The effect of processing information in standard and nonstandard English was investigated using an equivalent standard and nonstandard English passage as the stimulus. Eight literal and eight inferential questions derived from the passage were used as the index of comprehension. Two hundred Black students were randomly assigned by class to one of the eight treatment conditions. The experimenter was also Black. The design called for 25 subjects per cell. The conditions were: printed SS, SN, NS, NN, and auditory SS, SN, NS, NN (S=standard, N=nonstandard). An analysis of variance within groups with certain planned comparisons was carried out. A linear trend was also applied to the data. The results revealed four out of ten planned comparisons to be significant. The NN printed condition facilitated learning more than any other condition. The NN condition collapsed across sensory modes (printed and auditory) was found to facilitate retention more than any other collapsed combination. (Author)