A group of 46 students from a remedial English workshop at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College were subjects in a study to determine whether linguistically oriented teaching methods more effectively corrected writing errors of black dialect speakers than traditional teaching methods (using "The MacMillan Handbook"). An effort was…

A report from the Educational Resources Information Center at the Center for Applied Linguistics; describes the bi-dialectal approach to second dialect acquisition; ERIC abstracts are included for documents pertinent to this topic. (SW)

The papers in this collection provide a brief state-of-the-art statement on the role of non-standard dialects of English in education and on some implications of the Ann Arbor decision. The following papers are included: (1) "Vernacular Black English: Setting the Issues in Time," by Roger W. Shuy; (2) "Beyond Black English:…

No evidence was found to indicate that grammatical reading interference is an important factor in the poor reading achievement of Black youngsters. (JH)

This paper first considers the inadequacy of definitions of dialect speech that are too rigid. Some of the ways in which dialect can influence the performance of children in school are discussed, and the notion that dialect is an indication of linguistic deficit is also considered. In the last part of the paper, the attitude of the Schools Council…

Both a theoretical framework and some practical suggestions are included in this book intended to help educators improve the teaching of writing to high school students who are native speakers of nonstandard English dialects. The first chapter includes a brief background on the problem of writing in American schools, with special focus on the…

Involving students in an active study of dialect differences will enhance their own self awareness and their knowledge and understanding of cultural diversity. (JH)

Designed to interpret and synthesize the existing research and related information about dialects for those people who are involved in teaching a standard English to speakers of other dialects, the information in this report is based on an analysis and synthesis of over 1,250 articles and reports dealing with dialects and dialect learning. The…

This monograph deals with one of the most difficult problems facing the schools--the language patterns which mark one social class from another. The "Cautionary Foreword" points out that teachers have long tried to "correct" the speech of students whose dialects were nonstandard, without much sense of how language is learned or…

This report is designed to aid the college instructor preparing prospective English teachers in the area of dialect studies. It includes a general description of the nature of dialect, teaching suggestions, and an extensive annotated bibliography. The articles which make up the report are as follows: "Historical, Regional and Social…

This article discusses the various dialects of English spoken in Liberia and analyzes the problems of Liberian students in writing compositions in English. Errors arise mainly from differences in culture and cognition, not from superficial linguistic problems. (CFM)