Demonstrates briefly the naturalness of dialect variation in American English, examines the implications for reading instruction of recognizing the naturalness of dialects, and provides a list of references for the professional development of teachers of children who speak dialects other than standard English. (ET)

This paper describes the significant dialectal differences which exist between most West Indian dialects and Canadian English and outlines activities which can be used in a program for West Indian students in Canadian secondary schools. (CFM)

This article offers special educators suggestions for using the natural occurrence of multiple dialects in the school and community as a means to teach children about the nature of language in society, increase their language awareness, learn about dialects, and learn standard English as a second dialect if necessary. (DB)

Teachers can and should use the insights of ethnographic research responsibly in their teaching. Ethnography is an attempt to understand cultures or parts of cultures from the point of view of those who participate in them. It is in the discontinuity between home and school uses of literacy that most ethnographers who study literacy locate the…

Current and aspiring teachers of college Spanish need an awareness of how and why the language and dialects are used in real-life contexts, and to understand the value of the variations as well as that of standard usage. Training of teaching assistants and language teachers should include basic notions of sociolinguistics, including the functions…

The materials status report for Uigur, a Turkic language spoken in the Sinkiang-Uigur Autonomous Region in northwest China and in the Soviet Socialist Republics of Kazakh and Uzbek, is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching various languages to English speakers.…

The materials status report for Tigrinya, which is spoken in Ethiopia, is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching a given language to English speakers. Each report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of the language, the areas where it is spoken, its…

The materials status report for Zulu is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching a given language to English speakers. The report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of the language, the areas where it is spoken, its major dialects, its writing system,…

The materials status report for Xhosa is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching a given language to English speakers. The report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of the language, the areas where it is spoken, its major dialects, its writing system,…

The materials status report for Portuguese is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching the language to English speakers. The report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of the language, the areas where it is spoken, its major dialects, its writing system,…

The materials status report for Dari, the dialect of Persian (Farsi) spoken in Afghanistan, is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching various languages to English speakers. The report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of Dari, the areas where it is…

The materials status report for Baluchi, the major regional language in Pakistan, is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching various languages to English speakers. The report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of Baluchi, the areas where it is spoken,…

The materials status report for Lao is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching various languages to English speakers. The report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of Lao, the areas where it is spoken, its major dialects, its writing system, points of…

The materials status report for Lingala, a lingua franca spoken in central Africa, is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching various languages to English speakers. The report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of Lingala, the areas where it is spoken,…

The materials status report for Kikongo, a lingua franca that developed out of several Bantu languages in Congo and Zaire, is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching various languages to English speakers. The report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of…