Dialects in Schools and Communities

This book describes dialect differences in American English and their impact on education and everyday life. It explores some of the major issues that confront educational practitioners and suggests what practitioners can do to recognize students' language abilities, support their language development, and expand their knowledge about dialects. Issues addressed include: *popular concerns about the nature of language variation; *technical issues about the characteristic structures of different dialects; *various interactive patterns characteristic of social groups; *perceptions of declining standards for language and education and some of the ways in which language differences can be constructed as problems; *the school impacts of dialect differences in speaking, writing, and reading, including questions about teaching Standard English; and *the value of dialect education in schools to enable students to understand dialects as natural and normal language phenomena. Changesin the Second Edition: In this edition the authors reconsider and expand their discussion of many of the issues addressed in the first edition and in other of their earlier works, taking into account especially the research on dialects and publications for audiences beyond linguistics that have appeared since the first edition. This edition is offered as an updated, still-interim report on the state of language variation and education in the United States. Dialects in Schools and Communitiesis rooted in questions that have arisen in workshops, surveys, classes, discussion groups, and conversations with practitioners and teacher educators. It is thus intended to address important needs in a range of educational and related service fields. As an overview of current empirical research, it synthesizes current understandings and provides key referencesin this sense it is a kind of translation and interpretation in which the authors' goal is to bring together the practical concerns of educators and the vantage point of sociolinguistics. No background in linguistics or sociolinguistics is assumed on the part of the reader. This volume is intended for teacher interns and practicing teachers in elementary and secondary schools; early childhood specialists; specialists in reading and writing; speech/language pathologists; special education teachers; and students in various language specialties.

Preface	p. ix
Language Variation in America	p. 1
Issues and Definitions	p. 1
Popular Meanings of Dialect	p. 2
Accent and Dialect	p. 3
Levels of Language Differences	p. 4
Sources of Dialect Difference: Region and Social Class	p. 5
Language Standards	p. 7
Language, Logic, and Language Complexity	p. 11
Standard English	p. 13
Dialects and Understanding	p. 15
Deficit Versus Difference	p. 17
Cultural Differences	p. 20
Multiple Dialects in Schools	p. 21
Language Attitudes in Society	p. 22
Dialect Change in the United States	p. 27
Further Study	p. 28
Exploring Dialects	p. 30
Dialect Study	p. 30
Considering Social Factors	p. 31
Examining Particular Patterns	p. 33
Variation in Linguistic Systems	p. 36
Pronunciation Differences	p. 37
Regional Dialects	p. 38
Social Dialects	p. 39
Grammar Differences	p. 43
Suffixes	p. 43
Other Differences in the Verb System	p. 46
Other Grammatical Differences	p. 48
Illustrative Dialect Samples	p. 49
Appalachian Ghost Story	p. 49
Wild Life	p. 50
Notes on Transcripts	p. 52
Vocabulary Differences	p. 55
Vocabulary Matters Across Dialects	p. 56
African American English	p. 58
The Origins of African American English	p. 59
The Changing State of African American English	p. 60
Dialect or Language?	p. 61
Further Study	p. 62
Social Interaction	p. 63
Conversational Politeness	p. 64
Making Meaning	p. 66
Cooperation in Communicating	p. 67
The Role of Context in Making Meaning	p. 57
Figurative Language in Context	p. 69
Language Rituals	p. 70
Conversational Misadventures	p. 71
Cultural Styles in the Classroom	p. 73
Understanding Students' Language Behavior	p. 77
Researching Classroom Interaction	p. 78
Data Collection	p. 78
Data Analysis	p. 79
Living With Language Behavior Differences	p. 81
Classroom Rules	p. 81
Further Study	p. 84
Interpreting Language Difference	p. 86
Perceptions of Language Standards	p. 87
Are Students' Language Skills Declining?	p. 89
Diversity and Test Scores	p. 89
Differences and Disorders	p. 90
Language at Home and at School	p. 92
Early Literacy	p. 93
Dialect Differences and Curriculum Content	p. 94
Further Study	p. 97
Oral Language Instruction	p. 98
Standard English and Social Reality	p. 98
Group Reference and Dialect Learning	p. 99
Positions on Dialects and Dialect Education	p. 100
Policy Development	p. 103
Curriculum Development	p. 104
Methods of Teaching Spoken Standard English	p. 108
Promoting Language Development	p. 110
Further Study	p. 111
Dialects and Writing	p. 113
Oral and Written Language	p. 113
Vernacular Dialect and Writing	p. 115
Vernacular Influence in Writing	p. 115
Difference and Error in Written Language	p. 116
Teaching Writing	p. 117
Editing	p. 119
Approaches to Editing	p. 119
Peer Editing	p. 120
Writing in the Vernacular Dialect	p. 120
Choosing the Vernacular	p. 121
Dialogue Journals	p. 121
Assessment of Writing Ability	p. 122
Further Reading	p. 124
Language Variation and Reading	p. 125
Written Language and Spoken Language	p. 126
What Do Teachers Need to Know About Dialects to Teach Reading?	p. 127
Language Form	p. 127
Beyond Language Form	p. 129
Teaching Children to Relate Sound and Print	p. 130
Effects of Dialect Differences on Reading Aloud	p. 131
Dialects and Meaning-Based Reading Instruction	p. 132
Teaching Children to Comprehend Text	p. 133
Vocabulary	p. 134
Comprehension Strategies	p. 134
Background Knowledge and Comprehension	p. 135
Reading Materials and Dialect Differences	p. 136
Matching Materials and Dialects	p. 136
Dialect Readers	p. 136
Language Experience	p. 138
Vernacular Dialect for Rhetorical Purpose	p. 139
Reading and the Acquisition of Standard English	p. 139
The Social Context of Reading	p. 140
Reading Tests and Dialect Differences	p. 141
Pronunciation, Grammar, and Vocabulary Differences	p. 142
Background Knowledge	p. 143
Other Fairness Factors	p. 148
Further Reading	p. 150
Dialect Awareness for Students	p. 151
Resources for Learning About Dialects	p. 153
Working With Data	p. 154
Dialect Awareness	p. 156
Introduction to Language Diversity	p. 156
Levels of Dialect	p. 157
The Patterning of Dialect	p. 166
Language Change	p. 179
Implementing Dialect Awareness Curricula	p. 181
Further Study	p. 186
An Inventory of Distinguishing Dialect Features	p. 187
Phonological Features	p. 188
Consonants	p. 188
Vowels	p. 191
Grammatical Features	p. 195
Adverbs	p. 201
Negation	p. 203
Nouns and Pronouns	p. 205
Other Grammatical Structures	p. 208
References	p. 209
Author Index	p. 217
Subject Index	p. 221
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Dialects in Schools and Communities

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