Studies the impact of children's verbal style, age, and sex, on social perception and concludes that the speaker with a dialect most similar to the listener will be perceived as the most credible. (MH)

Educators must begin to take folk language seriously. Many of the situations in our classrooms are set up within unrealistic language frames because teachers are intimidated by code switching and because there is too little information about when and why people switch speech styles. (Author/WI)

Refutes Chomsky and Halle's (1968) analyses of Early Middle and Middle English, and presents an alternative analysis based on phonetic facts rather than underlying assumptions. (AM)

It is suggested that questions which have been asked in research addressed to efforts to improve black children's reading have been unsatisfactory. The literature on reading problems in black children is examined for theoretical and ethnic relevance. (Author/GC)

Measures of abstract reasoning ability, degree of bidialectism, and reading performance were administered to Black, inner-city third and fifth graders. Abstract reasoning ability significantly affected reading performance while expressive proficiency in Standard English and Black English did not significantly affect scores. The importance of…

Based on taped samples of the students' speech, 68 white elementary school teachers rated subjects on personality, quality of response, and current and future academic abilities. Black students, Black English-speaking students and unattractive students were rated consistently lower. Academic failure may result from evaluations based on race and…

The various influences on educational performance, and, in particular, the influence of language are examined in relation to under-achievement of West Indian children in British schools. (Author/RK)

Problems encountered in the teaching of Spanish to bilingual Spanish-speaking students are discussed. The implications of teaching the standard dialect of Spanish are considered, and a normative approach to language instruction is compared to a comprehensive language development program. (CLK)

Postscores provide evidence that the phonological patterns of black college students can be improved significantly as a result of speech remediation techniques. However, these remediation techniques do not seem to affect self concept either positively or negatively. (Author/AM)

A survey of 64 University of New Mexico undergraduates examined their attitudes toward the different varieties of Spanish and the use of Spanish. (HP)

Results show that nonstandard and Hawaiian English speakers' comprehension was easier and more accurate with the nonstandard than the standard English stories and the standard English speakers' comprehension was easier and more accurate with the standard than the nonstandard English stories. (Author/DEP)

Provides a basis for designing an instructional program through an analysis of oral reading errors of second grade remedial readers in Hawaii. (MB)

Four hypotheses explaining the origin of Berbice Dutch, a Dutch-based Creole language spoken in the county of Berbice in Guyana, are explored. The most likely explanation is that the language was first spoken by Berbice slaves as a means of expressing the identity of a newly created "ethnic" group. (Author/CB)