Pedagogical implications of Black English

The purpose of this thesis is to examine teachers' attitudes about Black English and how those attitudes affect students and to determine whether teachers who have some training in Black English have different attitudes than those who have not.

Chapter one explains the history of Black English and chapter two details the grammar of Black English as a background for following chapters. Primary sources in these chapters include linguists Geneva Smitherman and J. L. Dillard. Chapter three shows the importance of teacher attitudes and explains the need for teacher training in Black English. For chapter four, teachers were interviewed about their views on Black English. The major finding from the interviews was that teachers who had training in Black English were more understanding of Black English speakers and were more effective in their teaching of these students.