Ways with words: language, life, and work in communities and classrooms

shirley brice heath

A smallish town in the Piedmont area has 3 populations Heath studies: the townspeople, Tracton, and Roadville. The townspeople are administrators of the schools. Their home culture recognizes how reading and writing are integral to success. They write to remember things and read for pleasure. Their children are surrounded by literacy and literate adults who use literacy in their daily lives.

Roadville is a poor white area. Most of the adults work at the mill. They read to their children before school begins, but show little interest in their children's schoolwork once they reach second grade. At that point, school and home life diverge. Adults read sometimes, but base most of their important decisions on word-of-mouth.

Tracton is a poor black neighborhood. Babies are held continuously. Their 1st words are not an occasion for celebration. They are not asked questions where the addressers already know the answer. People do not read for pleasure.

Once in school, the townspeople's children excel. Tracton children rarely succeed. Roadville children do well until about middle school, when they turn their attention to starting their own families.