African Social Pragmatics

Research: Publications & Presentations

Ongoing research of the African Social Pragmatics Consortium include:   

  • Conducting a series of meta synthesis studies of literature focused on the pragmatic language and social communication of African American children and adolescents.

  • Developing a theory and model of pragmatics that could be useful within and beyond the U. S.

  • Developing a comprehensive taxonomy of pragmatic verbal and nonverbal behaviors

  • Examining and producing knowledge about the effects of African American English vernacular in general and African social pragmatics specifically regarding the outcome of legal proceedings

Photo of team presenting at a conference.

Selected Publications

DeJarnette, G., Rivers, K. O., & Hyter, Y. D. (2015). Ways of examining speech acts in young African American children: Considering inside-out and outside-in approaches. Topics in Language Disorders, 35(1), 61 – 75.

Hyter, Y. D. (2003). Language intervention for children with emotional behavioral disorders. Behavioral Disorders: Journal of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders, 29(1), 65 – 76.

Hyter, Y. D. (2007). Pragmatic language assessment: A Pragmatics-as-Social Practice model. Topics in Language Disorders, 27(2), 128 – 145.

Hyter, Y. D. (2017). Pragmatic assessment and intervention in children. In L. Cummings (Ed.), Research in clinical pragmatics (Chapter 19). Cham, Switzerland: Springer

Hyter, Y. D., Atchison, B., Henry, J., & Sloane, M., Black-Pond, C., Shangraw, K. (November 2003). Children traumatized by abuse and neglect: Transdisciplinary assessment. The ASHA Leader, 8(21), 6 – 7, 14.

Hyter, Y. D., & Rivers, K. O. (Issue Editors) (2015). “The road less traveled”: Pragmatic development in African American children and adolescents. Topics in Language Disorders, 35(1).

Hyter, Y. D., Rivers, K. O., & DeJarnette, G. (2015). Pragmatic language of African American children and adolescents: A systematic synthesis of the literature. Topics in Language Disorders, 35(1), 8 – 45.

Hyter, Y.D., Rogers-Adkinson, D., Self, T. L., Freiderich-Simmons, B., & Jantz, J. (2001). Pragmatic language intervention for children with language and emotional/behavioral disorders. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 23(1), 4-16.

Hyter, Y.D. & Self, T. (1998). Practical issues in communication therapy: Intervention for children with behavior and language disorders. In D. Rogers-Adkinson and P.L. Griffith (Eds.), Communication disorders and children with psychiatric and behavioral disorders (pp. 367 – 402).  San Diego, CA: Singular Publishing.

Hyter, Y.D., & Westby, C.E. (1996). Using oral narratives to assess communicative competence: Multiple perspectives. In A. Kamhi, K. Pollock, & J. Harris (Eds.), Communication development and disorders in African American children: Research, assessment, and intervention (247-284). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

Kraemer, R. J., Rivers, K. O., & Ratusnik, D. L. (2001). Sociolinguistic perceptions of African American English. The Negro Educational Review, 51(3-4), 139 – 148.

Rivers, K. O., Hyter, Y. D., & DeJarnette, G. (2012, October 30). Parsing pragmatics. The ASHA Leader, 17, 14 – 17.

Rivers, K. O., & Lombardino, L. J. (2000). Using descriptive language assessment procedures with African American English preschool child speakers: Advantages and limitations. Florida Journal of Communication Disorders, 20, 7 – 18.

Rivers, K. O., Rosa-Lugo, L. I., & Hedrick, D. L. (2004). Performance of African American adolescents on a measure of language proficiency. The Negro Educational Reviews, 55, 117 – 127.

Rosa-Lugo, L. I., Rivers, K. O., & Hedrick, D. L. (1999). A case study of an adolescent African American English dialect speaker with a language disorder. Florida Journal of Communication Disorders, 19, 7 – 15. 

Selected Presentations

DeJarnette, G. (June, 2015). African American speech acts in young children: Etic findings. Poster presented at the Symposium on Child Language of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, Thessaloniki, Greece.

DeJarnette, G., Hyter, Y. D., & Rivers, K. O. (August, 2016). Human Cognition Cultural Values Model (HCCVM): A theoretical model to address pragmatic language behavior in multilingual/multicultural speakers. Poster presented at the triennial congress of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP), Dublin, Ireland.

DeJarnette, G., Hyter, Y. D., & Rivers, K. O. (November, 2016). Situating pragmatic language behavior in the context of culture: The HCCVM Model. Presentation accepted for presentation at the Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Philadelphia, PA.

