Language Diversity and Classroom Discourse

This book describes language diversity and classroom discourse: language use in the classroom in which children are dialect speakers. Specifically, the authors observed and videotaped a wide range of activities including whole groups with the teacher, small groups with and without the teacher, and one-on-one interaction, in kindergarten, fourth- and sixth- grade classrooms. The book is a description of what was found. Classroom language use is discussed in terms of language functions. The book also includes a discussion of why dialect is an issue and an overview of how dialect has been dealt with by researchers and practitioners. Finally, dialect diversity in the classroom is considered in light of the relationship between language, education, and society at large. The study is unique in that it provides a quantitative as well as qualitative picture of language use in the classroom with dialect speakers.