Discusses the contributions of Louise Bennett in depicting Jamaican folklore. (MM)

Any attempt to impose Black English on our schools as a separate language should be vigorously opposed. Institutionalizing Black English will only tend to create a further educational handicap for Black children. (Author)

Surveys the various representations of African American language found in contemporary children's picture books. Focuses on dialect, how varied African American language is, and how closely African American language is tied to the psychology of oppression. (TB)

Discusses the politics of English and suggests that English varieties of the inner city and the socially disenfranchised continue to be stigmatized by speakers of more esteemed varieties. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the need for a forum to discuss public issues related to language. Introduces three papers that focus on current language issues. (Author/VWL)

This study examined the production of African-American English (AAE) forms produced by 69 school-aged African-American children from middle socio-economic status (SES) communities to determine if age would influence: (a) the number of different types of AAE tokens and (b) the rate of dialect. Descriptive data revealed that there were more than 20…

While students generally recognize that racism exists on an individual level, the instructor's challenge is to both elucidate patterns of discrimination and to expose their corollary: unearned and unrecognized systemic privilege of the dominant group. Unaware that their sense of entitlement advantages them at the expense of people of color, some…

As the era of bilingualism increases in many states, African American children are some how being overlooked. There are many challenges for non-native Spanish speakers. Many of the school programs are focused on ESL (English as a Second Language), ELL (English Language Learner), or LEP (Limited English Proficiency) students. The authors provide…

"Teaching for Joy and Justice" is the much-anticipated sequel to Linda Christensen's bestselling, "Reading, Writing, and Rising Up." Christensen is recognized as one of the country's finest teachers. Her latest book shows why. Through story upon story, Christensen demonstrates how she draws on students' lives and the world to teach poetry, essay,…

The report of a study of junior high school students using a word association technique that demonstrated the existence of a linguistically distinct "Black English," which is quite diverse and is shared rather minimally by speakers not in contact with it. Educational implications of these findings are briefly discussed. (EH)

In response to Morrow's (CS 731 019) reflections on dialect interference, the author notes that those who want to find dialect interference in writing will always find it, and those who look for complex cultural codes will find those too. (HOD)

Proposes to establish the correct Black cultural perspective on the role and function of personal insults in sounding and the boundary between play and nonplay. Considers different cultural consequences that would stem from regarding personal insults to be part of verbal play or not, and shows similarity in the structure and function of…

Criticizes Herskovit's "Myth of the Negro Past" and Turner's "Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect" for their emphasis on trait diffusion, lack of any index of relative linguistic significance of specific items, failure to assess the importance of the dominant White culture, and failure to maintain historical and cultural…

Reviews studies relating to reading instruction for Black children. Points out several problems in methodology found in the studies. (FL)

Teacher attitude remains the crucial variable, and it spells success or failure for many students speaking Black English in the public schools. (Author/IRT)