Examines the effects of language standardization and orthography design on the Chukchi linguistic ecology. Suggests the process of standardization has not taken into consideration the gender-based sociolects of colloquial Chukchi and is based on a grammatical description that does not reflect actual Chukchi use. (Author/VWL)

Examines press releases and product announcements of computer hardware and software companies to determine what computer-related words are used in materials released to the general public. Finds that the computer and its products have had and continue to have a great impact on the English language. (PRA)

Examines the role the Kadazandusun language Foundation has played in changing the language ecology of the Kadazandusun language. Relates to the impact the language situation has had on changing attitudes toward mother-tongue use in the Kadazandusun community. (Author/VWL)

Because further promotion of the Maori language is needed to prevent it from remaining an endangered language, a national survey was conducted of 225 New Zealand adults' opinions about the language and fostering its instruction. Two-thirds of the respondents supported its place in New Zealand society, but 25 percent supported greater use. (23…

Analysis of 238 variables pertaining to 170 polities indicated that linguistic heterogeneity could not independently predict either gross national product or civil strife, with the former primarily accounted for by modernization and industrialization variables, and the latter by long- and short-term deprivation and inadequate coercive power. (14…

Introduces some of the factors that have facilitated the standardization process and the concomitant deterioration of the Ryukyuan vernacular languages in southern Japan, and points out that present patterns of language use in the area suggest the language death of Ryukyuan and the society's impending shift to monolingualism in Standard Japanese.…

Responses to a questionnaire regarding gender bias in language revealed that members of a local chapter of National Organization for Women and graduate students in psychology were more likely to adopt a new gender-neutral pronoun than were graduate students in English and medicine, and faculty. (Author/BJV)

Accepting that language diversity is functionally related to other variables characterizing human societies, much discussion stems from the advantages or disadvantageous nature of language diversity in terms of national development and national unity. To discover ways of measuring language diversity would help, in part, to solve the language…

Statistical data from the U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Income and Education reveals societal patterns of language shift. The data can confirm the adequacy of theories of the causality of language shift. Examination of the data indicates geographic regions where language shift has occurred and is likely to occur. (PMJ)

A study examined the attitudes of English educators and professional business persons concerning non-standard English-language usage. Subjects, equal numbers of male and female members of the National Council of Teachers of English and members of the Chamber of Commerce, responded to a questionnaire containing 66 sentences, each containing an…

Reports the preferences and attitudes held by English- speaking primary school children in Hawaii toward Hawaiian Creole English (HCE) and Standard English (SE). Findings indicated that, while those from a lower socioeconomic strata initially favored HCE, SE was preferred by all by the end of grade 2. (PMJ)

The study of pidgin and creole languages, usually emphasizing oral language codes, offers insights into language, especially as an observably dynamic phenomenon. However, channel is highly influential on the surface form of the language code. Pidgin sign language codes, not dependent on oral language codes, can serve as an ideal forum for the…

Discusses changes that have occurred with regard to issues of language acquisition in Kenya in the last several decades, and the challenges these changes pose for educators and linguists today. Evaluates discrepancies that exist between theoretical norms and actual language behavior, especially as they affect the English language. Solutions to…

This study is an examination of the interactional language of a teacher from United States mainstream culture and three male students, one each from Appalachian culture, black inner-city culture, and mainstream culture, during first grade literacy instruction. In this cultures-in-contact situation provided in an urban school in the northeastern…

English has by tradition been the major and official language used in Australia. Dependence upon Southern British norms of correctness has only gradually been eroded, and the establishment of Australian norms to replace them has been equally gradual. Agencies of language standardization do function in Australia and formulate on an ongoing basis…