Language characteristics of black children: Implications for assessment

After delineating a number of phonological and syntactic characteristics of black English a review of recent comparative studies is presented. The authors conclude that, while evidence is mixed concerning the question of whether whether a language deficit exists among the lower-class balck children along with a dialect difference, there is clear evidence of the existence of a dialect. The problem facing educators is that no standardized tests have been developed for use with speakers of the dialect. The authors conclude that the use of available tests with dialect speaking children may result in gross errors in educational placement of these children.