This paper is the first in a compilation of articles reprinted by NCTE from the journal "Elementary English" and entitled "On the Dialects of Children." It comprises an overview of recent research in regional and social dialects in the United States. The "Linguistic Atlas of New England," the first section of the "Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada," published in 1939-43, is being followed by the "Linguistic Atlas of Middle and South Atlantic States," and the "Linguistic Atlas of the Upper Middle West." The regional distributions of speech features as shown by the Atlas establish a reference framework for the more thorough study of the speech of localities. This information is especially pertinent for the understanding of the present urban situation with its millions of in-migrants from other dialect areas. Local social dialect studies have been undertaken on a large scale in New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Detroit. Other areas of study include the field of non-verbal communication (semiotics), and the linguistic situations of the various Spanish, French, American Indian, and Hawaiian Pidgin speaking groups in the United States. (AMM)