Studied the perceptions of 55 African American undergraduates about Black English. Students identified as not having a committed Black identity evaluated Black English as lower in status than those students with a committed Black identity. Black English was not perceived as reflecting higher social solidarity. (SLD)

This study investigated the dialectal sensitivity of the T-unit as a nonbiased alternative for assessing the oral grammatical skills of school-age, nonstandard English speakers. Analysis of language samples from 28 9-year-old children (half African-American) revealed no significant differences between groups, suggesting that the T-unit may be a…

This paper reexamines the debate over the emergence of Black South African English (BSAE) as a variety of English that is institutionalized with distinct properties. It focuses on the tense logic in Bantu languages and discourse markers that chiefly account for uniquely BSAE features. Through an indepth analysis of these linguistic properties, the…

This is the first research handbook to address all dimensions of diversity that have an impact on literacy achievement. Leading experts examine how teaching and learning intersect with cultural and language differences and socioeconomic disparities in today's increasingly diverse schools and communities. The volume weaves compelling research…

"With the idea in mind that America will continue to move toward a truly democratic society, however slowly, the contributors of these eight articles and introduction examine the possibility that language and culture will eventually not be an impediment to fulfilling the idea that America is a democracy. Diversity is at the heart of today's…

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…

To be culturally valid, the characteristics identified by dialectologists as distinctive of black English must correspond to the terms members of the black community use to characterize their speech. Not all of the patterns that characterize black English within the dialectal framework are equal in their social or ethnic significance--the speech…

The research described here is part of a larger study dealing with the acquisition of language awareness in young children. (RM)

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)

Presents results of the application of the matched guise--a method requiring respondents to evaluate the personality traits of speakers whose tape-recorded voices are played to them--to a sample of bilingual Saint Lucians. Results indicate that Saint Lucian bilinguals have different evaluative reactions to their two languages, English and a French…

An examination of the language of the disadvantaged, particularly black dialect, exploring the conflicting views of the deficit and difference model theorists. The necessity of distinguishing between meaning and structure is emphasized as a potential avenue of reconciliation for the two divergent perspectives. (EH)

A bibliography on Black Americans contains over 450 citations of articles, papers, monographs, and books in seven categories: culture (language and customs); normal speech and language acquisition (theoretical framework, mother-child interaction, language community, form, content, usage, cognitive development); sociolinguistics (issues, dialect…

Examination of representative stories told by black American children of West African descent in South Carolina shows that specific cultural motifs have been preserved in the oral tradition of black communities. Typical stories are tales of the supernatural, such as the Hag story about mortals who shed their skin at night to do evil deeds.…

While a student's intimate speech is his own business; not teaching him to speak and write standard English will seriously handicap him in his future life. (JH)

Discusses a pilot program of an inservice workshop in language and communication in Georgia; the program was designed to determine if material about language and communication could be presented economically to teachers and if the program affected the teachers' attitudes. (Author/JM)