Sociolinguists have proposed various beginning reading approaches to remedy the reading problems of disadvantaged black children. Their programs reflect their theoretical biases concerning the nature of Black English and the type and degree of interference that may exist between the language of the Standard English (SE) text and the child's dialect. The "majority" approach to dialect-caused reading problems is bidialectal, which suggests that SE should be taught as a supplementary or alternative dialect without stigmatizing the child's indigenous speech. Linguists vary in their approaches to this method. Some suggest methods which focus on teaching SE prior to reading or in the lower grades; others opt for methods which permit the child to read the traditional material in his own dialect. Still others recommend that reading materials be altered to match the child's dialect. A more recent suggestion calls for a modification of dialect readers which avoid grammatical features not found in the child's dialect. Whatever the pedagogical justification, educators and linguists must be able to recognize how the community norms of interpretation are embodied in speech to avoid negative feedback from the community. (HOD)