Standard English: The Only Target for Nonnative Speakers of English?

An implicit assumption of most research on the acquisition of English as a second language is that standard English is the only target for nonnative speakers of English. The study reported in this article demonstrates that black English served as a target for Hispanic boys acquiring English as a second language in the New York City metropolitan area. In addition, the study shows that extensive peer contact with blacks was a necessary but not sufficient condition for the acquisition of two features of black English, negative concord and distributive be, and that choice of blacks as a reference group played no role in the acquisition of these two features. However, since contact did not account for all the variation and subjects made comments indicating that they had affective responses to input, the study suggests that the concept of reference group should be revised rather than abandoned.