A review of developmental and applied language research on African American children: from a deficit to difference perspective on dialect differences.
OBJECTIVE
The contemporary practices of delivering speech, language, and hearing services in schools reflect palpable gains in professional sensitivity to linguistic and cultural diversity.


METHODS
This article reviews the dominant research themes on the oral language of African American preschoolers who contribute to such diversity in the United States. Specifically, it contrasts the historical and current frameworks that have guided studies of (a) such children's acquisition and use of English and (b) the strategies used to assess and modify their language.


CONCLUSIONS
Research initiatives that can expand knowledge about this group are proposed.
Stockman
Ida J
IJ
Michigan State University, Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Oyer Building, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. stockma1@msu.edu
D001741:Black or African American; D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003469:Culture; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy; D014481:United States