In discussions of cross-linguistic influence (also known as language transfer), the focus is usually on the influence of a particular structure in a particular instance of language contact, for instance, the negative transfer of serial verbs by Vietnamese learners of English: "She has managed to rise the kite fly over the tallest…

This document shares Dr. Walt Wolfram's views on African-American Dialect. He states that the most elementary principle is that all language is patterned and rule-governed, and one can apply that principle to African-American English, Appalachian English, and to every other dialect that is examined.

Immigrant children from the Caribbean are disadvantaged in American urban schools because they have to adjust to new situations; do not possess complex vocabularies; are not readily understood and have difficulty understanding others; come from academically deficient home backgrounds; and must balance conflicting home and school cultures.…

Discusses the idea that for many Black adolescents the use of creole is an assertion of identity and cultural difference. Examines the use of and attitudes toward creole by both Black and White adolescents in London. (EKN)

An excerpt from the resolution of the executive committee of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, which espouses the view that no variety or dialect of a language is intrinsically superior to any other, is presented. Implications for teaching standard and nonstandard dialects are discussed. (KC)

As studies indicate that dialect usage is not a barrier to reading, teachers can create an effective reading program for black students not by giving instruction in standard English, but by changing their own attitude toward black dialect. Showing that dialect users reencode standard English into their own language patterns when reading orally, Y.…

The goal of instruction in mainstream dialect (MD) acquisition should be to expand students' oral communication skills to include skills needed for academic and economic success, thereby making alternate dialect speakers bidialectic. This implies recognizing students' home dialect as a valid linguistic system and a part of their identity. Although…

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…