Examines the literature on the language of working-class Black children, and emphasizes the need for a new framework for research. Describes research being conducted within such a revised framework (by the Center for Applied Linguistics), which focuses on analysis of stages in acquiring the total Black English system instead of focusing only on…

Reviews significant research into child Black English, describes some of the controversies raised by that research, and offers some implications for teaching suggested by the research. (FL)

Suggests a holistic approach to the language of Black people involving theory and research, policy and planning, and implementation and practice, the ultimate aim of which is knowledge for liberation. (DD)

Discusses various quantitative and qualitative techniques used to examine nonlinguists' beliefs about language, focusing on content-orientated approaches to conversations with African Americans about African American Vernacular English. Approaches to discoursal meaning based on vantage theory and argument analysis are also considered. (MDM)

In a case study investigation of six black college freshmen from low socio-economic and black nonstandard English-speaking backgrounds, it was found that, as hypothesized, the students reflected in their writing a performance capability in standard English sufficient to render them functionally bidialectal. For these students, certain hypothesized…

The stated purpose of this discussion is to examine the rationale of the language cognitive deficit model used to describe the educationally disadvantaged black -- a model which assumes that Black English lacks the organization and logic characterizing Standard Spoken English -- and to argue that the model is irrelevant to both educational…

This paper makes three arguments reaffirming the overwhelming complexities inherent in any real history of the language of blacks in North America. (1) Although the study of black English, however that term may be defined, is desirable in itself and was profitable for white linguists during the 1960s and early 1970s, it did not and never will do…

Reported here is the work of two linguists, William Labov and Paul Cohen, and of two black researchers who know the culture of the inner city, Clarence Robins and John Lewis. Together they explore certain aspects of Black English vernacular (BEV) and certain political and cultural aspects of the black community. Part 1 (chapters 1-4) deals with…

Analyzes 10 theoretical approaches to Black language studies. Divides these into two categories: those that deny the existence of a separate Black language and those that recognize a distinct form of communication. Examines the relationship between language and politics and Black scholars' self-determination as cultural factors influencing…

The proposition that education affects dialect to a significant degree is examined. The findings leave doubt whether an educational differential is adequate to explain the maintenance of dialect differences between ethnic groups. (Author/RM)

Preliminary version of this paper was given at the 1968 winter meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, New York City, based upon work supported by the Office of Education as a Cooperative Research Project. (VM)

Presents evidence against the "deficit" interpretation of Black dialect and argues instead for at least one version of the "difference" hypothesis. (FL)

Reviews the rationale for and programmatic structure of two experimental language awareness programs and discusses some of the ethical issues requiring consideration in the implementation of such programs. These ethical considerations include the ethics of persuasion and need, the ethics of representation, the ethics of socio-educational change,…

Provides an overview of current research on grammatical, phonological, semantic, and pragmatic development in African American English child language, as opposed to adult or adolescent language, and discusses the implications of these findings for professionals involved in second-dialect instruction, speech-language assessment, or intervention…