Many non-Western and non-English-speaking scholars express the need for supporting a methodological approach that foregrounds the voices of nationals and locals (or indigenous peoples). Supporting this stance, Western scholars will reach out in democratic and liberatory ways that effect research collaboration, helping to foster social justice and…

An important feature of the interface between language and society is the use of address terms. Following Brown and Gilman (1960), research studies of address terms have been extended to several cultural settings. This study contributes to this fertile area of sociolinguistic studies by describing the address terms used among undergraduates in an…

This paper explores the sociolinguistic awareness in English of tertiary level students in Hong Kong and Wuhan (Mainland China). The language data consisted of specific instances when a native speaker presenter made changes, in the course of oral delivery, to the written text of a conference paper that she had prepared in advance. Matched pairs of…

The tally of occurrences of a PC buzzword on academic and other websites seems to corroborate the suspicion that we're quickly abandoning "e pluribus unum" as the governing principle for treating individuals justly. In its place is the new image of America as a melange of competing interest groups. In this NAS research on comparative…

This essay examines a Brooklyn College-based research collective that placed African American languages and cultures at the center of the composition curriculum. Recovering such pedagogies challenges the perception of the CCCC's 1974 "Students' Right to Their Own Language" resolution as a progressive theory divorced from the everyday…

The 4th international conference "Nation and Language: Modern Aspects of Socio-Linguistic Development" continues an eight-year old tradition. The conference is organized by Kaunas University of Technology Panevezys Institute and aims to bring scientists and researchers together for a general scientific discussion on new trends in…

This qualitative study analyzed the English language learning difficulties of 13 purposively chosen Korean students relative to their sociolinguistic competence, motivation in using the English language, and cultural factors. Interview responses were transcribed, categorized and thematised according to saliency, meaning and homogeneity. The…

Minority students' English learning is a special and an indispensable component of English education system in China. This article studies students' linguistic knowledge that live in Northwestern China--Gan Nan Autonomy State of Gan Su Province with majority population of Tibetan, mixed with Chinese and some Muslim. An analogous analysis is…

In information systems and end-user computer research, "using" appears to encapsulate a range of activities, such as reading, writing, viewing and so on. And yet it is a grossly inadequate descriptor for any of these activities, failing to account for the fact that texts--digital or otherwise--are produced and engaged by humans for a variety of…

Transacting business with individuals who may speak English fluently but have an accent is common today. Use of translation services such as in transportation facilities, government offices, educational institutions, and manufacturers' instruction manuals is on the increase. Consequently, linguistic diversity issues require relevant academic…

Learning about how language works not only gives students a better grounding in English; it also provides insights into the nature of what it means to be human. Language is both universal and a key element of human diversity. In becoming schooled in linguistic aspects of diversity, students become aware of their own language choices and the…

This study compares the degree of cohesion and coherence in the essays written by thirty Filipino college freshmen and analyzes how the social construction of meaning was made evident in their writing. Results showed that low, mid and highly rated essays were comparable in grammatical cohesive device use. Lexical repetition and use of synonyms…

This paper mainly discusses the issue of whether the English language should be attached the same importance in education as it was before in post-1997 Hong Kong. The status of English before 1997 in Hong Kong has been carefully compared from the sociolinguistic perspectives with that after Hong Kong returned to China in 1997. Both political and…

Understanding why mistakes are made in a class of ESL students not only helps teachers emend the mistakes, but also enables them to better explain to the author how to correct mistakes in future writing. When a teacher shows some understanding of a writer's native language, it makes the writer feel more comfortable with, and less alienated from,…

Reform in the fields of adolescent and content area literacy have focused on broadening a definition of literacy beyond the ability to read and write. In a broader definition the language processes of reading, writing, speaking and listening become literacy tools to engage students in the learning of concepts and afford the learner ways to…