A unifying methodology of diffusion studies is presented treating geographical, sociological, and historical phonomena of language within the same framework. Patterns of linguistic innovation and the social and psychological motivations for such a change, both in the individual and in society, are summarized in their functions as predictors of…

The aim of this study was to describe the varieties of English used in two American Indian communities and to examine the effect of language diversity on the acquisition of certain educational skills. The field work was carried out in two Puebloan communities in New Mexico, San Juan and Laguna. The description of selected linguistic structures and…

Even in culturally homogeneous settings, language has an important role in the social interaction of adolescents. This study investigated the importance of values concerning dialect and language variation in a group of 62 ninth-grade students. Subjects, 23 black, 21 white, and 18 native Spanish-speaking individuals, were asked to listen to a tape…

Development of a typology for linguistic situations has been a continuing concern of sociolinguistic research. Thus far, however, typological studies have served primarily to demonstrate the difficulties involved in such an undertaking rather than producing results of obvious utility. With few exceptions, notably Greenberg 1956 and Pool 1972,…

Speech errors have been used in the construction of production models of the phonological and semantic components of language, and for a model of interactional processes. Errors also provide insight into how speakers plan discourse and syntactic structure,. Different types of discourse exhibit different types of error. The present data are taken…

This questionnaire presents about 450 phonological, lexical, and grammatical items that are used in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In composing the dialect survey, terms pertaining to climate, topography, and ethnic groups were taken into account, as were other words and phrases which might be used by Upper Peninsula native speakers. The survey…

In a sociolinguistic study of the verb phrase in Southern White English, a pattern of change in progress was observed. The 14 variables studied showed that certain variants were increasing, others decreasing, and yet others stable across time within the community, and that each variable's change was progressing in a wave sensitive to age, social…

This study investigated verbal behavior of five third-grade children representing three cultural groups: Afro-American, Afro-Caribbean, and white. Ten sessions involving various language arts activities were tape recorded over a five-week period; session 7 was also videotaped. Sessions 3 to 10 involved group interaction across three interaction…

Much research and writing has been carried out in recent years in an attempt to account for and eliminate, or at least minimize, the poor performance of many Black, lower-socioeconomic status, urban children in our schools. This annotated bibliography lists articles, books, and papers that explore the theoretical frameworks employed to describe…

It is possible to think of women's language in terms of the model implied by the following statement. Insofar as native speakers of English are concerned, the language of women in America has four sets of components: those shared with the language of men in America; those shared, in varying proportions, with other women living in patriarchies;…

Focuses on arguments among White American children in a small town in New England, Black American children of migrant harvesters, and rural Hindi-speaking Fiji Indian children. Findings suggest that, while repetition, inversion, and escalation are common to all three cultures, there is considerable variation as to how they are used. (EJS)

Safder Alladina's analysis of the position of South Asian languages in Britain leaves much to be desired, concerning itself largely with Urdu, Hindi to a lesser extent, and hardly at all with Bengali, Gujarati, and Panjabi. The problems and solutions of devising policies appropriate to these languages need to be discussed in greater detail. (CB)

Describes a study that tests whether the sociolinguistic differences observed in essays in German are a carry-over from the native Scottish English. A previous study is described which tested the hypothesis that social class influences linguistic behavior and could be a cause for errors in a foreign language. (AMH)

Presents an analysis of non-native English verbs of saying constructions, such as "discuss about" and "explain about," as they are realized in Nepali English. It is suggested that the analysis of Nepali English constructions offer important insights into second language acquisition and language change. (30 references)…

The source of the similarities and differences produced by pidginization is a central question studied in Pidgin-Creole linguistics. Several explanatory approaches are discussed that have guided research in this area, including simplification, substratum, independent innovation, and universals. (27 references) (Author/OD)