ABSTRACT
Excellent programs have been designed to boost general reading achievement, with payoffs for dialect speakers. describe programs developed using contrastive analysis (CA) for the teaching of bi-dialectalism to African American English (AAE)-speaking students, summarizing the existing supporting evidence. It focuses on code-switching as a major program goal, typically involving CA, and these programs are theoretically consistent with the code-switching theories. 'One reservation that might be expressed about contrastive analysis programs for dialect speakers is that their potential or putative benefits are often extolled without the provisions of empirical evidence'. One of the earliest programs, the Bidialectal Program, was developed to teach African American students bi-dialectal communication skills by Harris-Wright. Based in DeKalb County, Georgia, and implemented for ten years, fifth through eighth graders were taught to switch between 'home' and 'school' language forms and communication patterns.
