This report examines the importance of an individual's linguistic capability and its impact on academic achievement. Main areas of examination include an historical perspective on linguistics, descriptions of formal linguistics and psycholinguistics and their role in understanding academic achievement, and the educational implications of linguistic stereotyping. Included within these examinations are descriptions of the subdivisions of linguistic study: phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Also discussed are the major areas of psycholinguistic investigation and their connections between language and thought, the acquisition of language by children, and language variations (subtle or gross differences within the same language such as pronunciation or accent) and their influence in academic success as well as the variables that can create these variations. Finally, it is noted that teachers' reactions to these variables can lead to the formation of initial expectations or academic predictions of the student without knowledge of the student's academic development. Such predilections can compromise the teacher's ability to offer all students an equally effective education. Contains 63 references. (GLR)