This study investigated relationships between residential segregation in a large urban area and selected auditory discrimination and phonics skills among 240 lower and middle class Negro, Puerto Rican, and White fourth graders. Two tests were developed and taped specifically for use with earphones in this study: a 41-item Auditory Discrimination…

Analyzes fourteen conversations generated by five black children, ages six to eleven, from a lower socioeconomic group in Washington, D. C., which were recorded and transcribed in various settings involving adults of different races as interviewers. (JM)

This transcript of and guide to a two-cassette course designed to assist New Yorkers in erasure of their accents can be used for either individual or group study. Narrative and taped demonstrations of Standard American English that pinpoint typical phonological barriers and pronunciation difficulties are outlined. The author's own system of…

The City University of New York is an ideal home for the doctoral training center in urban and applied linguistics since it is located in an area with a large number of non-English speakers demonstrating varied dialect forms, immigrant groups from many countries, and individuals representing all economic and social levels. In addition, there are…

This study explored whether statistically significant differences exist between the (1) grammatical structures produced by high, average, and low black, inner-city elementary readers as measured by a language competency task; and (2) whether statistically significant interactions occur between reading achievement levels and the age of the child,…

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,…

Detailed study of Detroit-area adolescents provides explanations for the spread of sound change outward from urban areas and upward through the socioeconomic hierarchy. Social network structure, orientation to the urban area, and phonology are contrasted for the two adolescent social categories, "Jocks" (middle class) and…

This article presents an analysis of errors found in writing samples produced by Black children in urban schools. Errors influenced by Black-English oral usage, hypercorrections, and morphologic errors influenced by Black-English speech patterns are focused upon. (Author/DF)

The goal of instruction in standard spoken usage should not be to modify the student's language behavior by rejecting his nonstandard dialect, but to work with him to expand his competencies on the base of his present linguistic competence. (JM)

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)

"Ebonics II" is the position that there is no significant gap between black and standard English but that teaching standard English as a foreign language would alleviate the stigma attached to black English. Acknowledging black English and promoting Afrocentric curricula while teaching standard English would overcome the resistance many children…

Examines the concept of linguistic legitimacy (and illegitimacy) using three specific cases--Black English, American Sign Language, and Esperanto. The paper argues that legitimacy is grounded more on personal, political, and ideological biases than on linguistic criteria. (SM)

This study examined the complex syntax production of 45 pre-school-aged African American boys and girls from urban, low income homes. Results provide quantitative descriptions of amounts of complex syntax and suggest a potential positive relationship between amounts of complex syntax and amounts of nonstandard English form usage in the children's…

To discover whether increased exposure to and understanding of figurative uses of language would result in improved performance on a metaphorical language comprehension test, gains were measured on a figurative language test that was administered twice, approximately four months apart, to a total of 319 elementary school children in Harlem, New…