This paper discusses diverse sociolinguistic concepts such as borrowing, code-switching, bilingualism, and interference, and proposes a hypothesis concerning the progression of these linguistic developments in a contact situation and concerning the correlation of these developments with distinct phases of cultural assimilation. (Author/CLK)

Within-group similarities and between-group differences are used to illustrate the socio-cultural nature of the concept-building process in highly collaborative computer science classrooms. Simultaneously, a social constructivist perspective is used to describe the individual aspects of this development. The study uses written explanations from…

Romania is a country with a good number of linguistic minorities. Descriptive linguistic data include the number and kinds of languages spoken in what areas and by how many people and their attitudes toward the languages. Models and typologies of language planning are presented to discern their appropriateness. (SCC)

Discusses certain lexical features of South Asian English peculiar to this variety of English as opposed to its other native and non-native varieties. A taxonomic classification of hybrids which developed over years of cultural and linguistic contact with the English-speaking world is presented. (SCC)

The linguistic behavior of a given individual varies; he will on different occasions speak (or write) differently according to what may be roughly described as different social situations: he will use a number of different registers. The application of such registers both in the field of text analysis and in the preparation of teaching materials…

At certain points in their historical development, languages are not adequately equipped to serve their societies and do not offer certain communicative functions. Political and cultural domination can influence the language community to adopt a foreign language for higher communication, leaving the vernacular underdeveloped for those…

Pronominal usage in spoken Bangkok Thai is described from a sociolinguistic point of view. Two phonological variants are indicated: one when a variant occurs in isolation and the other in natural speech. These two types of phonological variation generally are marked by different tones. (Author/RM)

Direct links between Australian English and the Australian culture are drawn. The author proposes ways in which a linguistically precise and culturally revealing study of linguistic phenomena such as expressive derivation, illocutionary devices, and speech act verbs are related to Australian society, history, culture, and "national…

Discusses the problem of defining linguistic areas, with specific reference to the various areas of Spanish in Latin America. (Text is in Spanish) (CLK)

Examines the extent to which sociocultural features influence the emergence of a standard Nigerian English. (Author/AM)

This study investigated how native Japanese speakers use honorifics in everyday social interaction. Honorifics are affixes, words, and formulaic phrases that follow linguistic and sociolinguistic rules and are believed to mark a speaker's politeness toward an addressee or another referenced person. The honorific system is incorporated into most…

This article is a qualitative sociolinguistic profile of the present language situation in Nigeria. The home, the government, religion, holidays and leisure activities, education, work, the market, clubs, and mass media are described in their relation to language types and functions. (SCC)

This paper examines the socio-cultural problems affecting new immigrants. The first part presents a person-centered ecological theoretical framework with two points of departure: the individual in his/her biological cognitive and socio-cultural sphere, and the person's communicative behavior. The data is drawn largely from a 1967-1979 project in…

Foreign language teachers should be aware of certain sociolinguistic concepts that can be termed "language ecology," which has been defined as the study of a "language and its environment." These concepts are: classification, users, domains of use, concurrent languages, internal varieties, written traditions, standardization,…