TALKING TO TEACHERS ABOUT SOCIAL DIALECTS

Linguists have recently become aware of the agonizing problems faced by school children who speak non‐standard English. When these children learn to read, they must cope not only with a certain amount of linguistic interference, but also with the severely deprecatory attitudes of their teachers toward their dialect. Linguists have a responsibility to help teachers learn more about the nature of dialectical variability and, in particular, about non‐standard English. Helping teachers is often difficult, however, for they start with assumptions about language that differ so radically from the assumptions of linguists that it is sometimes difficult to achieve an intelligible dialogue. Linguists must find ways to make their knowledge meaningful to teachers. They must not bury teachers in technical complexities but offer their insights in ways that will strike the teacher as relevant to the practical concerns of their teaching. Some personal experiences are recounted that may help other linguists to avoid certain pitfalls as they try to enter into communication with teachers.