Prator (1968) argued strongly for promoting a single standard of English, maintaining that schools have an obligation to teach a native standard of English. The assumption that the educational structure is a productive forum for directing language use is questioned. The report begins with a discussion of the controversy surrounding United States educators' response to Black English Vernacular in the 1960s and 1970s. The second part of the report discusses the implications of the United States' attention to dialect differences for the teaching of a particular standard of English on an international basis. It is suggested that classrooms should be forums for developing language awareness so that students can determine the value of a particular variety of English for their own circumstances, rather than forums to direct language change. (JL)