As mentioned in the previous sections, the traditional policy of the school
was most often to require adaptation on the part of the pupils. Armed with
an unshakeable sense of the correctness of their own (i.e. middle-class)
speech norms, teachers typically had little hesitation in correcting pupils
who spoke "slovenly" or "illogical" English. While this policy is understandable,
it doubtless created many difficulties for children to whom it was
applied. For example, many teachers of non-standard-speaking children in
many parts of the world have noted the sullen and non-verbal nature of these
children in class. This is sometimes due to cultural differences with regard to
such matters as behaviour in front of authority figures (Abrahams, 1976), or
public behaviour in front of peers (Philips, 1972). As well, however, there is
reason to believe that teachers have, in large measure, created non-verbal
children through early and excessive "correction" policies; the children,
unwilling to undergo the inevitable, simply cease to participate in classroom
activites. Labov, in a well-known article (1973), demonstrates how reticent
and non-verbal black children can be suddenly transformed into the verbally
adept individuals we now associate with the orally rich black culture, by the
removal of white, middle-class examiners. In so doing, Labov counters the
claims of Bereiter and Engelmann (1966) who had maintained that, for
black children, language may not be of vital importance and may, in some
cases, even be dispensable. Similarly, Shuy (1971) has noted that no nonverbal
child that he has encountered has remained so in a non-intimidating
context (see also Bernstein, 1973).