DeJarnette, G., Hyter, Y. D., Rivers, K. O., & Wyatt, T. (November 2012). Child AAE speech acts: Historical roots, cultural transmission, developmental trends. Seminar presented at the annual conference of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Atlanta, GA.

DeJarnette, G., Hyter, Y. D., Rivers, K. O., & Wyatt, T. (April, 2013). Young child AAE speech acts: Cultural roots, transmission, and developmental trends. Invited to be the Don Bailey Lecture during the annual convention of the National Black Association of Speech-Language-Hearing, Washington, DC.

Doty, J. S., Battle, D., Rickford, J., Vaughn-Cooke, F., Stockman, I., Seymour, H., Wyatt, T., Campbell, L., Hyter, Y. D., Scott, D. & Wright-Harp, W. (November 1995). Theory and practice in evaluating child African American English. Invited presentation for an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Institute presented at the Annual Conference of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Hyter, Y. D. (October 1994). Crossing boundaries: Identifying referential strategies across communicative channels. Invited paper presented at the Oklahoma State University Colloquium, Stillwater, OK.

Hyter, Y. D. (May 1996). Multiple perspectives represented in the narratives of preadolescents. Invited paper presented at the 1996 Memphis Research Symposium, Memphis, TN.

Hyter, Y. D. (December 1997). Our stories: Narrative discourse as told by African American children. Invited presentation given to Western Michigan University as a King-Chavez-Parks Visiting Scholar, Kalamazoo, MI.

Hyter, Y. D. (December 1997). Communicating across communities: Language and its impact on the classroom performance of students from culturally/linguistically diverse backgrounds. Invited presentation given to Western Michigan University as a King-Chavez-Parks Visiting Scholar, Kalamazoo, MI.

Hyter, Y. D. (February 2001). Cultural considerations in assessment and intervention. Invited workshop to the Kent Area Speech and Hearing Association’s winter conference, Grand Rapids, MI.

Hyter, Y. D. (February 2005). Understanding social communication. Presentation given to the Kalamazoo Health Care Providers, Kalamazoo, MI.

Hyter, Y. D. (April 2008). A pragmatic language assessment protocol for preschoolers. Mini-seminar presented at the annual meeting of National Black Association of Speech- Language-Hearing, Washington, DC.

Hyter, Y. D. (November 2009). Communication profiles of children with histories of prenatal alcohol exposure and maltreatment: Preliminary data. Seminar presented at the annual conference of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, New Orleans, LA.

Hyter, Y. D. (May 2010). Social communication assessment and intervention for children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure, abuse or neglect. Featured speaker for the Edwin H. Eddy Lectures, University of Minnesota Duluth.

Hyter, Y. D. (June 2012). Pragmatic language and social communication in children with histories of maltreatment and prenatal alcohol exposure. Invited paper presented at the Symposium on Children with Communication Disorders: Language and literacy at University of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Hyter, Y. D. (August 2013). Cognitive supports of social communication in children with histories of maltreatment and prenatal alcohol exposure. Committee sponsored paper presented at the Congress of the International Association for Logopedics and Phoniatrics, Turin, Italy.  

Hyter, Y.D., & Black-Pond, C. (March 2010). Evaluating social communication: Protocol for children with histories of maltreatment. Mini session presented at the All Network meeting of the National Child Trauma Stress Network, New Orleans, LA.

Hyter, Y. D., DeJarnette, G., & Rivers, K. O., (November 2012). Meta-study of pragmatic research on African American children and adolescents. Seminar presented at the annual conference of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Atlanta, GA.

Hyter, Y. D., DeJarnette, G., & Rivers, K. O. (April 2013). Summarizing meta analyses: Pragmatic language of African American children. Presentation given at the Annual Convention of the National Black Association for Speech-Language-Hearing. Washington, D. C.

Hyter, Y. D., DeJarnette, G., & Rivers, K. O. (November, 2016). An analysis of procedures to describe the pragmatic language skills of African American children. Seminar accepted for presentation at the Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Philadelphia, PA.

Hyter, Y. D., & Iglesias, A. (November 1994). A cross-channel description of character reference in oral narratives. Paper presented at the Boston Language Conference, Boston, MA.

Hyter, Y.D., Rivers, K. O., & DeJarnette, G. (April 2010). The state of pragmatic language for children of color. Short course presented at the annual conference of the National Black Association for Speech-Language-Hearing, Tampa, Florida.

