A review of ethnographic research investigated issues associated with regional or dialectal language use, particularly the use of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in the special education classroom, and noted the implications for research and classroom practice. Research with speech/language pathologists is under way to develop a regionally normed profile of AAVE for more accurate assessment. Study of classroom interaction, which determined that students use standard and non-standard English alternates in patterned ways, suggests that a more important issue is the infrequent opportunities for extended academic talk, the linguistic register of success at school and beyond. Teachers are currently being trained in interactive instructional strategies to enhance academic talk, and curriculum materials designed to recontextualize language and dialect varieties as cultural resources rather than social problems are being developed. Because disproportionate numbers of AAVE speakers are enrolled in special education programs, further research on language issues for vernacular dialect speakers and development of a multifaceted approach to language differences that considers broad sociocultural and specific sociolinguistic factors are strongly recommended. (Contains 32 references). (MSE)