IS DEPRIVATION LINGUISTIC? Suggested Changes for Teacher Training Programs Concerned with Black English

Abstract

A linguistic approach to Black English (BE), often called "difference theory," is preferable to its predecessors, but it cannot resolve many problems which exist for speakers of that dialect. Linguists disagree about the nature of BE, who speaks it, the aims of instruction most appropriate for speakers of BE, and strategies most suitable for such instruction. Finally, the best advice that Iinguists can offer about BE is that we should on many occasions try to ignore its linguistic dimensions and concentrate upon its social dimensions. For these reasons, a linguistic perspective, taken by itself, is an inadequate base for training programs designed to help teachers cope with BE. The present paper describes an alternative theory of BE based upon contexts shared by speakers of various dialects. Teacher programs should build awareness of shared contexts within speech situations rather than of details of linguistic performance.