Discusses an interview focusing on important topics relevant to sociolinguistics and language minorities. Points out that one topic, ethnicity, is among many of the urban phenomena central to the study of linguistics as well as ethnic minorities and that a discussion of sociolinguistics and language minorities entails discussion of racism,…

A brief description of factors affecting the generally neglected study of reversing language shift (RLS) is presented. and An eight-step model for building and planning such research, taking into consideration such influences as community and neighborhood, family, and school, is described. (CB)

The present paper concentrates on several issues relevant to research into multilingualism in Estonia. It is argued that a macrosociolinguistic approach is insufficient when not counterbalanced with microsociolinguistic studies (case studies of actual linguistic behaviour, linguistic creativity, mechanisms and practices of multilingual…

This annotated bibliography of recent studies on language variation presents abstracts which appeared in "Resources in Education" during the period September 1973 through December 1974. They include entries from several of the ERIC clearinghouses: Adult Education, Reading and Communication Skills, Languages and Linguistics, Early…

This report is the result of a sociolinguistic survey of the French-speaking minority of Welland, Ontario, most of which is bilingual. Interviews were carried out and taped in French with sixty French-speaking adults. Two series of closed questions and one series of open questions were asked, the former yielding detailed data concerning the…

Some bases of intra-group identification among Black people who inhabit urban ghettoes are discussed, as well as the economy of the ghetto, especially as it pertains to the strategies that Black Americans have evolved to deal with their subsistence problems. An attempt is made to relate these strategies to the presence of in-group schisms and to…

A dialect survey of the transition between two major Indo-Aryan languages in Nepal, Bhojpuri and Maithili, was conducted focusing on both the linguistic and sociolinguistic aspects of the various languages and dialects. The purpose of the study was to find out where and how this transition occurred between the pure Bhojpuri-speaking area and the…

This study examines the linguistic norm ideals of the German minority in Denmark, which include the Sonderjysk Danish dialect, standard Danish, and standard German. The linguistic realities, as observed in a longitudinal study of minority children, point to a functional bilingualism in Sonderjysk and nonstandard German. (MDM)

The Canadian government opted for a politics of bilingualism according to the "personal solution" whereby the Canadian citizen, whether English or French, can demand the protection of his language regardless of the section of the country in which he lives. In a "territorial solution," an individual can claim official status for…

Papers from an international conference on the interaction of languages and dialects in contact are presented in this volume. Papers include: "Quelques reflexions sur la variation linguistique"; "The Investigation of 'Language Continuum' and 'Diglossia': A Macrological Case Study and Theoretical Model"; "A Survey of…

This study examines the hypothesis that the French used by a large number of Franco-Ontarians represents a linguistic system (or several systems) that differs from Standard French. In addition, a review of previous research leads to the inverse hypothesis, that Ontarian French represents a body of different systems or sub-systems that are more or…

This monograph on minority languages and bilingualism focuses on seven minority languages in different parts of the world, looking at their history and current status, including patterns of usage among samples of their speakers. The first two chapters discuss several issues regarding diglossia and bilingualism, language patterns within societies,…

Essays on English in South Africa and its neighboring countries include: "A History of English in South Africa" (Len Lanham); "English in South African Society: A Preliminary Overview" (Bill Branford); "Black English in South Africa" (David Gough); "Language Contact, Transmission, Shift: South African Indian…

Essays on varieties of English in the United States include: "Research Trends in the Study of American English" (Edgar W. Schneider); "Piney Woods Southern" (Lee Pederson); "Foundations of American English" (William A. Kretzschmar, Jr.); "The Comparability of Linguistic Atlas Records: The Case of LANCS an…