Performance of Working Class African-American Children on Three Tests of Articulation

The speech and language behaviors of African-American children, particularly those of lower socioeconomic status, have evoked considerable interest over the past two decades among scholars and practitioners alike. The present study examined (a) the extent to which phonological performance varied as a function of test-client congruence on three tests of articulation containing standard English assumptions among a group of African-American children who speak what is commonly referred to as Black English Vernacular (BEV); and (b) the extent to which the children's test performance was likely to be misdiagnosed as being pathological when dialect considerations were not taken into account. Assessment implications of the data are discussed.