The dialects that college students speak represent a type of diversity that can influence many elements of their experiences in college, including academic experiences. In this study, we examined the influence of speaking a stigmatized dialect on academic experiences for White and African American students (both male and female) from rural…

This explanatory case study researched the writing experiences of 11 community college students who differed subculturally and who were all part of the African diasporic community. The theoretical perspectives used for this study were Arthur Chickering's (1969) classical concept of academic competence and community dialect theory (Baxter &…

Because the language of a multiple choice test is formal and often unfamiliar, certain linguistic features may lead a test-taker to misconstrue the test instructions, questions, or answers. When this happens, a shared understanding of meaning between tester and test-taker is not present, and the test results are invalid. Although this problem…

This document evaluates the effectiveness of the Los Angeles Unified School District's Academic English Mastery Program, a program designed to serve students whose lack of proficiency in standard American English is an impediment to academic performance. This study used random sampling, experimental and control groups, and three principle data…