Your comments re differences in interaction patterns between working class
and middle class when reading to children and your questioning of the
methodology used to distinguish 'middle' and 'working' class homes are
issues which have been taken up in research in Australia, by Williams (see
comments on xcma), Hasan and Oldenburg and others.
Using a more sophisticated and linguistically relevant idea of class
difference - the relative linguistic autonomy of parents in their work
contexts- , and using more detailed linguistic analyses than number/length
of utterance, all their studies have found significant differences between
groups. Interestingly, as I understand it, one of their findings was
similar to your own - namely that there are significant differences in the
types and degree of elaboration in questions and statements made around
texts during reading - Geoff Williams (are you out there?) will be able to
comment more on this.
Another interesting assumption that has been made in many of the comments
to date (based mainly on Heath's work, I guess) is that it is the middle
class parents who are more overtly 'teacherly' in their interaction and
more conscious of the long term educational payoff of literate children.
Many xcmaers have cited personal recollections in discussing this. I'm not
sure that this is confirmed by William's research.
Robert Veel
PO Box 804
Glebe NSW 2037
Australia
Ph/Fax: +61-2-692-9618
E-mail: rveel who-is-at extro.ucc.su.oz.au