To determine what positive benefits to school learning might accrue from competence in Black English, a study explored the hypothesis that the rich and varied experience that black youth typically have with figurative language outside of school would enhance their understanding of figurative language in school texts. Subjects included 157 black…

Revised version of paper appearing in: F. Williams (editor), Language and Poverty: Perspectives on a Theme," Chicago, Markham, 1970. Interprets differences in child language associated with class as a systematic difference in choice of linguistic options as a function of the situation as perceived by the child. (JM)

A research project combining ethnographic and experimental methods is currently underway to assess whether minority groups use language in ways that put their children at a disadvantage in school. The project, which focuses on social, cognitive, and educational consequences of different patterns of language function and use, has involved…

Children's use of conjunctions was examined for linguistic complexity, developmental differences, and ethnic differences. Third, sixth, and ninth grade Anglo-American, Black, and Hispanic students completed sentence fragments ending in "and,""but,""because," and "even though." These conjunctions can be…

A study examined the match between the vocabularies of children of different ethnic and socioeconomic status groups and the school vocabulary revealed by readability formulas and word lists. The Spache 1040 and the Dale 769 readability formula word lists were used as indicators of school vocabulary in the early primary grades, and a corpus of talk…