Exposing Gaps in/Between Discourses of Linguistic Deficits

ABSTRACT

Hart and Risley’s (1995) concept of a “word gap” (aka “language gap”) is widely used to describe inferior cognitive development and lower academic achievement as by-products of the language patterns of families from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. In recent decades, this line of deficit research has proliferated and caused a surge in public exposure in the media and political realms. In this discussion, we employ critical discourse analysis to illuminate intertextual links across three essential domains of “language gap” discourse: (a) academic research literature, (b) public news media, and (c) institutional narratives. The data are analyzed in terms of interdiscursive connections within and between research articles; news and magazine stories; and institutional documents from academic, political, and philanthropic organizations. Here, we demonstrate how discourses that are generated within a socially insulated “language gap” research paradigm propagate a deficit orientation of linguistic minority communities, problematically validate behavior intervention programs among particular socioeconomic groups, and reify linguistic and cultural misperceptions of traditionally marginalized groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Language gap
• language and poverty
• critical discourse analysis

Notes

¹ We use “language gap” in quotations throughout this discussion for two reasons: (a) the research based on the original “word gap” concept is varied and includes more than just “words,” and (b) to communicate that we do not support the notions underlying this concept.