This is an outline of the beginning of dialectology, its growth, its methods, and changes in approach over time. Various dialectology studies and linguistic atlases, from early 19th century to present, are cited. Use of modern techniques in further research is suggested. Available from Western Washington State College, Bellingham, WA 98225. (TL)

Attitude and use in language do not always coincide. The foreign language teacher should be aware of language variation so that he can decide what forms to teach and when to introduce variants. Several generalizations about variation and acceptability in language are made. (Author/ND)

Poetry presents serious difficulties to students. Many poems students are asked to study were written during eras with social mores, modes of thought and expression that are now unfamiliar. Often the sentiments expressed in poetry are discomforting or unfamiliar to students, though the greatest poets express universal ideas and emotions with which…

There can be little doubt that one of the main reasons for the present interest in the study of the varieties of English and their implications for language teaching is the way in which these varieties impinge on one another. Mixed populations from different ethnic sources, geographical areas, and language backgrounds find their representations in…

The relation between a real-world category (sex) and a linguistic category (gender) is examined. The gender system of Indo-European languages is discussed, and the way gender works in Greek, one of the older Indo-European languages, is examined at some length. The conclusion is that, but for the existence of separate gender-sensitive adjectival…

An experiment was conducted to investigate the nature of synonyms by using multidimensional scaling. The selected concept was "pig" and three of its synonyms--"hog,""boar," and "swine." These terms vary in their frequency of use in English, which makes it possible to explore a behaviorally based theory of…

A language attitude survey was conducted in Toronto in the winter of 1978 in which 457 people of various ages, social classes, geographical backgrounds, and of both sexes were asked to listen to 20 voices representing five varieties of English and to rate them on a series of character traits and on a socio-economic status scale. The purpose was to…

A frequency count was conducted of linguistic features in the English of the Philippine mass media. Philippine English was found to have a smaller inventory of phonological units than Received Standard English. Vowel reduction does not seem to be prevalent. The collapsing of phonological distinctions is most evident in vowels and fricatives.…

The papers in this collection provide a brief state-of-the-art statement on the role of non-standard dialects of English in education and on some implications of the Ann Arbor decision. The following papers are included: (1) "Vernacular Black English: Setting the Issues in Time," by Roger W. Shuy; (2) "Beyond Black English:…

As Labov points out (1971), language is a social phenomenon, and therefore must be studied in its social context; sex based language differences, being part of language, must be studied in the same way. Specifically, sex based language differences can be studied by modifying the sociolinguists' notion of speech community and speech continuum, and…

Linguists of various theoretical backgrounds have likened second language (L2) acquisition to pidginization (Ferguson 1971, Richards 1971, Bickerton 1975a). This paper examines these two processes and suggests areas where a study of the process of second language acquisition in a natural setting might contribute insights to a general theory of…

Weakening and deletion of syllable-final and word-final phonemes, a phenomenon prevalant in Puerto Rican Spanish, was studied. Two of these phonemes, /s#/ and /n#/ were examined for their capacity as plural markers. Data were collected during a one-year ethnographically-oriented study of a single block in the Puerto Rican community in north…

Eighty disadvantaged black third grade students were administered both reading achievement and oral language tests to determine whether the phonology, morphology, and grammar of Black English dialect have more effect on the below-average readers of the group than on those students making satisfactory reading progress. Student scores on the…

This booklet outlines the content and activities of two workshops aimed at improving the teaching of children who speak Black English. Its goals are to supplement research reports on test development in the area of Black English and to serve as a useful starting point for those who rely on the workshop format to inform teachers about Black English…

This document presents some of the issues involved in deciding on a national language for the Philippines. It is noted that the Philippines needs a national language which would be accepted by most of the forty-five million Filipinos. If the trend continues for the next five years and if the trend in the Philippines to shift Pilipino (the national…