BELLI, GREGORY CHARLES

This study attempts to discover and quantify the extent to
which selected Black English features are present in the English of
a group of United States Hispanic Children in south Florida. The
five features are /r,l/ simplification, consonant cluster simplification,
past tense verb marker reduction, copula deletion, and inverted
embedded questions. The best indicators of Black English influence in the young
Hispanic children's English are found to be regular past tense verb
endings, third person singular present tense forms of be, words containing
a preconsonantal l, present tense plural forms of be, and an
words containing voiced consonant clusters, respectively. A hierarchy
of factors contributing to the overall Black English influence is
constructed. Relevant literature is reviewed.

The purpose of this survey study was to measure and compare the levels of cultural sensitivity of novice and experienced teachers of ESOL in the public schools of Palm Beach County, Florida, as measured by Margaret L. Ford's Teacher-Student Interaction Instrument (TSI). Correlational statistics (t-tests, ANOVA's, crosstabulations, c2 significance tests, and multiple regression analysis) were used to determine: (1) if novice and experienced ESOL teachers were distributed differently along Banks' levels of ethnicity, as measured by the TSI, (2) whether four demographic variables (age, gender, regional tenure, and ethnic group identification) were significantly correlated to TSI scores, and (3) if the demographic variables and teacher experience were significantly correlated with TSI score in a predictor model. The responses of 126 elementary and secondary ESOL teachers who completed the 42 item Likert scale questionnaire and seven biodata items, were used to do the analyses. The predominant TSI scores of respondents were in the categories of Biethnicity and Multiethnicity, with only 8.7% in level three, Ethnic Identity Clarification; and no respondents were in the guardedly ethnocentric lower levels, Ethnic Psychological Captivity and Ethnic Encapsulation. No statistically significant correlations were obtained in the comparison of each variable with TSI score (level of ethnicity ) or combined in the multiple predictor model. The higher percentages and ranges of TSI scores than previously reported in the literature appear to confirm the efficacy of: (1) the inclusion of core courses in multicultural education in teacher preparation programs, (2) the continued requirement of 30 to 300 hours of multicultural education workshops for inservice teachers, and (3) the use of the TSI as a survey instrument, a screening tool to indicate levels of cultural sensitivity, or as an item bank for fruitful discussion among teachers on matters relating to cultural diversity. Research suggests that the variables examined in this study may be used more effectively as predictors of cultural sensitivity if an additional measure of previous multicultural experience is also obtained.