Because an instructor's attitude toward students' language is a crucial factor in determining whether students will be active participants in the educational process, it is important for teachers to be aware of dialect differences. Labelled by many as "nonstandard," Black English is a dialect derived from Gullah, a creole based on English and West African languages. Black English: (1) is not spoken by all Blacks all of the time--many Blacks are bidialectal; (2) shares many features with other dialects of English; and (3) is a legitimate linguistic system that has its own rules. Several studies, as well as classroom observation, reveal that teachers often fail to understand alternate dialects and allow dialect difference to interfere with their assessments of their students' abilities. For example, although a study of children and adults in two southern cities revealed that the pronunciation of "skr" for "str" is a common Black English dialect alternation, one student, a good reader, became deeply embarrassed when his teacher repeatedly corrected him during oral reading for pronouncing the "skr" alternation. This type of practice causes students to form negative attitudes about school. Teachers can help their students by understanding that all dialects are logical, rule-governed systems; being courteous and supportive; correcting only for meaning; pointing out the advantages of code switching; and serving as appropriate models. (Twenty-seven references are attached.) (ARH)