Hart and Risley's (1995) concept of a "word gap" (aka "language gap") is widely used to describe inferior cognitive development and lower academic achievement as by-products of the language patterns of families from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. In recent decades, this line of deficit research has proliferated and…

For research purposes, an individual's education and educational attainment, and his or her ethnic identity, are usually taken to represent static and independent characteristics of the person. However, the processes which lead to categorizations of educational attainment and ethnic identity are not static and are probably not independent. In this…

Bilingualism, to be cognitively and academically beneficial, must be based on adequately developed first language skills. Two hypotheses, developmental interdependence and threshold, are integrated into a bilingual education model which treats background, child input, and educational treatment to explain educational outcomes. (Author/MH)

The Toronto Early Identification and Developmental Program (E.I.D.P.) has three main aspects: (1) the screening of kindergarten and first grade children in terms of potential learning difficulties; (2) service to the child and family together with supportive help to the school staff; and (3) research in connection with screening instruments. The…

This study explored the dichotomy between global errors, that is, those violating rules of overall sentence structure, and local errors, that is, those violating rules within a particular constituent of a sentence, and the relationship of these to communication breakdown. The focus was tense continuity across clauses (TC) and subject-verb…

To test the effects of black English on school performance, 27 second graders in a Harlem school were interviewed and tested for competence in spontaneous speech, comprehension of oral and written materials, and oral reading, as well as for explicit grammatical knowledge of standard English morphemes often missing in black English. The data show…

A review of literature relating to the use of Hawaiian pidgin and standard English and their relationship to school achievement was undertaken in response to concerns regarding state educational policy for language use and proficiency. The research reviewed includes pidgin and creole studies, second language acquisition research, and studies of…