Does not support the hypothesis that "sounding Black" predisposes White listeners to respond more negatively than "sounding White," regardless of content. Partially supports the hypothesis that "sounding Black" predisposes White listeners (1) to describe the speaker in stereotypic terms and (2) to respond negatively…

This study investigated the roles of both belief similarity and dialect style on white subjects' attitudes and nonverbal behaviors toward black or white people in a face to face interaction. The experimental design consisted of six cells defined by two levels of belief similarity crossed by three levels of the race and dialect manipulations (white…

This study investigated differences in the writing styles of African American and European American test takers using a portfolio entry assessment as a means of examining writing style, focusing on language choice, rhetorical style, and organization. The portfolio entry was from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Middle…

A study focused attention on the academic personas acquired by two AAVE-oriented (African American Vernacular English) beginning writers as reflected by their speech in informal settings and the style they employed in academic tasks. The study explores the degree to which literacy experiences (home and school) affect students' lives. It was guided…

The language of Black America is rich and diverse in its utterance, whether through music (Jazz, Blues, Soul, Gospel, and Rap), through street corner "shuckin''n jivin'," or through writing. This language is used as a means of survival, of getting from one day to the next. Blacks have developed a system of taking the fewest words and…

A study investigated the speaking styles of black college students to determine whether selected stylistic features of speeches of students at a predominantly black university were different from those of black college students at a predominantly white university. Audiotapes were made of 25 students at the predominantly black university and 21…

Working on the assumption that listeners would be more convinced and persuaded by a speaker with whom they could identify, a study asked black and white college students to evaluate a speaker with a black or white dialect, introducing them to an innovation in mathematics. Half of the black subjects were randomly assigned to listen to a black…

This course is designed to give university students an introduction to the varying social and cultural backgrounds of students in inner city communities. Materials in the areas of literature, music, and history are assigned and presented to these future teachers. Class presentations are used to help students to broaden their perspectives and…

A study explored the relationship between oral and written patterns produced by a group of black college freshmen enrolled in remedial writing classes. Forty students were asked to produce, in formal language style, both oral and written summaries of a reading selection. The data were analyzed to determine (1) the extent to which patterns,…

Although the black poet Melvin B. Tolson is recognized and respected by other poets and critics, he is unknown both to students and to the general reading public. This paper points out that the key to understanding Tolson's poetry, and much of the poetry coming out of black America, is his use of language. The paper examines one of Tolson's major…

The purpose of this study was to change preservice teachers' attitudes toward black English in a positive way. The students were shown that the deep structure of black English and standard English is the same; it is only the surface structures of the two dialects that exhibit variations. Pre-test data garnered from the control group and the…

The debate about the use of Black English has been raging for many years, with no real solutions and few practical suggestions to help teachers and African-American students handle the situation in the classroom. Tensions are often heightened by misconceptions about Standard English--that it is a White man's language and necessary for success and…

A study of the relationship of teacher attitudes toward and comprehension of Black English examined certain characteristics of a group of university graduate students in education in relation to their self-evaluations of Black English comprehension, stated attitudes, and types of interpretation errors. The characteristics of graduate students…

To advocate the work of Gregory Bateson, especially his Double-Bind theory, this paper describes how the theory can be applied to particular instances and to the general experience of black students in a predominantly white, authoritarian college setting. The paper argues that miscues on the part of black students in the classroom and in writing…

The articles in this journal issue explore various aspects of the teaching of composition. Topics include the types of activities and research that rhetoricians will be doing in the future, areas in which composition research is needed, dealing with dialect differences in the composition classroom, and helping students to develop their writing…