This study investigated verbal behavior of five third-grade children representing three cultural groups: Afro-American, Afro-Caribbean, and white. Ten sessions involving various language arts activities were tape recorded over a five-week period; session 7 was also videotaped. Sessions 3 to 10 involved group interaction across three interaction patterns: adult-dominated, peer-dominated, and adult-balanced. Results indicated that children produced more complex speech when allowed to interact with each other, free of the dominance of an adult; that no particular type of culture was better able to deal with the language experiences than any other; that the presence of an adult in an autocratic role influenced the production of standard English constructions over black English vernacular; and that the black children were comfortable with standard English forms, although they tended to speak black English vernacular with white as well as with black children. (Author/AA)