Curriculum development in the United States has been based on the assumption that white middle-class values should serve as the standard for all of American society, but there is a need for courses in Afro-American communication which depart from traditional standards and categories of speech communication curricula. They should reflect concern…

The twenty-three contributors to this volume show that, despite racism, American blacks have independently developed some of their own cultural strengths. If these are correctly harnessed, they could provide important resources for the revitalization and development of the black community. The four parts of which this book is comprised are: (1)…

Among the papers presented at the 15th Annual Convention of the International Reading Association were the 16 included in this volume. The papers, all dealing with relationships between language and linguistics and reading, reflect both a wide range of opinion on the subject and considerable variety of focus. The six research reports are all…

Stories relating to life experiences were tape-recorded in an informal setting using natural language patterns and familiar topics in this study of peer-prepared reading materials for black adults. Three of the stories were written at different levels of difficulty according to the Automated Readability Index (ARI). The stories were presented to a…

Among the papers presented at the 15th Annual Convention of the International Reading Association were the 16 included in this volume. The papers, all dealing with relationships between language and linguistics and reading, reflect both a wide range of opinion on the subject and considerable variety of focus. The six research reports are all…

This research is an attempt to determine the relative influence of Black English and Puerto Rican Spanish in the speech of Puerto Ricans raised contiguous to the black community in Harlem. The first chapter provides a general introduction to the study of this variety of Puerto Rican English and a description of the sample on which this study is…

This study investigated verbal behavior of five third-grade children representing three cultural groups: Afro-American, Afro-Caribbean, and white. Ten sessions involving various language arts activities were tape recorded over a five-week period; session 7 was also videotaped. Sessions 3 to 10 involved group interaction across three interaction…

Much research and writing has been carried out in recent years in an attempt to account for and eliminate, or at least minimize, the poor performance of many Black, lower-socioeconomic status, urban children in our schools. This annotated bibliography lists articles, books, and papers that explore the theoretical frameworks employed to describe…

Analysis of essays by Black students in an urban community college demonstrates that some errors in adult Black students' writing cannot be analyzed merely within the traditional hierarchy of rules for writing. Consideration of sociological factors is germane to an evaluation of students' writing ability. (BJV)

William Labov says that the linguistics deficit theory is incorrect. He interviewed Larry, who speaks nonstandard Negro English (NNE), and Charles, a speaker of standard English, and concluded that NNE is clear, concise, and logical and that standard English is mainly characterized by its verbosity. This article critiques that interview. (RM)

Compares the reading comprehension and accuracy and listening comprehension of West Indian and English children living in England and having equivalent intellectual abilities. Finds no significant differences between the cultural groups. (FL)

Repudiates the theory that black dialect has African origins. Supports the British Isles influence theory. (FL)

Reports on a study of five multicultural third grade students' responses to literature across the interaction patterns of adult-dominated, peer-dominated, and adult-balanced social situations. Concludes that a direct relationship exists between the structure of the social interaction pattern and its consequence in verbal behavior. (FL)

Examined African American students' perceptions of African Americans who used Black English (BE) as opposed to those who used Standard English (SE). In contrast to results of previous studies with adults, these 96 junior high school students from the southern United States thought the BE speaker was more likable and competent than the SE speaker.…

Examines debates involving three speech communities in the United States: standard English, Black English, and Spanish. The analysis focuses on languages in which electoral activities take place and in which public school instruction is conducted. The major American ideologies of language are similar in their denial of linguistic inequality.…