Tuesday, April 14, 1981
Peter Heitmann
He said he is looking forward to
taking some art classes in high school
and developing his interests. Heit
mann, who draws from his head as
well as from observation, basically
works with pencils and likes drawing
trees, birds and other outdoor ob
jects.
"I want to try new things with art,"
Heitmann said. "Having something
in the Collegian is great."
Heitmann certainly has an advan
tage over many college students. He
already has experience with work he
is interested in. That's something
many University students would like
to have when they graduate practi
cal experience. Knowing that Peter
Heitmann can produce this kind of
work at age 13, it may be wise to keep
an eye out for him in a few years.
Photo by Dave Roble
Kann,