ABSTRACT
Cultural differences, speaking accents, and dealing with connotations of words and phrases are different for students in new geographical areas and different cultural situations. A regional dialect is a distinct form of a language spoken in a particular geographical area, such as the Deep South, Midwest, or New England. Social dialects are associated with speakers belonging to a particular group. It is extremely important for young adolescents to belong to a social group. One way to do this is to emulate the word choices, pronunciation, and syntax of their peers. Acknowledging the importance of fitting in, middle-level students are not as apt to speak up if they don't understand the terminology. What about the child whose culture discourages looking someone in the eye, especially one's elders? What about the child whose religion forbids looking at members of the opposite sex? All these factors must be taken into account when working with diverse middle school students.
