The situation in the U.S. is different from that in England, France and other European countries: in each of those countries there is something that is known as the standard language, and a number of dialects apart from the standard language. There is also a rather close consensus on what the standard dialect is (especially on phonological lines).…

A study was conducted to explore the relationship of the pronunciation of /r/ to social class and age in the speech of whites in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Tape-recorded interviews were conducted with a sample of informants representing a cross-section of ages and social classes in the city. Conversation was elicited on a number of topics of common…

One of the most significant problems that linguists face in their attempts to describe Vernacular Black English (VBE) is the matter of fluctuating forms. It is consistently observed that speakers appear to fluctuate between a socially stigmatized variant and its presumed nonstigmatized counterpart. Fluctuations in VBE have often been viewed as a…

An investigation was conducted to test the assumption that Black English (BE) dialect interferes with reading. Data from 45 lower standard English (SE) speakers were collected and analyzed to measure racial group differences on auditory discrimination, oral reading, BE phonology usage, and silent reading comprehension. Dialect differences analyzed…

This study was conducted to examine certain social factors, such as sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic group, as they influence the speech of a sample of black and white children, aged 10-12, from a lower socioeconomic group in Albany, New York. The tapes of the interviews were analyzed to determine the usage of the nonstandard forms of four…

The article presents an argument supporting the validity of using sub-standard dialects as a starting point to aid continuing education teachers teaching standard English. The advantages of the dialect approach are considered, and suggestions for distinguishing among dialects, assessing them, and using them are presented in conclusion. (Author/AG)

This discussion of standard language and dialect is based on opinions and theories regarding Slavonic languages. A set of objective criteria is offered. Distinctions between language, standard language, dialect, glottolect and sociolect are made, and social and political conditions which give rise to them are discussed. References are included.…

Disputes use of the term General American'' because of the excessive breadth of its scope and its indefiniteness; article is part of Lexicography and Dialect Geography, Festgabe for Hans Kurath''. (DD)

Students of English around the world are commonly taught according to one of two models, "British" English, and "American" English. Indeed, there is a persistent popular myth (present in many linguistics and second-language texts) that a single "Midwestern" variety of American English exists. The usage of the term…

Discussed briefly by the author are some of the "most immediately relevant" implications for TESOL which arise from research studies in dialectology. One phenomenon, which until recently has received little attention, is that of "receptive bi-dialectalism" or "bilingualism." One of the earliest observations of this…

This paper describes a "neglected" aspect of Hawaiian ("Pidgin") English--the suprasegmental or prosodic features. Illustrated by contrastive samples of Hawaiian American English (HAE) and General American English (GAE), the salient prosodic features are presented as follows--(1) syllable-timed rhythm, modified by emphatic…

This study was designed to investigate, describe, and compare the intonation patterns of Black English and Standard English speaking children in a reading (formal) and free discourse (informal) situation. Black English was defined as the linguistic code of the subjects sampled from the inner city black poverty area schools, and Standard English as…

In the past, social lectologists have not considered their work as contrastive linguistics. One reason is that sociolects of a language differ quantitatively; differences lie in the frequency patterns with which certain forms occur in each lect. Contrastive linguistics deals with standard or idealized languages, while sociolects are often…

A review of recent language research regarding the black English vernacular (BEV) considers new developments involving (1) the grammars of elderly and young speakers; (2) indications that BEV is not decreolizing but is actually diverging from white speech; and (3) the effect of contemporary developments on differences between black and white…

Many English language arts teachers consider the nonstandard English of their students as being "slovenly or nonverbal or inexact or lazy." These same teachers often have been trained in the "false assumptions of a single universally accepted norm of English." These positions, the author states, are both fallacious and…