These sorts of findings demonstrate that for non-standard speaking
children much the same process operates as for all non-standard speakers;
the standard is understood well enough, and it may be produced if the
situation is seen to warrant it. We should also point out (with Labov,
Williams, and others) that non-standard forms are usually not completely
distinct from standard ones: much is shared in common. As Labov (1976,
p. 64) put it, "the gears and axles of English grammatical machinery are
available to speakers of all dialects". This is a useful point to bear in mind in
discussions of this sort; that is, we are considering dialect differences and not
language differences. Emphasis upon the features of non-standard dialects
which do differ from standard varieties may be overdone. In any event, this
apparent difference between children's comprehension of standard forms
and their production of them is important. It applies to almost all dialects
although there may be some few which differ so markedly from the standard
that problems are greater (see, e.g., the work of V. K. Edwards, 1979, on
West Indian speech patterns in Britain). The pragmatic consequences of
these matters are taken up in the last section of this chapter.