Paper prepared under contract with the Defense Language Institute, English Language Branch, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and presented to the staff and faculty of the Institute in 1972. (RS)

Special issue devoted to the topic of standard spoken usage. (VM)

Part of a continuing series. (VM)

Discusses what grammar is, what language is, recent studies in language research, and relates these to classroom teaching. (MB)

Recent sociolinguistic research is used to show that the American Sign Language (ASL)-English contact situation does not result in the emergence of a pidgin as supposed. Variation along the ASL-English continuum can be accounted for by interplay of foreigner talk, judgments of proficiency, and learners' attempts to master the target language.…

Discusses the discrepancies between French phonology and spelling, particularly where the letter "e" and the roles of the accents are concerned. Analyzes the distribution of the three vowel sounds represented by "e" and proposes some rules for the use of the acute and the grave accent with this letter. (MES)

Describes the processes by which distinctive varieties of English develop in areas where English functions as a second language. The distinctions between rhetorical and communicative norms for speech events in these varieties are discussed. (Author/AM)

Analyzes the structure, origins and meanings of the "-o" formations in French slang, characterizing the social groups within which they have gained currency. Points out that this spoken language device usually has a purely expressive, connotational function and that numerous examples of the same formation are found in American English.…

Deals with English stress problems for Iraqis under three main headings: single-stressed words, double-stressed words, and unstressed syllables. While stress in Arabic is predictable, stress in English is not. The Iraqi will transfer native-language stress patterns to English. Errors cause miscommunication and are difficult to pinpoint. (PJM)

Describes the connective suffixes used in Coast Tsimshian and Southern Tsimshian. (AM)

Reexamines the history and contemporary structure of Caribbean English creole continua, with illustrations from the varied sociolinguistic situations in Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad. Argues that continua existed there from the earliest period of contact and supports a coexistent systems approach to the contemporary structure of these…

A discussion of Occitan, a Romance language spoken in a large portion of France, looks at the history; irregular characteristics; orthographic and morphophonemic variations across dialects; and present status, which is in danger of becoming extinct because of neglect, of the language. (MSE)