Political euphemism is a tool for political leaders to control information transmission. Based on some examples, this paper begins with a summary of three features which distinguish political euphemism from others. Then, it discusses its two social functions based on Austin's Speech Act Theory: 1) as political leaders' tool, political euphemism…

Bilingual education programs must be based on a sound understanding of the linguistic, social, psychological, and cultural factors affecting students. This paper is concerned with linguistic factors that affect the acquisition of Bahasa Malaysia (BM) pronouns by non-native speakers from Sabah and Sarawak. Properties in the personal pronoun systems…

A preliminary descriptive framework of the rhetorical structure of the argumentative essay is proposed. Research results are used to show that a "categories analysis" can clarify the structure of written texts and provide pedagogically useful materials. (15 references) (Author/LB)

Native Speakers of English and Dutch teachers of English judged the English pronunciation of two Dutchmen, resulting in a fairly large area of consensus. In a second experiment, native English speakers and Dutch speakers of English judged the English pronunciation of both experienced and inexperienced Dutch speakers of English. (15 references)…

This book is the first comprehensive study of the sound system of Ikalanga, a Bantu language of the Shona group, and its distribution in the phonology. Using both phonetic factors and typological evidence from other languages of the world, Bantu as well as non-Bantu, the book provides a careful and elaborate study on different phonological…

Foreign Workers' German (FWG) refers to the acquired German language skills of workers from various countries who were recruited to West Germany between 1955 and 1973 to fill menial, undesirable jobs. Contact between these workers and native German speakers was limited because of the nature of the foreigners' work, the tendency toward residential…

Argues that teaching about Italian dialects ought to form an integral part of the Italian curriculum and offers ideas on what could be included in such a course. Points out that the study of these dialects can teach students about the history and synchronic structures of standard Italian as well as the role of Italian sociolinguistics as it…

A study investigated the ability of socially handicapped Israeli students to determine a word's meaning from its linguistic context. The results and their implications for second language instruction are examined in light of current theories of context. (MSE)

Wagiman is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in the northern part of the Northern Territory by about ten people. It possesses an unusual open class of words, which are called coverbs. Most frequently coverbs are paired with an inflecting verb from a closed class to form a complex predicate. This book provides a descriptive and analytical…

This collection aims to provide an introductory study of linguistic minorities in Central and Eastern Europe, taking into account historical development, present situation, language maintenance and shifts, as well as language and educational policies of the different countries in the area. The introduction (by Christina Bratt Paulston) discusses a…

Examines the quantitative conditioning of English lone nouns of one language used in discourse in Ukrainian in a Canadian setting. Results yield a synchronic portrait of the integrated loanword, even when it bears no surface indication of that integration, is neither recurrent nor widespread, and has no history of attestation or other status in…

This paper argues that second language instruction that aims to foster speaking skills and natural spoken interaction should be based upon the grammar of the spoken language, and not on grammars that reflect written norms. Using evidence from a corpus of conversational English, this examination focuses on how four grammatical features that occur…

Reviews current practice in the study of phonological interlanguage. The methodology of 22 pieces of research is surveyed in terms of subjects, range of phonological features, "synchronic" and "diachronic" approaches, techniques and materials, audio-recording and transcription. The article discusses the advantages and…

This collection of six papers consists of works in progress undertaken by students and faculty of the University of Pennsylvania's Language in Education Division of the Graduate School of Education. The papers are: (1) "Language Planning and Identity Planning: An Emergent Understanding" (Rebecca Freeman); (2) "Communicative…

The 1999 issues of "Notes on Linguistics," published quarterly, include the following articles, review articles, reviews, book notices, and reports: "A New Program for Doing Morphology: Hermit Crab"; "Lingualinks CD-ROM: Field Guide to Recording Language Data"; "'Unruly' Phonology: An Introduction to Optimality Theory"; "Borrowing vs. Code…