A description and analysis of the various functions of black language as an integral part of the collective experience and identity of American blacks. (EH)

The integration of 66 African-American Detroit inner-city residents into their neighborhood is measured quantitatively by a Vernacular Culture Index construction from the respondents' responses to 10 statements. Results show that older respondents are more likely to choose African-American English variants than younger ones. (33 references)…

This essay notes that the book under review is primarily a popular translation of research in the area of vernacular black English (VBE) that presents a relatively non-technical discussion of the linguistic characteristics of VBE and their educational implications. (Author/AM)

Describes and explains the sociolinguistic factors that affect the performance of black children speaking standard English. Uses data from a 2-year study of black speech and bidialectalism involving 40 adults and 76 students to show how the black community and its children have difficulty learning proper English because of their incompatible…

Black English-Negro Nonstandard English, or Negro dialect,"-although perhaps represented by less divergent varieties in the Northern cities of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, is here shown to have been there all along. (JM)

The recent work by sociolinguists is more accurate for consideration of urban dialects than is the analysis provided in the "Linguistic Atlas" materials. The sociolinguists' work shows that the use of nonstandard phonological and grammatical features varies according to one's socioeconomic status, ethnic background, speech context, age,…

Reports research indicating the inability of teachers and administrators not sharing the social and verbal meanings of blacks to communicate with the latter. An instrument designed to measure knowledge about general subject matter is described. (JM)

Addressing the common misconception that Japan is a mono-ethnic, mono-cultural, and monolingual society, this article focuses on several areas of sociolinguistic concern. It discusses: (1) the bimodalism of the Japanese deaf population between Japanese Sign Language as native language and Japanese Spoken Language as acquired second language; (2)…

Much research and writing has been carried out in recent years in an attempt to account for and eliminate, or at least minimize, the poor performance of many Black, lower-socioeconomic status, urban children in our schools. This annotated bibliography lists articles, books, and papers that explore the theoretical frameworks employed to describe…

The contents of this book are organized in three main sections: Part 1, "Beginnings," includes three papers: "Some sociological determinants of perception,""A public language: some sociological implications of a linguistic form," and "Language and social class." Part 2, "Developments," includes four papers: "A review of 'The Lore and Language of…

Discusses the birthday notices that appear in the advertising section of the Papua New Guinea "Post Courier." The texts of these notices are analyzed from a sociolinguistic perspective, and their context is considered as a register of the variety of English that has become known as Papua New Guinea English. (Author/OD)

This book is the fifth in a series of publications concerning the position and role of language in a large metropolitan area. In this sociolinguistic description Detroit is chosen as a case study of a large Northern urban area which has shown a dramatic increase in its Negro population within the last half century. The primary goal of the study…

The speech habits of the most oppressed --and the largest-- segment of the black population in the United States did not spring solely from an inability to handle acceptable forms of spoken English, nor mainly from the limitations caused by the particular stock of words known to the speaker. Black slang stems from a somewhat disseminated rejection…

Teachers of culturally different students should not ridicule or verbally abuse their students, but should try to show them how the characteristics of formal English differ from urban Black English. They must be able to explain the appropriateness of standard English usage in certain situations, while they still maintain respect for the students'…

This study of lexical familiarity with black English for 324 African Americans, 266 whites, 21 Latino and "other", and 10 unidentified workers indicates that white industrial workers are more familiar with black English than are white white-collar workers. Black English is the core of an industrial lingua franca. (SLD)