Effects of dialect‐ethnicity, social class and quality of written compositions on teachers' subjective evaluations of children

Abstract

In the context of previous work related to linguistic stereotypes and Pygmalion effects, this research describes the relative effect of factors of dialect‐ethnicity, social class, and quality of written compositions on pre‐service elementary teachers’ judgments of children's scholastic success. Analysis of teachers’ semantic differential ratings indicates some relative salience for social class over dialect‐ethnicity and quality of composition. Analysis of interaction effects reveals a complex relationship between these stimulus attributes and teacher judgments. Results are interpreted as being indicative of the likely complexity of teachers’ social perceptions of children and in some opposition to previous assumptions of the more or less unique salience of linguistically mediated social stereotypes.