When children learn language, they take in more than forms of grammar: They learn to make sense of the social world in which they live and how to adapt to its dynamic social interactions and role relations. Through the reciprocal processes of family and community life that flow through communication, children develop a system of cognitive structures as interpretive frameworks and come to share to greater or lesser degrees the common value system and sets of behavioral norms of their sociocultural group (Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986). These frameworks and ways of expressing knowledge in a variety of styles and through different symbolic system will vary in their congruence with those of the school and other mainstream institutions.

    by Shirley Brice Heath     in Oral and literate traditions among Black Americans living in poverty,1989