Describes the writing problems of a poor, black, urban student who wants to succeed in college but doesn't know how. Asserts that language use, particularly the use of Black English, plays a major role in their lack of academic success. Offers drills and strategies to help with this problem. (PRA)

The recent discussions about the teaching of Black English, known as Ebonics, in the Oakland (California) school district have highlighted concerns about the right way to educate African American children. The authors of essays in this collection offer background history that explores the race and power dynamics surrounding the development of…

"Ebonics II" is the position that there is no significant gap between black and standard English but that teaching standard English as a foreign language would alleviate the stigma attached to black English. Acknowledging black English and promoting Afrocentric curricula while teaching standard English would overcome the resistance many children…

Nonstandard English can assist rather than hinder the inner-city teacher. Once he is convinced that nonstandard English has a legitimate place in his classroom, he is on his own to devise various creative ways to employ the expressive and highly verbal language of his students. A method whereby nonstandard English can be employed to assist in the…

The experiment reported on in this paper investigated primarily the overall effectiveness in raising the language achievement of black children of the pattern practice approach and the use of overall contrasts between standard and nonstandard dialects within the pattern practice approach. The experiment was conducted in three third-grade and three…