Discusses West Africanisms in Limonese Creole (LC), an English based creole language spoken in Costa Rica that shows substrate influence from the Kwa languages of West Africa, in particular from Akan (spoken in Ghana). Substrate influence is demonstrated through a comparison of LC and Akan morphophonology, morphosyntax, and lexicon. (Author/VWL)

Various commentaries are included in response to an article on filler syllables and their status in emerging grammar. (Author/VWL)

Applies two tests--local acceptability and international intelligibility--to four varieties of Nigerian English. Only one variety passes both tests, one that is associated with the most highly educated or sophisticated Nigerian speakers of the language and is intelligible internationally. (JP)

Discusses the language situation in the region of Brittany in France, where the Breton language, a Celtic rather than Romance language, is dying out but a Breton ethnic identity is growing. (Author/JL)

A study identified second-person singular pronoun usage among Salvadoran speakers living in Houston, Texas, to see what changes, if any, have been caused by contact with other Spanish speakers with different speech patterns. Although the results confirm some linguistic behavior observed by others, some unexpected facts and diverging trends were…

Using Biber's multidimensional analysis (1988) to examine a large corpus of world English literatures written in Indian, West African, Britain, Anglo-American, and Mexican American varieties of English, examines whether quantitative analyses can also be insightful and useful in the examination of the influence of gender on language and in…

Suggests that discussions about inclusion in the foreign language classroom should address the issues of linguistic diversity and dialectal sensitivity. Discusses models for addressing issues of linguistic diversity in the classroom, and offers a set of activities for training new instructors in recognizing and addressing linguistic biases.…

Focuses on sociolinguistic competence--the ability to produce and understand the appropriate remark at the appropriate time--particularly language variability and how teachers often deal with it in instruction. Highlights linguistic variables, teacher-talk characteristics, and rate of speech. (Author/VWL)

Skutnabb-Kangas, Kontra, and Phillipson's response to Wee (2005) only serves to highlight a whole new set of problems with the LHRs paradigm while failing to make any inroads towards resolving the earlier ones. For example, they adopt a "legal perspective" in relation to Singlish that is at odds with the way they would presumably wish to…

People frequently make assumptions about others because of their spoken or written use of a particular dialect or language. The varieties of English that people use are often regarded as indicators of corresponding intelligence, competence, motives, and morality. Such assumptions--frequently based on myths and misconceptions about the nature of…

In Japan, recognition of the concept of "world Englishes" has gradually penetrated the thinking of college English teachers, but American Standard English or British Standard English is still the only model that Japanese high school students have to learn. Therefore, students enrolled in the Department of World Englishes of Chukyo…

Suggests that Kachru' model representing English worldwide must adapt by (1) moving away from a focus on nation-states in favor of a sociolinguistic focus on English-speaking communities wherever they are found and (2) recognizing that fundamental differences across contexts for English worldwide cannot be glossed over in support of specific…

This paper reviews sociolinguistic work which has addressed the provision of justice for Aboriginal English (AE) speakers in Australia. It questions the assumptions about cultural and linguistic diversity and inequality which underlie this work, and proposes a critical sociolinguistic approach, which draws on social theory in the analysis of how…

The implications of the "Students' Right to Their Own Language" resolution on classroom teaching and practices point to a continual need to reevaluate how communicative actions--linguistic diversities--of students are central aspects of the work within composition courses. This article revisits the historical significance and pedagogical value of…

This article examines speakers' perceptions of and attitudes towards address pronoun usage in Paris and Toulouse. The data on which this article is based come from a comparative project based at the University of Melbourne, "Address in some western European languages, and were generated in focus groups in both Paris and Toulouse, as well as…