Language samples were collected from 12 randomly selected black first graders of average intelligence, from low socioeconomic families in a New York City suburb. The language samples were analyzed for black English syntactic features and language structural patterns. Three basal reader passages were then selected and repatterned for each pupil, to…

This study addressed the following three questions: Among the grammatical patterns that first graders are expected to be able to read, are there any which are particularly easy or particularly difficult to interpret? Can these grammatical patterns be mastered with equal ease by students of varying reading ability? Do these grammatical patterns…