This article raises the reality of English as a naturally variant and fluid language inseparable from culture. The author addresses the tensions teachers face in the classroom when they make decisions about how African American students should use their language.

The author explores the racial and cultural ideologies that inform what it means to be Black in the United States and how this mainstream framing of Blackness intersects with teacher preparedness to engage Black textual expressions in the classroom.

Deborah Vriend Van Duinen and Marilyn J. Wilson confront normalized notions of "correct" English. They offer suggestions for teaching about marginalized voices and introducing students to the complexities of English dialect variations. (Contains 1 figure.)

Schools should provide opportunities for students, especially Black students, to become knowledgeable about their language system and culture. (JH)

Traces the history of the controversy about teaching Black children standard English. Argues that all students need to learn standard English, regardless of home environment, parental education, or racial background. (RL)

A wide-ranging discussion with William Labov, a sociolinguist interested in the study of nonstandard dialects, especially Black English dialect. (DD)

Ten teachers comment on the Ann Arbor (Michigan) court case concerning language bias in the schools. (RL)

Urges teachers to deal with one problem at a time in students' papers when attempting to get nonstandard speakers to write standard English. (DD)

An American English teacher argues that the teachers should value students' home language and use it to help them become more effective rhetoricians. She offers five steps that an educator should take to help the students, some of them being to educate one in order to understand AAVE (African American Vernacular English), to incorporate…

Presents first a short article, "Response to the Issue of Ebonics," written by a Pennsylvania high school student. Follows this with an article, "Building Bridges to the 'Language of Wider Communication'" which reflects on ways of using the language children bring to the classroom as a means of building bridges to wider…

Various risks involved in teaching Standard English and the role that a dialect could play while teaching it more effectively are discussed. Some of the general principles and specific strategies are given for respecting the language of students' homes while helping them gain a mastery in Standard English and participate in the democratic…

A Five-Point Program for teaching English in the inner city... based on the real needs of the Black ghetto student. (Author)

Argues that literature teachers should select poetry that represents all ethnic groups, not only groups represented within the class anthology. Discusses the voice, theme, rhyme, rhythm, tone, and imagination of several gifted Black poets. Concludes that teachers must be aware of these voices and use the poetry of gifted Black poets to model the…