Ten teachers comment on the Ann Arbor (Michigan) court case concerning language bias in the schools. (RL)

Major controversies which have arisen from linguists' research into Black English and implications of this research for education of dialect-speaking students are discussed. (JD)

Examines the literature on the language of working-class Black children, and emphasizes the need for a new framework for research. Describes research being conducted within such a revised framework (by the Center for Applied Linguistics), which focuses on analysis of stages in acquiring the total Black English system instead of focusing only on…

A video tape of a freshman composition student at the University of Arizona shows the difficulty she has faced in writing classes because of her black dialect. Her instructor points out that the student, after some of the readdings in class, recognizes that she has learned code switching on her own to survive in the educational system; this…

Catherine Prendergast challenges compositionists to investigate how privileging whiteness perpetuates racism in the classroom. In response to Prendergast's challenge, this paper examines the "white ground" of composition classes by complying with Ian Marshall and Wendy Ryan's suggestion to "look closely at how the "politics of…

Much of the language and many constructs used in testing and assessment must be redefined in order for testing instruments to be valid for use with children of African-American descent. These children are products of unique linguistic environments. Current educational assessment tools are insensitive to the cultural-linguistic diversity of the…

Although research and the court have established the viability of Black English as a communication system, scholars and educators have not rallied for institutional support of its use and acceptance in society. A rational language policy must be developed that recognizes the legitimacy of all languages and dialects in America.(Author/MJL)

The author examines the precedent set in the King v Ann Arbor case as a tool to reform the miseducation of Black children. She also details some linguistic and sociocultural aspects of the controversy over whether Black English is a language or a dialect. (SK)

In a case concerning a Michigan public school and several students who spoke Black English, the court concluded that the school board had not taken appropriate action to overcome the language barrier which impeded the Black students' equal participation in the instructional program. (JN)

Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin's "Dialogic Imagination" and Henry Louis Gates'"Signifying Monkey," an analysis of an African American student's essay reveals codes that are distinct to African Americans. Bakhtin's theory alerts scholars to the extent to which language is a social phenomenon. Ambiguous and heteroglossic, it reflects…

When children (particularly African Americans) have a different orthography, phonemic system, and deep structure from Standard American English (SAE) speakers, they may have difficulty grasping the correct SAE phonemes represented by the symbols and reading in general. Language acquisition is natural learning centered around the interaction of…

Examines class and ethnic differences in narrative style. Reviews recent research and outlines the basic differences between White middle-class narrative and the styles of various cultural groups. Explicates some of the uses of narrative in educational research and deals specifically with the educational implications of narrative differences. (CMG)

This paper draws from a number of sources, from Muhammad Ali to TV commercials, to demonstrate the quite different conceptions that black and white Americans have of the meaning of boasting and bragging. For blacks, boasting and bragging are two distinct ways of speaking and communication. Boasting is a joking, playful verbal bahavior, not to be…

Speech, language, and composition professionals should take a leadership role in working toward a national public policy on language. The declining rates of literacy and educational achievement in AfroAmerican communities serve as evidence that such a policy is needed. However, the policy would govern language teaching and language use throughout…