Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Thomas J. Farrell. "IQ and Standard English." College Composition and Communication, 34:470-84.

Presents an environmental hypothesis to account for the problem of black children scoring lower than white children on standardized IQ tests, taking exception to Arthur R. Jensen's hypothesis that such differences could be accounted for by a hereditary or genetic explanation. Suggests that the essentially oral culture of American blacks can account for much of the disparity in IQ scores, and concludes that "IQ test scores reveal that black ghetto children have not developed the power of abstract thinking and they do not speak and write standard English" (481) and that "IQ differences have nothing to do with genetics or race per se, but can be accounted for entirely in terms of environmental or cultural differences" (481).
Area: TH