It was hypothesized that prospective foreign language teachers would profess significantly more positive attitudes toward American English dialect differences than would prospective teachers of other subjects (English, mathematics, and social studies). The interaction of teacher attitudes and experience abroad, university attended, and urban…

Traces the history of the presence of black people's languages in Great Britain and also provides a contemporary perspective on current needs to define and articulate these language needs and to contribute toward the theory and development of language teaching, teacher training, and production of teaching material. (Author/CB)

It is unlikely that reading tests written in standard English can measure the verbal ability of nonstandard speakers. Phonological, syntactic, and lexical biases disproportionately place certain groups at a disadvantage and reinforce undesirable attitudes concerning language varieties. This can be remedied only when the society rids itself of…

Provides a detailed linguistic-stylistic analysis of a seven-year-old black child's "sharing time" narrative, a narrative clearly in the oral rather than the literate style. Discusses the danger of oral style children (often minorities) appearing incoherent to the teacher and being given less (and poorer quality) instructional time and…

Of the various theories about how to treat black dialects, the approach by way of appreciating dialect differences is now in favor. (JH)

This Powerpoint presentation argues that the problems encountered in implementing African-centered curriculum into the university composition classroom attest to the need for African centered education in kindergarten through university level educational institutions. The solution of the problem of African American students' disproportionate…

In this paper, the author/educator recalls a 1972 article that reviewed 11 books about the English to minorities. Over the years, teaching issues have been debated--one commonly discussed topic of the '90s being Ebonics. The author asserts that the public at large pays no attention to most academic writing. Exploitation of graduate students as…

Deals with some of the difficult questions that arise when one attempts to handle Black English in the context of helping children learn to read and write. (Author/JM)

Results of this research lead to a discussion of the possibility and implications of Negro nonstandard English being a distinct quasi-foreign" language system. (MB)

Analyzes fourteen conversations generated by five black children, ages six to eleven, from a lower socioeconomic group in Washington, D. C., which were recorded and transcribed in various settings involving adults of different races as interviewers. (JM)

Reports a study of the impact of teacher race on the performance of inner city high school students on a listening comprehension test. (JM)