To explore some of the ways in which notions of grammaticality reflected in secondary English language textbook series affect a student's acquisition of standard English and his attitude toward language, (1) statements which authors of widely-used textbooks made about standard English and why it is taught in the schools were compared with comments…

Papers of the special study institute on Special Language Programming for Exceptional Children with Language Disorders focus on the following objectives: delineation of the development and functions of language as related to special language problems, clarification of the role of the speech and language specialist, and establishment of guidelines…

This third section of the research project, "The Syntax of Contemporary Brazilian Portuguese," presents a descriptive and historical survey of the evolution of the language. Included in the work are: (1) a summary of historical concern with this subject reflecting literary and linguistic interest, (2) classification and discussion of…

The recent work by sociolinguists is more accurate for consideration of urban dialects than is the analysis provided in the "Linguistic Atlas" materials. The sociolinguists' work shows that the use of nonstandard phonological and grammatical features varies according to one's socioeconomic status, ethnic background, speech context, age,…

Two lower socioeconomic groups (one black and one white) from the inner city and a third group of white children from a middle socioeconomic suburban area of Chicago were studied to delineate and compare the usage of selected language structures among children of different social and ethnic backgrounds. Usage of each of the test structures was…

The papers collected in this volume support the theory that the language skills of the dialectically different child can form a solid matrix upon which a viable reading/learning environment can be organized. Chapters under the section "Focusing on the Problem" discuss nonstandard dialect problems and make some observations on cognition and…

Standard English must be considered as a language that can and should be learned and used by any human who finds it advantageous to do so, but which has no more exotic and virtuous qualities than any other language or dialect. The teacher of standard English to speakers of Black English should be aware of the kinds of language skills that children…

The teacher working with second-dialect students requires knowledge of the phonology used by his students to deal, not primarily with their pronunciation problems, but, with their reading and writing problems. In language classrooms, priority should be given to the aspects of language used by children that identify them as nonstandard speakers.…

The collection of eight conference papers on problems of auditory, visual, and speech handicaps begins with a review of what is known about deaf-blind children and early development. Following papers are devoted to spontaneous vocalization and babbling in aurally handicapped infants, psychological synergism (an approach to consideration of…

Standards, like schools and the teaching profession, are inherently undemocratic.

Destructive notions about the relations between social class dialects and cognitive ability are still current in teacher education programs in Britain and the United States.

Revised version of a paper presented to the 1972 TESOL Convention in Washington, D.C. (DD)

Revised version of a paper presented at the Wisconsin Symposium on Linguistic Perspectives on Black English, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, May 1970. Special issue on Black Dialect: Historical and Descriptive Issues'' edited by William A. Stewart. (RS)

The goal of instruction in standard spoken usage should not be to modify the student's language behavior by rejecting his nonstandard dialect, but to work with him to expand his competencies on the base of his present linguistic competence. (JM)