Interrelationships between productive oral proficiency in black dialect and in standard English and reading comprehension of passages differing in dialect and content were investigated in a sample of 98 sixth-grade black students. Results indicated that students were better readers as their oral patterns of speech were more representative of…

This study focused on the following questions involved in the implementation of the language experience approach: (1) Which tutor will produce the most effective responses? (2) What is the reality of the existence of a Black English vernacular syntax? and (3) Is there evidence of black-white linguistic overlap? Natural, transcribed conversations…

This study investigated the effect of black dialect upon the comprehension of standard reading material by using 50 third-grade students. A sentence repetition test was administered individually to each subject to select pupils for either the standard or the dialect group. Subjects were tested for oral comprehension and silent reading…

This study was designed to explore the role of the syntax of beginning readers' spoken language in their reading performance. In order to be able to isolate and manipulate the syntactic variable, two alternative forms of English, Standard English and Black English, were used. Sixty second-grade children participated in the study. Each child was…

Children who speak the black dialect usually are low classroom achievers. Teachers must understand differences between Black English (BE) and the reading text. This paper shows how black children experience difficulties with reading programs. Three basal reading series are analyzed. Initial Teaching Alphabet - phonics; Scientific Research…