Hyter, Y. D., Rivers, K., & DeJarnette, G. (November, 2010). Systematic literature review of pragmatic language of African American children. Presentation given at the Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Philadelphia, PA.

Hyter, Y. D., Rivers, K. O., & DeJarnette, G. (April 2012). Mining research of pragmatics language behavior in African American children: A systematic literature review. Seminar presented at the annual conference of the National Black Association of Speech- Language-Hearing, Raleigh, North Carolina

Hyter, Y. D., Vogindroukas, I. (June, 2015). Assessment of pragmatic language and social communication with diverse populations. Invited lecture presented at the Symposium on Child Language of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Kirven, J., Rivers, K. O. (December, 2002). Does “dis” affect “da” way you treat me: Clinical implications for working with African American males. Presentation given at the Third Annual Southeast Region Youth and Adolescence Conference: Treating Youth, Adolescence, and Their Families from Strength Perspectives, Orlando, FL.

Rivers, K. O., DeJarnette, G., Hyter, Y. D., Jordan, K. (November, 2014). American English dialects, the justice system, and implications for SLPs: A systematic review. Presentation given at the Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Orlando, Florida.

Rivers, K. O., Hyter, Y. D., & DeJarnette, G. (April 2015). American English variations and the courts: Recommendations for speech-language pathologists. Seminar presented at the annual convention of the National Black Association of Speech-Language Pathology. Nashville, TN.

Rivers, K. O., Jordan, K., DeJarnette, G., Hyter, Y. D., Santiago-Valles, W. F., & Davis, K. Hyter, Y. (April 2014). “Order in the court!”:Trayvon Martin’s case and linguistic cultural differences. Short course presented at the annual conference of the National Black Association of Speech-Language-Hearing, Charlotte, NC.

Rivers, K. O., Rosa-Lugo, L., & Hedrick, D. L. (April 1998). From the “hood” to the clinic: A language profile of an African-American adolescent. Presentation given at the Annual Convention of the National Black Association for Speech-Language-Hearing, Washington, DC.

Rivers, K. O., Rosa-Lugo, L. I., & Hedrick, D. L. (February, 1999). Language differences and language disorders: The challenges facing speech-language pathologists and educators. Presentation given at the National School Conference Institute (NCSI) Twelfth Annual Conference on Challenging Learners with Untapped Potential (Formerly Students At-Risk Conference), Phoenix, AZ.

Rivers, K. O., Rosa-Lugo, L. I., & Hedrick, D. L. (November 1999). Performance of African American adolescents on a measure of language proficiency. Presentation given at the Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, San Francisco, CA.

Rivers, K. O., Rosa-Lugo, L. I., & Hedrick, D. L. (November, 2000). To codeswitch or not: Adolescents’ usage of African American English. Presentation given at the Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Washington, DC.

Rosa-Lugo, L., Rivers, K. O., & Hedrick, D. L. (May 1998). From the “hood” to the classroom: A language profile of an African-American adolescent. Presentation given at the Annual Convention of the Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists, Marco Island, FL.

Rosa-Lugo, L. I., Rivers, K. O., & Hedrick, d. L. (May 2001). To codeswitch or not: Adolescents’ usage of African American English. Presentation given at the Annual Convention of the Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists, Orlando, FL.

Rosa-Lugo, L. I., Rivers, K. O., Hedrick, D. L. & Walker, C. M. (November, 1998). Language differences and language disorders: The challenges facing speech-language pathologists and educators. Presentation given at the meeting of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)/Division of Diverse Educational Learners (DDEL) Symposium on Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners, Washington, DC.

Santiago-Valles, W. F., Hyter, Y. D., Dejarnette, G., Rivers, K. O., Jordan, K., DeJarnette, G., & Davis, K. (March 2014). Politics, language, justice and Trayvon Martin. Seminar presented at the annual conference of the National Council on Black Studies, Miami, FL.

Sloane, M., & Hyter, Y. D. (February 2005). Complex trauma in context. Children affected by FASD and maltreatment. Workshop given to Kent County Health Care Department, Grand Rapids, MI.

Vogindroukas, I., Chelas, E. N., Hyter, Y. D., Kivrakidou, E., Kaloudi, V., & Paparizos, K. (2016). Assessment of Pragmatic Langauge and Social Communication (APLSC) – Early findings between typically developing children (TD) and children with Autism (ASD). Poster presentation made at the XI Autism – Europe International Congress, Edinburgh.