Suggests some reasons why the exploration and description of language function is often an untidy exercise but, none-the-less very rewarding and rich in implication for English teaching. (Author/RK)

This literature review provides evidence of dialect interference in black children's performance on oral reading, but large gaps exist in knowledge about Black English and the task of reading. The evidence of dialect interference in reading is equivocal at present, and the educational alternatives considered here are seen as premature. (RC)

A questionnaire given to students and teachers of English in grades 9, 10, 12 and first-semester university students revealed that 70 percent rated most difficult the difference between English /s/ and /z/, and in fact all voiced-unvoiced consonant contrasts. Twenty-two percent mentioned intonation. Swabian dialect interference was considered.…

Catherine Prendergast challenges compositionists to investigate how privileging whiteness perpetuates racism in the classroom. In response to Prendergast's challenge, this paper examines the "white ground" of composition classes by complying with Ian Marshall and Wendy Ryan's suggestion to "look closely at how the "politics of…

Twenty texts in the Chinese dialect of Shanghai city are presented as a tool for those familiar with some dialect of Chinese who are learning this variety. The texts, recorded as spontaneous speech, were originally collected for grammatical analysis and have been revised somewhat for print form. They are arranged in approximate order of…

Educators are concerned with the dual needs of students: the need to read and write effectively and coherently, the need to use standard grammar and punctuation, and the need to communicate effectively using what is called standard English. Unless teachers devise methods to assist students from different backgrounds in becoming proficient, society…

This paper examines factors impacting the acquisition and use of the standard dialect by Australia's Aboriginal youth. It explains that acquisition of a second dialect has implications for the learner's cognitive-affective and sociocultural life and argues that preservation of an "insider" perspective (related to identity) is a key…

Principles of rural sociology and interpersonal communication provide the foundation for a study of "Gullah" culture. The Gullahs are a group of African Americans living along the southwestern U.S. coastal territory. Gullah culture began to evolve with the enslavement of African people in the Sea Islands off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia,…

A study analyzed the use of six nonstandard linguistic variables by eight adolescent and eight adult African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), each group equally divided into males and females, from Muncie, Indiana. The study was designed to investigate whether occupation, a social variable, also determines AAVE speakers' use of nonstandard…

Educators have become so involved with delivering the curricula that they fail to acknowledge "how" they deliver the curricula. This paper considers the different forms of verbal and nonverbal communications in the classroom, cultural communications in the classroom, and communication enhancers for the classroom--issues which are major…

Since the 1996 Oakland School Board decision regarding the use of Ebonics as a tool of instruction, opinions have clashed over whether Ebonics is a separate language or merely a dialect of English. Called Black Vernacular English (BVE) in the 1960s and 70s, African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in the 1980s and 90s, (called…

An Historical Analysis of black speeches which indicates the failure of rhetorical appeals to values to effectively persuade an audience. (DD)

A guide to a college course on black rhetoric, containing objectives, a subject outline, learning activities, evaluation methods, student reading materials and audio-visual aids, and a 24 item bibliography. (DD)

Significant correlations, especially between the black and white groups, and black and Hispanic groups, indicate that all groups show similar types of non-standard English usage and generally with the same frequency. (Author)