The linguistic norm for testing and instructing Students of Limited-English-Proficiency (SLEPs) is that of a monolingual native speaker of English. The claim is made that this norm is not implemented accurately in testing and instruction and that a bilingual norm for testing and instruction would be more appropriate. The failure to implement monolingual norms accurately comes from three sources: (1) misunderstanding of research findings in linguistics of false assumptions about the nature of language itself; (2) lack of appropriate linguistic research; and (3) failure to consider relevant research. It is suggested that the distinction between ideal native speech and actual native speaker usage be considered and implications of the distinction be applied to bilingual instruction. Further, very little research in linguistic forms in a conversation context has been completed; such research is important if a native speaker model is chosen as norm. Available research that should be used has to do with general linguistic theory as well as sociolinguistics. The discussion calls for linguistic analysis of the cognitive and linguistic differences between bilinguals and monolinguals and for practical applications of the findings to the testing and teaching of future bilinguals. (AMH)