Chapter 11 | Exercises

Exercise 11.1

The following are some additional items from an achievement test. Identify the focus of each item in terms of the three dimensions of correctness discussed above: (1) MAE versus vernacular sentence structure, (2) grammatical versus ungrammatical structure regardless of dialect, and (3) Formal Standard English versus informal mainstream English sentence structure.
  1. My sister {am/is} six years old.
  2. She will give me {them/these} dolls.
  3. I {shall/will} go there tomorrow.
  4. I {am/are} a good pupil.
  5. There {was/were} no ducks on the lake.
  6. Is George going to eat with {us/we}?
  7. Father and {they/them} are going on a trip.

11.1 Answers

1. 2
2. 1
3. 3
4. 2
5. 1
6. 2
7. 1

Exercise 11.2

Below are five items from a so‐called “grammatic closure” test, in which items are read to children, with the examiner stopping at a certain point for the children to supply the missing word or words. Based upon the kinds of dialect rules found in the Appendix, predict which of these items might have legitimate vernacular alternatives. What are the vernacular forms? In each case, the response(s) considered correct according to the test manual is (are) given in italics.

Item 9. The boy is writing something. This is what he wrote/has written/did write.
Item 15. This horse is not big. This horse is big. This horse is bigger.
Item 19. This is soap, and these are soap/bars of soap/more soap.
Item 22. Here is a foot. Here are two feet.
Item 29. The boy has two bananas. He gave one away and he kept one for himself.

11.2 Answers

Item 15. Comparatives and superlatives may show considerable variation in vernacular varieties, which may include regularization of irregular forms as well as doubly-marked regular forms. In this case, bigger may be represented as more bigger or most biggest.

Item 19. In terms of pluralization, irregular nouns may be regularized to take the plural -s in some vernacular varieties. In this case, soap, which is considered a non-countable or mass noun, may be regularized to take the plural -s to be soaps.

Item 29. Reflexive pronouns like himself may be regularized to hisself by analogy with other forms of possessive pronouns like myself and yourself.

Exercise 11.3

Consider the following questions, taken from previous versions of training manuals for the Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery and the Scholastic Aptitude Test. First translate these items into ordinary spoken language style. Compare your spoken language version with the formal test version of the question and note the kinds of differences between the two types of language use. What differences may be attributable to the conventional distinction between spoken and written language and what usage patterns seem peculiar to the way language is used in test questions?
  1. When measuring an unknown voltage with a voltmeter, the proper precaution to take is to start with the ...
  2. When a certain pitcher contains three cups of water, the pitcher contains half its capacity.
  3. It can be inferred from the passage that all of the following are characteristic of the author’s grandmother EXCEPT ...
  4. Unlike a patient with Wernicke’s aphasia, a patient with Broca’s aphasia can do which of the following?

Exercise 11.4

The following are some hints for taking a test, found in a US Department of Labor guide. Examine these hints in terms of the social situation surrounding the testing environment. What kinds of social factors might affect the outcome of the test? What do these factors have to do with the capability being tapped in a test? Do any of the hints involve underlying assumptions about language?
  1. Get ready for the test by taking other tests on your own.
  2. Don’t let the thought of taking a test throw you, but being a little nervous won’t hurt you.
  3. Arrive early, rested, and prepared to take the test.
  4. Ask questions until you understand what you are supposed to do.
  5. Some parts of the test may be easier than others. Don’t let the hard parts keep you from doing well on the easier parts.
  6. Keep time limits in mind when you take a test.
  7. Don’t be afraid to answer when you aren’t sure you are right, but don’t guess wildly.
  8. Work as fast as you can but try not to make mistakes. Some tests have short time limits.


11.4 Answers

While there is a lot to talk about in these exam hints, notice that they do presume that test-takers will have ready access to tests or test-preparation material and that all tests are similar (1). Further, hints like 7 and 8 assume that the “correct” answers are based on knowledge that should be known or naturalized to the test-taker. This could encourage a test-taker to choose an answer that appears “natural” to them based upon their dialect, whereas the “correct” answer was from a more formal or MAE form that is less “natural” to the test-taker.

Exercise 11.5

Think of some reasons why a junior high school student from a vernacular‐speaking community and surrounded by vernacular‐speaking friends might want to know standard English apart from reasons given by traditional educators. Try to put yourself in the place of a junior high school student who is not really thinking about future educational success and distant employment opportunity. 

What might MAE do for students right now, in terms of people they interact with? 
Looking at it from such a vantage point, what do you conclude about the utility of MAE at this point in the students’ lives?

Exercise 11.6

Suppose you were asked to design an MAE program specifically for receptionists whose primary responsibility is to answer the telephone and take messages. What particular functionally based routines and specialized language‐use conventions have to be included in this program? Are there any particular structural features that you might anticipate occurring fairly regularly in such a situation? In order to answer these questions, you will have to envision the kinds of interactions that ordinarily occur in this interactional situation. Better yet, try observing some actual telephone conversations between receptionists and clients in order to accumulate real data.