An element seen to be lacking in the development of bilingual programs in California is a sensitivity to the sociolinguistic and psychological influences in Chicano language usage. These include the mixing in of American slang. (MSE)

A study of Hebrew poems for children revealed elements of the historical and sociolinguistic dilemmas encountered in the revival of spoken Hebrew, including conflicts concerning usage and change. (MSE)

Examines such universal linguistic phenomena as simplification, overgeneralization, transfer, analysis, and convergence, and their corresponding theories regarding creolization, language acquisition, and language loss. A study of the Spanish verb system of Los Angeles bilinguals indicates that the continuous influx of new Spanish-speaking…

Reports the results of an analysis of conversations among bilingual adults designed to determine the nature of code switching. Categories for the analysis are proposed, syntactic constraints on code switching are discussed, and code switching as a conversational strategy is considered. (24 references) (CFM)

Describes aspects of lexico-semantic variation in Nigerian English. The causes and types of variation are discussed within the a sociolinguistic framework, and implications of such variations, with reference to international intelligibility and communication strategies, are examined. (20 references) (Author/OD)

The latest movement to reform German spelling is discussed, focusing on the need for greater consistency in spelling of words from other languages and the major changes proposed. Issues addressed include capitalization, specific idiosyncracies in German spelling, concerns related to computerization, public opinion, and the scope of the reform.…

Examines concerns and fears that were expressed recently about the influx of English loanwords in Cypriot Greek and in general the influence of English in Cyprus and reviews papers presented at a conference held in 1992 that dealt with the dominance of English and the suppression of Cypriot Greek. (Author/VWL)

In an important theoretical contribution to our understanding of language contact, Toribio elaborates on the familiar generalization, best known from the work of Silva-Corvalan, that contact varieties resemble monolingual lects of the same language in overall grammar, but differ with regard to (a) the selection of structures and (b) the…

Language ecology, a term developed by Haugen (2001), describes the relationship between languages and the environment in which they exist; that is, how they grow, change, interact and adapt in a Darwinian-like quest for survival. Of the 6000 or so languages in existence today, some are spoken by vast numbers of people, but others are used by very…

The materials presented here contain information about Cajun history, demography, language, music, and song. They include: a list of significant dates and events in Cajun history, from 1604 to 1990; maps indicating Cajun parishes in Louisiana and settlement areas in 1790 and 1981; notes on Cajun French, including distinctions between it and…

A study investigated patterns of English loan words in various domains of journalistic discourse in Thai print media, to gain insight into economic, political, and social relationships of the languages and the role of English as a global language. Thai was chosen because Thailand was not subject to colonialism by Europeans and because some…

A study investigated patterns of usage of French connectors (e.g., "alors,""mais,""puisque") among Chinese university students of French as a foreign language. The study arose from concern that the lack of connector usage contributed to a lack of coherence in the students' oral and written language. Subjects were 45…

A study investigated the general occurrence of English lexical elements in the recorded speech of 285 Dutch pre-World War I immigrants and their descendants in Massachusetts, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The problems encountered in analyzing a massive data corpus and the methods used to resolve these problems are the focus of the paper. The difficulties…

A handbook on English word stress and stressed-vowel sounds is based on the idea that these segments are, in most cases, controlled by phonological context and their pronunciation can be understood through a system of rules. It serves as a reference for teachers and as a text for students. Chapters address these topics: word stress and active and…

By analyzing the lexicology of natural language (English or other languages as they are commonly spoken or written), as compared to computer languages, this study explored the extent to which syntactic and semantic levels of linguistic analysis can be implemented and effectively used on microcomputers. In Phase I of the study, the Apple IIe with…