Dialects in the United States are spread throughout the country. Not all members of a group speak the same dialect, and dialects among groups differ. The most controversial dialect in American English is Ebonics. In order to advance socially and economically, individuals must have access to the culture of power, and therefore, dialect use is often discouraged by teachers in favor of Standard English use. But, does sufficient reason exist to discard or devalue vernacular dialects in pursuit of literacy in Standard English?
There is "scarcely a country in the world today that could claim to be monolingual in any real senseàFurthermore, historical linguistic conflicts reemerge as minorities assert their identity" ("Literacy", no date, p. 1). In 1990, over 30% of the public school students were either African American or Hispanic. It is estimated that in the year 2000 approximately 43% of the population of the United States will be from a racial or ethnic minority group, presumably, with their own languages or dialects. This figure is projected to increase to more than 50% of the population by the year 2075 (Locke, as cited in Wittmer, 1992, p. 1). Unquestionably, linguistic diversity is here to stay.
Once we accept that Ebonics (or African American Vernacular English) is a language or a dialect, then we must accept that children who speak Ebonics should be taught like all other second language students: Teachers must "realize that students' home language practices are fundamental to how they see themselves and the world. Thus, learning to write Standard English can mean mastering the patterns of an entirely new language system" (Hornick, 1986, p. 1), with its attendant implications for the development of literacy.
A study by Ima and Labovitz (1991) reports that academic "performance is strongly related to ethnicity. Reading is the most sensitive to acculturation, while language is more likely to measure accomplishm...