Dialects in Schools and Communities

This book describes dialect differences in American English and their impact on education and everyday life. This resource is intended for use by teacher interns and practicing teachers in elementary and secondary education, specialists in reading and writing, speech/language pathologists, and special education teachers. In most of these fields, information about dialects is considered to be an important part of professional preparation, but until now, there has been no text specifically designed to address this need. Practitioners and students of education will find this volume indispensable to understanding the central principles of dialect diversity and to addressing dialect differences in instruction.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface. Language Variation in the United States. Exploring Dialects. Communicative Interaction. Language Difference Does Not Mean Language Deficit. Oral Language Instruction. Dialects and Written Language. Language Variation and Reading. Dialect Awareness for Students. Appendix: A Selective Inventory of Vernacular.

Review :
"This updated and expanded version of Wolfram and Christian's (1989) collaboration, 'Dialects and Education,' is (continues to be) a wonderful resource for teachers or would-be teachers (particularly teachers of English or language arts)..." —Linguist List "This book is something we've needed for a long time. It lays out what everyone, the public as well as professionals in all fields--should understand about dialects and dialect differences in our increasingly diverse encounters. It is written with technical sophistication, wise judgment, and a clear style, with rich examples that make it accessible to students and clinicians." —Language in Society "...this book...is one of the most remarkable treatises ever written on the theme of dialects in education and society. For a very long time, most discussion about language and dialects has been largely confined to the academic arena. Fortunately, this book attempts to break that tradition; it is written in very straightforward language. However, researchers and language teachers will benefit immensely from reading this book. Rather than delineate dialect variation as deficit, it celebrates it. In fact, it challenges educators to utilize their students' diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds in the learning process." —American Language Review "This book is something we've needed for a long time. It lays out what everyone--the public as well as professionals in all fields--should understand about dialects and dialect differences in our increasingly diverse encounters. It is written with technical sophistication, wise judgement, and a clear style, with rich examples that make it accessible to students and clinicians....The end of the 1997 position statement of the American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL) on "application of dialect knowledge to education"...reads: "Members of the AAAL should seek ways and means to better communicate the theories and principles of the field to the general public on a continuing basis."This volume superbly carries out that mandate." —Language in Society "Teachers will find this book useful both for self-study and teaching. The linguist-authors introduce nonspecialist readers to the rich landscape of local and parochial ways of speaking that still exist in the United States, despite the uniforming pressures from the language of the national media and leveling effects on language of induvidual mobility." "I know of no other book to so thoroughly address issues related to the theory and practice of dealing with dialect in English and the language arts. It is all the more valuable because the authors see their audience as teachers in these areas (as well as others) who are in environments where the questions presented in this text arise constantly....The issues surrounding any consideration of dialect in the context of education and schooling are well articulated and the authors cover all of the bases of which I am currently aware." —Margo A. Figgins University of Virginia "A Because teaching and learning occur through language, teachers need a broad understanding of language variation and how it affects curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Adger, Wolfram, and Christian have made knowledge about language variation accessible and provide tools for teachers to use in gaining a deeper understanding of the languages and cultures of their own students. Teachers who care about educational equity and diversity will find the book important to their work." David Bloome, The Ohio State University "A There are still widespread myths and negative attitudes about dialect variations in student language. This second edition of an already classic text can help all students become confidently bi-dialectal but only if all teachers, coaches, and professional developers B across the curriculum B take its conceptual messages to heart, and take its beautifully-designed exercises into all classrooms and workshops." Courtney Cazden, Harvard University " This is a terrific book for both pre-service and in-service teacher education. The authors clearly illustrate dialect differences at all linguistic levels, from pronunciation to grammar to vocabulary, and they also analyze the linguistic and cultural implications of these differences for teaching and assessing speaking, reading, and writing in academic English. They deserve kudos for making dialect differences so interesting and accessible!" Marcia Farr, The Ohio State University