ABSTRACT
Even if it is accepted that the overriding task of the school is to ensure that children become literate in standard English, then for English bidialectical pupils the learning of literacy in English, and for bilingual pupils the learning of oracy and literacy in English, need to start from a recognition of the social and linguistic contribution that their existing linguistic skills might make to their overall educational development. (Linguistic Minorities Project, 1983, pp. 11–12)
