Article based on research supported by a National Institute of Mental Health grant. (VM)

Based on author's doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin. (Editor)

The study examines origins of the usage patterns of "be" forms (conjugated and invariant forms of the copula) in Black English as they developed over a period of about 30 years. The corpus studied consists of selected interviews from a collection of recordings about Hoodoo, conjuration, witchcraft, and rootwork made by a white priest with almost…

An investigation is reported which was designed to determine to what extent second generation male West Indians have accommodated to local white speech norms in the city of Cardiff. (RM)

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE INFLUENCE OF PHONETIC, SYNTACTIC, AND SEMANTIC DIALECT DIFFERENCES ON COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PERSONS FROM DIFFERENT DIALECT COMMUNITIES. THE THREE HYPOTHESES UPON WHICH THE STUDY WAS BASED STATED THAT PHONETIC, SYNTACTIC, AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF DIALECT DIFFERENCES WOULD EACH CONTRIBUTE TO…

The use of "have,""got,""have got," and alternate forms was investigated in the speech of Anglo and black grade-school children from lower and middle income neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Techniques were devised to elicit multiple occurrences of the construction, including questions and negatives. One technique used was a convergent communication…

The relationships between Southern Negro dialect exposure, age, reading ability, and auditory discrimination were studied. The subjects were 112 students randomly selected from grades 2 and 4 from two elementary schools in Richmond and Martinez, California. The predominant speech pattern at one school was Southern Negro dialect; at the other…

This study describes the segmental phonemes of five 4-year-old speakers of Black English, and analyzes both their language development and ethnic characteristics. The study group of Negro children, born and living in Washington, D.C., came from homes that met two of three specified criteria based on the mother's education and family income. The…

Recently much linguistic research has been amassed on black language. With rare exceptions, this linguistic research has been directed to the lower working-class members of the black community. The language of blacks who are not lower class, on the other hand, has been summarily ignored, resulting in the middle-class black protest against the…

This project was initiated in response to the science and mathematics language needs of Sea Island students who speak African-American dialects. Research has indicated that there appears to be a relationship between dialect diversity and academic success. In response, the program's goals were to identify students who exhibited dialect/language…

Report of research findings on productive language differences in beginning fifth grade Black children living in Philadelphia, as evidenced by their use of nonstandard syntactic forms in both speech and writing. (RB)

A preprint from a forthcoming pamphlet of the National Conference on Research in English. (Editor/RD)

This paper attempts an overview of language attitude studies through consideration of their history and theoretical basis. Studies of students' language attitudes are examined before a more extensive review is made of teachers' language attitudes, especially their attitudes toward the language of West Indian and Black American students.…

Concludes that dialect speakers' miscues do not significantly influence their ability to comprehend print material when they are asked to read material at their instructional level. (FL)

Traces historical, linguistic, and educational contexts for the Oakland School Board resolution. Suggests the resolution is a sensible extension of the linguistic and cultural history of the African-American community, a reasonable implementation of research and theory, and an intrinsic desire of parents to have their children's teachers acquire…