Explores the general features and some unique usages of West African English, Caribbean English, and Indian English. (EL)

Discusses some ramifications of the Conference on College Composition and Communication's resolution on "Students' Right to Their Own Language." (DD)

Generally, the article describes and discusses topics and positions found in the literature on Black English. Specifically, particular attention is paid to certain articles and positions that misrepresent opposing opinions and facts of the area. (Author/RM)

This article discusses the Singapore English speech continuum and its development, use and relation to sociolinguistic factors. An ethnic and linguistic background is also provided, as well as a discussion of a sub-variety known as Singlish. (CLK)

Data is presented in support of the thesis that the sounds of Bangkok Thai can only be accurately described with a variation model. Consonant clusters were chosen to support this contention. It is asserted that Standard Thai cannot be equated with the actual speech of any specific group. (Author/RM)

Reports on a 1978 study of socially conditioned phonological change in the context of the decreolization process in Trinidad. (AM)

Argues for the existence of two types of communities other than the diglossic deaf communities--isolated and developing deaf communities. The history, sign language and finger spelling of the Grand Cayman deaf community are discussed. As the deaf community develops, it is thinning out and breaking up. (PJM)

Discusses the question of correct English usage, and of the equality of dialects. Available from the University of Alabama Press, Periodicals Department, P.O. Box 2877, University, Alabama 35486. (AM)

English-as-second-language instructors should take into account the importance of context for the meaning of language and address the varieties of English that learners will encounter in their daily lives. The principal elements of language variation and their implications for learners are described for the benefit of second language teachers.…

"Gastarbeiterdeutsch" includes varieties of German spoken by the many foreign workers employed in low-paid, less desirable jobs in Germany. It is characterized by reduction and simplification of syntactic and semantic forms. Study of this dialect reveals patterns of natural language acquisition necessary for communication, useful in classroom…

The empirical basis for this article is a series of studies of glottalization in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. These studies show that, while females lead in the use of glottal replacement, males prefer glottalization. This pattern is interpreted in terms of a preference of males for localized variants, whereas females lead in adopting supra-local…

Provides a framework to describe the variability between negative auxiliaries in predicative constructions based on a quantitative analysis of data collected on African American vernacular English. Results indicate that, with the possible exception of the negative present variation, the alternations all belong to one underlying system. (56…

Answers to three of the questions used in gathering material for the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) are analyzed in this paper. The data was collected state by state, and the number studied in each state was based on the 1960 population figures and known patterns of settlements and migrations. In the first question, the informants…

Discusses the applicability of the notion of structured variability in language to contrastive analysis. (Author/AM)

Offers this proposal: (1) the public prestige dialect of the elite in a stratified community differs from the dialect(s) of the non-elite strata in at least one phonologically systematic way; (2) the cause of stratified phonological differentiation is to be sought not in purely linguistic factors but in ideology. (Author/RM)