Black English and Errors in Writing

Research

Question: What effect does Black English have on errors in writing standard English?

Answer/Quote: “Errors diminished in proportion to the tendency of students to select grammatical features that are shared by Black American English and Standard American English in formal communicative situations.” 326.

Comment: Well, I think this means that to the extent that Black English and Standard English share the same characteristics errors diminished. Sounds like a no-brainer. But where do the two types of English intersect?

Which raises the question about the effects of oral English on written English. What errors in standard written English are the result of habits in spoken English? What errors in standard written English are not the result of habits in spoken English? And then there are habits in spoken English that are not really “errors” as such—needless repetition, for example. Hmmmm. RayS.

Title: “Black American English Style Shifting and Writing Errors.” DH Morrow. Research in the Teaching of English (October 1988), 326-340.