Data collected in the course of conversations are used to compare some morpho-syntactic and discourse features of the language of non-English-speaking-background (NESB) and English-speaking-background (ESB) students and their parents. Particular emphasis is given to the processing task facing NESB children if addressed by their parents in "interlanguage" English, a form of English learned with individual rules that do not necessarily correspond to those rules commonly defined as grammatically acceptable. The NESB students' situation is examined in relation to that of their ESB peers. The kinds of educational strategies that might facilitate the language development of bilingual NESB students are discussed. A list of 12 references is included. (Author/MSE)