THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE CONFERENCE ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN AGREED THAT THE BASIC LANGUAGE GOAL FOR DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN SHOULD BE LITERACY IN STANDARD ENGLISH SO THAT THEY WILL BECOME EMPLOYABLE. THEY ALSO FELT THAT ATTENTION SHOULD BE GIVEN TO HOW LIMITED LANGUAGE USAGE CONSTRAINS THE CHILDREN'S INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL MOBILITY. PRIORITIES SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED IN THE ANALYTIC AND DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH OF THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE AMONG THESE CHILDREN, IN THE MODELS FOR THE ROLES AND THE RANGE OF SPEECH PATTERNS OFFERED BY THE COMMUNITY (HOME, SCHOOL, AND NEIGHBORHOOD), AND IN THE PROPER PLACE FOR CHANGE (IN THE CHILD, SCHOOL, OR SOCIETY). A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF ESSENTIAL AREAS FOR RESEARCH WAS PROPOSED, INCLUDING (1) STUDIES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO COGNITIVE PROCESSES AND THE LEARNING FUNCTION, (2) INVESTIGATIONS OF ATTITUDES TOWARD DIALECT AND BILINGUALISM, (3) STUDIES OF THE MOTIVES AND PROCEDURES FOR CHANGE, AND (4) EVALUATIONS OF THE RELEVANCE OF THE RELIANCE UPON LANGUAGE IN THE SCHOOL CURRICULUMS. (JL)